Crazing Arizona

Horrible news from Arizona. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Tuscon) shot and in critical condition, and Fed. Judge John Roll dead at the scene. So far, six are dead (including Giffords's regional director) and twelve more wounded.

Early report is that Jared Loughner, 22, is the shooter. Here's his Youtube site. From the looks of his videos, he's a mentally disturbed Ron Paul-ite, obsessed with the "terrorist" federal government, the gold standard, and creating your own currency. Giffords, who represents a swing district--"targeted" by Sarah Palin's infamous rifle-bull's eye and an M16 party by her GOP challenger--had been stalked and vandalized by crazed Tea Partiers as a result of her vote on HCR and her strong opposition to AZ's draconian immigration law. Neither of those issues figured into the videos I saw, however. He does appear to be fixated on "grammar" and "conscience dreaming," and his rather odd commentaries make it look like he took at least a few philosophy and writing theory classes, although his frequent grammar errors and twisted syllogisms suggest he did not do very well in them. Then there's the video where he dresses up in a garbage bag and Scream-like mask and burns an American flag in the dessert. Just bizarre. What happens when mental disease meets conspiracy radio.