Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is still in hospital in a critical condition after being shot at close range at a public event on Saturday.
The tragedy has triggered debate about the role that violent rhetoric from right-wing commentators and politicians could have played, in the heated and aggressively partisan world of US politics.
But here is Giffords discussing the same topic, back in March last year, after an attack on her office. Of the furious political climate, she notes that “in the years that some of my colleagues have served – 20, 30 years – they’ve never seen it like this”.
Her comments – concerned, yet optimistic – now hold a sad pathos:
I think it’s important for all leaders, not just leaders of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, but community leaders, figures in our community to say, “Look, we can’t stand for this.” I mean, this is a situation where people really need to realise that the rhetoric, and firing people up . . . For example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list, but the thing is that the way that she has it depicted is the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district. And when people do that, they’ve got to realise there’s consequences to that action.
Video from msnbc.com
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