Justice Moving Swiftly In Arizona Shooting

The state of Arizona is wasting no time in bringing alleged killer Jared Lee Loughner to justice: after Saturday’s shocking shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (who remains in critical condition but is able to communicate) and nine others, charges were quickly filed on Sunday afternoon and he’ll appear in court on Monday. Says the New York Times' Caucus Blog:

“The United States Attorney in Arizona has filed five charges against Jared Lee Loughner: three charges of attempted murder (of Ms. Giffords and two members of her staff) and two charges of murdering federal employees (Judge Roll and Gabriel Zimmerman, the other Giffords staff member).

“Mr. Loughner’s first court appearance is scheduled for Monday at 2 p.m. in Phoenix.”

It has been revealed that Loughner had had contact with the Congresswoman in the past. He even asked her a question at an event in 2007. That question basically boiled down to, "What is government if words have no meaning?". Meanwhile, political experts and the the general public have been buzzing with speculation that Loughner was inspired to assassinate Congresswoman Giffords because of right-wing propaganda, namely a map from Sarah Palin's website (which has been removed) that singled out Giffords and other House democrats that voted for the 2008 health care bill with cross hairs over the regions they represent. There's no evidence to support these theories, though Loughner's YouTube videos offer a peek inside the alleged shooter's mind.