Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds in Critical Condition after Stabbing in his Home - Gus Deeds Found Dead - UPDATES

It is being reported that state senator and former gobernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds is fighting for his life in Virginia Medical Center after being stabbed earlier this morning.  His son, Gus Deeds, was found dead in the home.  

Reports are that Gus Deeds stabbed his father multiple times before taking a gun and ending his own life.  

We will have to wait and see how this pans out, as many first reports turn out to be false, but in any event my prayers go out to the Deeds family and I hope that the senator makes a full recovery.  

Very tragic indeed.  

***Police held a news conference around noon.  Senator Deeds was able to give a statement when the police and rescue services arrived.  He was stabbed multiple times in the neck area and upper torso.  His son, Gus, was alive when medics arrived but they were unable to save him and was pronouced dead at the scene due to a gun shot wound.  They will not confirm that Gus was the person who committed the stabbing, but at the present time they are not looking for suspects.  The police also wouldn't give information regarding any criminal or mental health issues of Gus Deeds.  Gus Deeds was the only son of the four children of Creigh Deeds.  

***Sources say that Gus was given a mental health evaluation yesterday and was released due to no bed being available.  

***The hospital has upgraded his status to fair from critical.   

A Tale of Tragedy and Two Campaigns

As I am sure you have heard several states are in a state of emergency due to a sudden thunder-storm that was accompanied by high winds.  Millions were left without power during days of record heat.  I am among the powerless.

The people of Virginia have been struggling to find cool places to stay.  Hotel rooms are sold out and the few malls that are opened are jam-packed with people looking for some relief from the heat and some hot food.  In my area there is one gas station open.  One major mall had to close early Saturday evening due to no water.  The only thing open for miles was a McDonald's.

In response to this emergency the presidential campaigns handled it in this fashion:

First from the Romney Campaign through email:

Friend,
The severe storms that ripped through Virginia Friday claimed at least six lives across the commonwealth and left thousands without power.  It could be several days before power is restored to those affected.
If you'd like to make a donation to the relief effort, please bring supplies to the Romney for President Headquarters located at 3811 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 750 in Arlington tomorrow between 10am and 7pm.
We will distribute donations to various relief centers in the area.
Here's what we need:

• Bottled Water
• Non-perishable food items, such as beef jerky, granola bars, peanut butter, etc.

Bring your supply donations to our headquarters tomorrow and we'll ensure it gets to your fellow Virginians who are in need on Tuesday.
Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Sincerely,
Sara Craig
Virginia State Manager
P.S. We know that everyone wanting to help cannot make it to Arlington.  If you would like to donate to the Red Cross, please call 1-800-Red-Cross, or visit this link to make a donation online:
http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d8aaecf214c576bf971e4cfe43181aa0/?vgnextoid=46f51a53f1c37110VgnVCM1000003481a10aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

From the Obama Campaign Via Twitter:

Keep cool while you’re canvassing this summer, Our Vote Obama Tank Top is a stylish and fun way to show your support

While some may say that the Romney campaign may just be pandering to people who are dealing with an emergency, there is plenty of stories of how Romney has handled emergencies in the past.  One such story being the story of a co-worker's daughter who was kidnapped while out partying in New York.  He shut down Bain, flew the employees up to New York City, set up a nerve center, and canvassed the city with flyers until the girl was found and returned home to her anxious parents.

This is who Romney is.

Obama wants you to buy a T-shirt.

I don't know about you, but this says a great deal about the character of these two men to me.  You can decide for yourselves.

As an aside, I want to say a huge thank you to Iain's wife who took mercy on my sorry unairconditioned and no water self.  I am currently sitting in her sitting room and enjoying some cool air.  So thanks to her for putting up with me.

Culture and Respect in Japan

I have been very impressed by the fact that people in Japan have remained so calm. The pictures that we see are heartbreaking. The news reports are now talking about bodies are washing up on shore and there are not enough body bags and coffins for all the dead. They are living with the fear of nuclear meltdown which could have catastrophic effects on generations to come. The people have little food, in many cases they have no power, and to add insult to injury snow is in the forecast.



What you are not seeing in Japan is looting. You are hearing stories of vendors who are lowering prices and in some cases giving emergency supplies to people in need. People are waiting in line in an orderly fashion even though gas lines can last for hours. In the Japanese culture, respect is considered to be of the highest importance. The belief system that when you shame yourself you bring shame onto the entire family.


It leaves one to wonder why other cultures cannot do the same during times of trouble? The looting in the aftermath of the earthquake in Chile last year was so severe that troops had to be brought in to get it under control. At one point the army resorted to using water hoses to stop the looting of banks and electronic stores, where people were taking plasma televisions and cash.


The same thing happened after Katrina in New Orleans: A quote from a man who in the flood ravaged city the day after the levees broke.

“To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it’s an opportunity to get back at society,”

It would seem to me the difference between the events is only the mentality of the people who were afflicted by the tragedies. In Japan the culture is that you respect authority, it seems in many other parts of the world the culture is that the government owes you something. The next time someone says to you that the culture of a society doesn't matter, remind them of this.

The Politics of a Tragedy - Tea Party Must Be Guilty

Gabrielle Giffords, a congresswoman from Arizona, was shot today while having a townhall of sorts at a local Safeway.  Luckily it seems that the congresswoman will survive the shooting even though she was shot through the head.  According to reports she was even talking before being sedated to reduce the pressure on her brain.  Sadly, many others were not so fortunate and at least five have died, including a federal judge and a nine year old child. My deepest sympathies to the families of all the victims for this senseless loss of life.

Before anything was known about the shooter many automatically decided that somehow the Tea Party is to blame for this tragedy.  Both Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck's name came up on some comments I saw when I was looking up to see if the congresswoman was still alive.  The reports about this shooting have been fuzzy at best and conflicting reports about if Ms. Giffords survived were all over the internet and television news. 

Jane Fonda and Paul Krugman couldn't even bothered to wait until more information was known before they decided to weigh in and blame the right for this horrifying act of violence.  Krugman came out with his statement before the name of the shooter was known and what the press was reporting was that he was a war vet.  There is enough information about the shooter now for Krugman to realize that this is a matter of a very delusional young man who didn't seem to have grip on reality.  In one you tube video he is burning the American flag, in other he has a diatribe about the constitution and mind control. 

His favorite books according to his you tube page are as follows:

I had favorite books: Animal Farm, Brave New World, The Wizard Of OZ, Aesop Fables, The Odyssey, Alice Adventures Into Wonderland, Fahrenheit 451, Peter Pan, To Kill A Mockingbird, We The Living, Phantom Toll Booth, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Pulp,Through The Looking Glass, The Communist Manifesto, Siddhartha, The Old Man And The Sea, Gulliver's Travels, Mein Kampf, The Republic, and Meno

Not exactly the books you would find in the library of any tea party member.  But so far Krugman has yet to make a retraction of his statement.  After all, why let facts get in the way of the narrative that he has been creating since the beginning of the tea party movement. 

Politicizing the murder of five people and the injury of at least 10 others before the facts are known is irresponsible as well as being intellectually lazy.  This young man seems to have many problems and may very well be delusional.  There are reports that he had met the congresswoman before.  But this seems to be a statement from a woman who says she knew him in high school.  So, we have to wait and see if that actually pans out.  

While it is understandable for some of the reporting to be incorrect during the fog of the incident, this is not about the fog.  This is about wanting to blame your political enemies for a horrid act simply because you are trying to prove that your belief system is superior.  But, all these two have proven is that they are lazy and wrong.  This woman wasn't gunned down by some crazed right winger because Glenn Beck told him to, or by some graphic that Sarah Palin released about a year ago.  This was a sad and sick man who had no real core or any sense of compassion to fellow human beings.  Comment on that Paul and Jane, maybe then you can get back some of your creditability.