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Sunday, January 9, 2011

More media linkage in recent assassination attempt

In a story about the recent shooting of a member of Congress, we learn that "a federal public defender known for handling high-profile cases, Judy Clarke, has been appointed to represent him."


Clarke previously defended the "Unabomber," Ted Kaczynski, and assisted in the case of confessed al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui.

So this story is already being linked to other past notorious violent acts.

It is also being linked to other killings of federal judges, since a judge was killed in this shooting:

"Roll is the fourth federal judge killed since 1979, when District Judge John Wood was slain in a contract killing outside his Texas home. In 1988, District Judge Richard Daronco of New York was killed by the father of a plaintiff whose case the judge had dismissed; and in 1989, Circuit Judge Robert Vance was killed by a mail bomb sent to his Alabama home by a man prosecutors said had a grudge against the appellate court on which Vance sat.

"In addition, the husband and mother of District Judge Joan Lefkow were killed in their Chicago home in 2005. A man who committed suicide two weeks later in Wisconsin left a note confessing to the killings, blaming a judgment against him in a malpractice case for the loss of his house, job and family, police said."

Linkage is identified in the book as common in the media, useful to the media to help sell stories even when things that do not need to be discussed are discussed.

Finally, the issue of mental illness comes up again: "There's reason to believe this individual may have a mental issue," Dupnik told reporters Saturday night.

Amazingly, Pima Community College warned Loughner in a follow-up letter that to return to campus, he had to present a doctor's note stating that his presence would not be "a danger to himself or others."

Online, he railed against government "mind control" and illiteracy in YouTube and MySpace postings. He tried to enlist in the Army in 2008, but was rejected for reasons the service said it could not disclose.

Nice of us to make sure this guy got help.

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