Posted on 02/10/2012 12:18:59 PM PST by ColdOne
The Secretary of the Navy announced on Friday that a new littoral combat ship will be named after former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).
The announcement comes the same day that President Obama signed the last piece of legislation sponsored by Giffords, a bill aimed at reducing drug trafficking along the American borders with Canada and Mexico.
Giffords, who recently stepped down from office, was the target of a shooting rampage in early January 2011.
“The name this ship bears and the story represented by that name will inspire all those who come in contact with her,” said Navy Secretary Ray Mabus at a naming ceremony at the Pentagon Friday.
Giffords appeared at the ceremony with her husband, former Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Roxanna Green, the mother of Christina Taylor-Green, the 9-year-old girl who was killed at the Giffords shooting last year.
Mabus said that Green would be the sponsor of the USS Gabrielle Giffords.
The ship named after Giffords is a littoral combat ship, a smaller ship designed for operations close to the shore. The USS Gabrielle Giffords is the Navy’s 10th LCS ship.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
She was a serving Member of Congress when she was shot in the performance of her duties, and her husband was a Navy captain.
We're conservatives. We believe in the rule of law. Honoring Gabrielle Giffords with a ship named in her honor may or may not be appropriate — I'm sensitive to the issue of naming ships or monuments after living people — but she merits recognition in some form.
I wonder how many of us would be applauding this action if a Republican female member of congress with an active-duty military husband had been shot and nearly killed while performing her duties.
BTW, Giffords, by the standards of the Democratic Party, was pretty conservative. Those who aren't happy with her “Blue Dog Democrat” views and want a true conservative Republican probably ought to be glad she isn't running for re-election since there's an excellent chance she would have been re-elected. At least now there's a chance Republicans can pick up that seat.
Thank you both for your responses.
First of all, I want to make it clear that I in no way meant to take Giffords to task here. I am sorry that I didn’t make that clear and it could have been construed that I was.
Your points about Giffords not being cognizant may have been rather sound. If that is the case, it would seem a hard choice to make, if you were to refuse her the honor. Her refusing it would be one thing. Someone else doing it on her behalf, even if for a good reason, would be much more difficult.
Borax Queen, I could have sworn I saw one interview where Giffords seemed quite lucid, if still not in full control of her physical side. I know I was looking for signs of her current condition. That being said, I may still have missed signs that were there I suppose.
I do appreciate both of your responses, and the opportunity to clarify my thoughts on Giffords moral obligations. I do acknowledge the incapacity factor, and appreciate you both for mentioning it.
Or the USS Barney Frank
It would give a whole new meaning to “poop deck”.
— but she merits recognition in some form.
In that case name a street, bridge, school, or park after her, not a warship.
I am sorry a leftist shot her for not being crazy enough, but she should have the character to refuse this honor in favor of a military hero’s name. Just like she had the character to quit congress before her lavish pension kicked in, not.
nes cu delifor empe tinci snaelve e tan a voq!!!
“But what has she done...besides getting shot while serving as a representative?”
It seems that any lefty Democrat, after being shot by another lefty liberal or radical nutjob, gets enshrined in the National conscienceness as a saint.....or at least honored as a namesake for a ship of the Gator Navy.....I’ll bet the Marines will be thrilled to be riding the Gabby Gifford on their way to battle..... /s
Say isn’t Gabby the same gal that asked the Military what environmental measures they were taking during their battle engagements? What a loon!
Yeah, but that ship would constantly be in dry dock for repairs from being torpedoed repeatedly in the stern...
Hi Doughty One —
Oh, please don’t apologize, but thank you. I’m in her district and could fill pages writing about what I’ve observed. I’m not at all happy about the taxation without representation for the last year + — but everything that was in the media DID make it seem like Giffords was lucid, so I completely don’t blame you or anyone for thinking Giffords should have spoken up. Even knowing what I think I know, I myself have made statements about her integrity (before and after January 2011).
That particular interview — assuming we’re thinking of the ABC one (as far as I know, the only one she did) was highly scripted, staged, and edited. She can move her one side, but her handlers (adulterer husband, best friend Wasserman, or some of the campaign staff) always have to be near her to lift her other side/arm as needed. She wears a brace on her fingers. As a PT explained to me, she won’t be regaining the use of that hand/fingers.
The political class of moochers and elites receive the finest medical care and round-the-clock coaching. For us, the peasants, Giffords had deliberately voted against the vast majority and forced us into DeathCare. Just a “pill” for us if we’re a “unit” (over 70).
The staff tried to make it seem like Giffords was present within a few months. They pulled tricks like sending Twitters from pretend Gabby, adding Facebook entries as if Gabby wrote them, moving the district office that had been there as long as I can remember (a couple of decades) to a more remote spot, and always telling us “Giffords said so and so,” Giffords said that.”
Giffords never did address her constituents directly, herself.
The whole thing was staged to make her seem better. Who knows why, money? lifetime benefits? job security for the staff? placeholder for the next Dem? But it was shady and crooked.
They even pasted audio tapes together to make it seem as if Giffords herself were speaking in paragraphs. The book that “she wrote”? One page was hers, and I’m not sure how many words on that page, or if she even said them.
Looking from a distance, anyone would think that Giffords is back to a reasonable level of awareness.
Seeing their tricks and lies over the last year plus, I’m pretty sure she’s still only around 5-10 years old.
The evil rotten leftists never stop their tricks.
And, if the situation were reversed, I’m fairly certain that Giffords would have milked the husband. Theirs was always just another political marriage.
(Sorry for this long post, I tried to cut myself off.)
She was no “Blue dog,” she voted with Pelosi at least 95% of the time. Once again, I am imploring people to not believe the propaganda and research for yourselves.
Giffords deserves nothing — she rammed ObamaCare down our throats, refusing to meet with us or acknowledge us. She finally had to have three townhalls, where she threatened to walk out because everyone was pretty mad. The vast majority of letters, calls, emails, and personal visits — plus the townhalls — were all against ObamaCare. She told us she knew better than we. I was there.
She was a fascist on several levels — just as one example, forcing the retirement of a fellow from a Fortune 500 company — for daring to publicly disagree with her version of global warming. I was there.
She barely, barely won reelection, and only after a week of mystery votes showing up. Jesse Kelly won election day itself. If Giffords hadn’t pulled out all her dirty stunts, including the lying media and blasphemous, negative ads, plus refusing to debate Kelly until it was too late for early ballots, plus counting ballots for a week after, who knows what would have happened.
She was a huge fan of abortion as well.
And as for the husband, he’s milked her every step of the way for his own political career. He’s a far left wing radical, just like Giffords.
We can send the ship to the Persian Gulf, then if the Iranians sink the ship, or even shoot at it, we can accuse them of being racist.
Especially since you're in her former district, BoraxQueen, I appreciate your “on the ground” info. I respect that.
BTW, I had forgotten about the environmental compliance stuff. I saw that video long ago, and it really **WAS** bad.
I do think some of the comments posted here make conservatives look bad, but when they're voiced by Giffords’ own former constituents, that changes things for me. Somebody in her own district needs to be saying the things I might want to say; I'm the wrong person to speak up since I don't know Giffords’ record as well as the locals.
Only if he sends in a check to pay for it.
Au contraire! Submarines are designed to come back to the surface.
Thanks, darrellmaurina!
I thought her resignation meant that the Dems were finally done milking her tragedy for political and PR gain, but I guess I was wrong.
I agree. Makes me sick
http://www.hazegray.org/features/cole/cole08b.jpg
http://www.hazegray.org/features/cole/cole09b.jpg
Ray Mabus has strayed tradition enough to have prompted a review of ship-naming policy back in Dec. Due to FR policy there is no excerpt so all will have to go here. link http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/12/navy-lawmakers-want-review-ship-naming-policy-121711w/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
