GUY RAZ, host:
We're back with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.
And we're continuing to follow the news today of that shooting in Tucson, Arizona, which claimed the lives of at least six people and has left Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition. President Obama spoke about the shooting this evening.
President BARACK OBAMA: It's not surprising that today, Gabby was doing what she always does - listening to the hopes and concerns of her neighbors. That is the essence of what our democracy is all about. That is why this is more than a tragedy for those involved. It is a tragedy for Arizona and a tragedy for our entire country.
RAZ: James Fallows of The Atlantic normally joins me here on Saturdays under less tragic circumstances.
And, Jim, I'm wondering what your immediate thoughts on the shooting of Congressman Giffords are?
Mr. JAMES FALLOWS (National Correspondent, The Atlantic): Well, of course, this is terrible news and we have to extend our sympathies to everybody involved in this and it's just, you know, tragic. Also, I think it's important to emphasize, as most news media have, that we just don't know very much about this circumstance.
RAZ: Indeed.
Mr. FALLOWS: You know, who did it and for what reason. What struck me, though, is we have in the United States a long and unfortunately rich tradition of political violence. And on the one hand, any attack on a politician it seems to me is by definition political, because that's how that person came into public view. But it's striking how often the motives for the crime seem to be obscure or really hard to connect to mainstream political activities.
For example, the only other congressman to - the only congressman so far to have been killed in the line of duty, Leo Ryan at Jonestown more than 30 years ago. That was for cult reasons as opposed to any kind of normal political circumstance...
RAZ: He had gone down to Guyana to check up on these members of the cult and was shot as he walked down the tarmac.
Mr. FALLOWS: Indeed. And when George Wallace was paralyzed by Arthur Bremer in '72 and whatever motivation Sirhan Sirhan might have had with Robert Kennedy, it was - it had huge political consequences but was not directly - that the motives seem to be as much a mental disorder or personal politics as anything else. And so we don't know how that will finally parse out here.
RAZ: Mm-hmm. Jim, Giffords - sorry.
Mr. FALLOWS: I just was going to say one other thing too. There - it may be the case that certainly, there are times in American history where the mood and tone of political rhetoric becomes more violence-tinged than at other times. And I think we have seen that in the last year or two. And there was this famous poster put out this last summer by the Sarah Palin political action committee, which had targets on the seats of 20 congresspeople they wanted to defeat, including Congresswoman Giffords.
RAZ: Including Giffords, yeah.
Mr. FALLOWS: And so, perhaps, there will be less of that tone.
RAZ: And I wanted to ask you about that, Jim, because Giffords, who's a Democrat, was narrowly reelected in November. It was a tough fight. I mean, she won by fewer than 4,000 votes in a pretty politically charged district, where as we just heard from Congressman Shadegg, immigration is a hot-button issue and Republicans had hoped, almost expected to defeat her.
Mr. FALLOWS: Yes. And she was one of the, you know, one of the people who had supported the Obama health care plan and the financial rescue plans and still won this very tough election in what is becoming increasingly - which has been a polarized state. And I think this has been testimony to, as other people have said, her essential centrism and popularity. And she is married to an active service member and an astronaut. And she has been very moderate on many issues. And so that she would perhaps, for reasons we don't know, be the target of this kind of political violence is all the more striking and tragic.
RAZ: That's James Fallows. He's national correspondent for The Atlantic. He joins us here on the program on Saturdays. You can read his blog at jamesfallows.theatlantic.com.
Jim, as always, thank you very much.
Mr. FALLOWS: Thank you, Guy.