The reports last night that Rep. Giffords was conscious and responsive following surgery were, sadly, not accurate, the hospital is now saying.

For the 94 newly elected Members of the House of Representatives — nearly one quarter of the chamber — their first week on the job will forever be marked by the attack on their three-term colleague, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). In that sense, the attack could hardly have been timed better to strike deep into the consciousness of the House.

From talking with House aides over the last 18 hours, the detail of the attack that resonates most with Members and their staffs is where it occurred: a constituent meeting back home in her district. Those constituent outreach efforts are the bread and butter of what Members do when not in Washington. Everyone does them. All the time. It’s part of their duty has representatives of the people.

So each Member and staffer can put themselves in the shoes of Giffords and her aides who were in the line of fire Saturday morning in Tucson. It’s not easy to put psychological distance between yourself and the victim when the circumstances of the attack are so ordinary, so easily identified with, so similar to events you’ve had yourself dozens or hundreds of times. Read More

Speaker Boehner, speaking this morning in Ohio: “This inhuman act should not and will not deter us from our calling to represent our constituents and to fullfill our oaths of office.”

The sheriff in Tucson has issued a photo of a second man, whom authorities describe as a “person of interest” in the Giffords shooting.

In case you missed it, MSNBC’s interview with Rep. Giffords last March about the threats she was facing. Watch.

Responding to this post below, a Member of Congress emails:

one interesting thing here for your readers to understand is that she was doing what many people may assume is an act of campaigning for reelection on the THIRD day of her term.

this type of “visability” is not just the function of the effort to get reelected it is part of the day to day for good members of congress all the time. for people who lament the proliferation of ads and attacks, they probably dont realize that the type of wholesome democracy that she was doing is what members do all the time. lets hope we dont stop.

More from the new congressional intern who rushed to Rep. Giffords’ side after she was shot.

Palin aide: “I never went out and blamed Al Gore or any environmentalist for the crazy insane person who went to shoot up the Discovery Channel.”

We’re expecting a press conference at noon ET from the hospital where Gabrielle Giffords and several of the other victims of yesterday’s shooting are being treated, which should yield more information on her condition. But a friend of Giffords said this morning that the congresswoman is in a medically induced coma.