Reich: Gabrielle Giffords 'tougher than nails'

When someone broke her office window and door last March, Rep. Giffords told the economist nothing would stop her.

When Gabrielle Giffords, shown here in a March, 2010, file photo provided by her office, found out that month that her Tucson office window and door had been shattered by an unknown attacker, she responded: 'I'm tougher than nails.' The congresswoman, who was shot and critically wounded earlier this month, continues to make progress, her doctors report.

Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords/AP/File

January 18, 2011

“Be careful of yourself,” I told Gabby last March, after the front glass door and a window at her Tucson congressional office were shattered. The attack came the same evening — Sunday, March 21 — she and other House Democrats voted for the health care law.

She laughed. “I’m tougher than nails. Nothing’s gonna stop me.”

This week House Republicans have scheduled a vote to repeal that same health care law. Unfortunately Gabby won’t be there to reaffirm her original vote. Ten days ago a bullet fired at close range passed through her skull.

Yet Gabby continues to be tougher than nails. Her condition was just downgraded from critical to serious. She’ll survive, and she’ll continue to represent the people of the 8th district of Arizona with her courage and conviction.

Nothing will stop her.

----------------------------

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. This post originally ran on www.robertreich.org.