COMPETENT ENOUGH TO MURDER BUT NOT COMPETENT ENOUGH TO STAND TRIAL?

[Van Guard]

"Allegedly," Jarred Loughner:

* was competent enough to purchase a 9 mm Glock pistol.

* was competent enough to go to a Walmart store in the Foothills Mall to purchase ammunition, and when he was refused the sale of the ammunition, he left the store and completed his purchase at a Walmart on North Cortaro Road.

* was competent enough to drive an automobile, as evidenced by the fact that he was stopped by an Arizona Game and Fish Department officer for running a red light, but once the officer determined there were no outstanding warrants for Loughner, he was allowed to proceed to his destination with a warning to drive carefully.

*was competent enough to plan the shooting, and he wrote: "Goodbye friends. Please don't be mad at me. The literacy rate is below 5%. I haven't talked to one person who is literate. I want to make it out alive. The longest war in the history of the United States. Goodbye. I'm saddened with the current currency and job employment. I had a bully at school. Thank you. P.S. --plead the fifth!"

* was competent enough to take a taxi and direct it to a Safeway supermarket location in Casas Adobes, where Congresswoman Giffords was holding a constituents meeting.

* was competent enough to aim a gun point blank at Congresswoman Giffords and shoot her throught the head.

* was competent enough to fire his gun again and again killing six more people by shooting them at close range.

* was competent enough to struggle to keep from being subdued when he was thwarted by the heroic efforts of willing bystanders determined to restrain him to keep him from shooting others.

*  WAS FOUND TO BE INCOMPETENT TO STAND TRIAL by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns.

[M]

Is Judge Larry Burns Competent to be a U.S. District Judge?