An evening in Tucson -- the good, the bad, and the ugly

Obama draws 31 million TV viewers for memorial tribute (Reuters)
Los Angeles (Reuters) – Some 31 million U.S. television viewers tuned in to see President Barack Obama lead a memorial tribute to Victims of the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona, according to TV Ratings provider Nielsen. The emotionally charged Speech, in which Obama urged Americans not to politicize a tragedy that left six people dead and 13 others wounded, drew generally high marks for his bid to balance words of consolation with a call for national unity. The seven-network t...

Obama draws 31 million TV viewers for memorial tribute
Los Angeles | Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:30pm EST Los Angeles (Reuters) - Some 31 million U.S. television viewers tuned in to see President Barack Obama lead a memorial tribute to Victims of the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona, according to TV Ratings provider Nielsen. The emotionally charged Speech, in which Obama urged Americans not to politicize a tragedy that left six people dead and 13 others wounded, drew generally high marks for his bid to balance words of consolation with a call f...

Too Soon! Jon Stewart Ridicules Partisan Media Criticism Of Tuscon Memorial
Last night Barack Obama was the Keynote Speaker at the Memorial Service held for the Victims of the Arizona shooting tragedy that occurred last weekend, and by and large, received rave reviews from both left and right opinion media pundits. Until the next morning, in which the 24 hour News Media “conflictanator” started to find reasons to critique the previous evenings proceedings, at least in the eyes of Jon Stewart. Tonight The Daily Show opened with proper praise of the “Ins...

Tucson service shows what liberals really mean by 'separation of church and state'
Despite the wholly inappropriate and distracting pep rally sound track, there were some moving moments in last night's memorial service at the University of Arizona for the Victims of Saturday's Safeway massacre in Tucson. But one thing that ought not be allowed to pass by without comment was how the event illustrated as no other public commemoration in recent memory what is really meant when the doctrine of "Separation of Church and State" is invoked by proponents of liberal multiculturalist co...

No God at Tucson Memorial: Power Line
…I didn't appreciate the president of the University of Arizona (and master of ceremonies) telling us how lucky we are to have Barack Obama as our president and Janet Napolitano as our Homeland Security chief. Nor did the frequent raucous cheering by the huge crowd seem appropriate at what was, at least in part, a memorial service. As for the "ugly," I'm afraid I must cite the opening "prayer" by Native American Carlos Gonzales. It was apparently was some sort of Yaqui Indian tribal thing...

Youngest victim of US shooting buried
People hold a sign as they line the street leading to the St. Elizabeth Ann... The Funeral hearse leads a procession to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church for... The youngest Victim of the Tucson shootings was laid to rest Thursday, a day after President Barack Obama hailed the 9-year-old girl as an inspiration to US politicians to heal their poisonous divisions. Christina Taylor Green, who was among six people killed by a misfit gunman last Saturday, has become the heart-breaking public face of th...

Arizona Memorial: A Most Disquieting Display
Last night in Arizona someone planned a memorial service and a pep rally broke out. In a wildly inappropriate display of mirth, rock star adulation, screams from the crowd and raucous applause the purported memorial service held at University of Arizona for those that fell at the hands of a crazed shooter earlier in the week went badly awry Wednesday night. Nothing this gauche has been seen since the classless memorial turned pep rally held for Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone that got so many i...

Youngest US shooting victim laid to rest
The youngest Victim of the Arizona shootings has been laid to rest, a day after President Barack Obama hailed the nine-year-old girl as an inspiration to US politicians to heal their poisonous divisions. Christina Taylor Green, who was among six people killed by a lone gunman in Tucson last Saturday, has become the heart-breaking public face of the attacks which unleashed a wave of soul-searching about America's political culture. Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, 40, was left fightin...

Michelle Obama sees lessons after Arizona shooting
Mrs. Obama joined her husband, President Barack Obama, at a memorial service in Tucson on Wednesday for the Victims of Saturday's attack outside a Supermarket, where a gunman killed six people and critically wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Obama said Children would struggle with questions about what such an event says about the world. "The questions my daughters have asked are the same ones that many of your Children will have - and they don't lend themselves to easy answers," the fi...

Politifact Calls Out Michelle Malkin for Dishonest Anti-Obama Smear
Wingnut queen bee Michelle Malkin gets a nice big FALSE rating from PolitiFact.com for doing what she’s done many times before — concocting an outrageous outrage out of thin air. And this might be the cheapest and ugliest one yet. Malkin tried to claim that the White House orchestrated a “branded” political event out of the Arizona mass Murder: Did the White House ‘brand’ the Arizona memorial service with a logo and slogan? The University of Arizona memorial s...

Michelle Obama's Open Letter to Parents
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive at a memorial service for the Victims of Saturday's shootings at McKale Center on the University of Arizona campus Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz. (CBS) First lady Michelle Obama posted an Open Letter to parents Thursday on the White House blog in which she asked parents to talk openly with their kids about the shooting in Tucson Saturday and answer questions Children had about it. Among the Victims was Christina Taylor G...

Michelle Obama's Letter to Parents
It's an Open Letter, meaning you can choose not to read it. Dear parents, Like so many Americans all across the country, Barack and I were shocked and heartbroken by the horrific act of violence committed in Arizona this past weekend. Yesterday, we had the chance to attend a memorial service and meet with some of the families of those who lost their lives, and both of us were deeply moved by their strength and resilience in the face of such unspeakable tragedy. As parents, an event like this ...

More Love for the Modest Heros of Tucson
Daniel Hernandez continues to charm his way into the national spotlight. Nearly a week after he helped save Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ life during the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson, he earned the praise of President Obama during a memorial service Thursday night at the University of Arizona. In front of thousands of mourners, the president commended Hernandez for his Bravery. “Daniel, I’m sorry and you may deny it but we’ve decided that you are a hero because you ran th...

Palin's 10 Red Herrings (Politico)
Sarah Palin has continued and intensified the rhetorical strategy introduced by her supporters and surrogates in the wake of the Tucson tragedy. She’s offering a series of red herrings — distracting with concepts that are truthful, but irrelevant, to deflect from other issues or vulnerabilities. (The term originates with the practice of using cured fish to put Hunting Dogs off the track. 1) Free Speech: “Congresswoman Giffords and her constituents were exercising their right to...

Mrs. Obama talks tolerance in open letter to parents
First Lady Michelle Obama on Thursday urged parents to teach their Children tolerance in response to the deadly Tucson Shooting Spree that touched off debate about political Rhetoric. Mrs. Obama, who joined her husband at a memorial service for the Victims Wednesday, issued an Open Letter to parents. Children are struggling, she said, to make sense of Saturday's shooting that killed six and left 14 injured, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. "We can teach them the value of tolerance -...

Youngest victim of US shooting buried
The youngest Victim of the Tucson shootings was laid to rest Thursday, a day after President Barack Obama hailed the 9-year-old girl as an inspiration to US politicians to heal their poisonous divisions. Christina Taylor Green, who was among six people killed by a misfit gunman last Saturday, has become the heart-breaking public face of the attacks which unleashed a wave of soul-searching about America's political culture. Hundreds of people lined the streets as her small coffin was borne into t...

Mrs. Obama talks tolerance in open letter to parents (AFP)
WASHINGTON (AFP) – First Lady Michelle Obama on Thursday urged parents to teach their Children tolerance in response to the deadly Tucson Shooting Spree that touched off debate about political Rhetoric. Mrs. Obama, who joined her husband at a memorial service for the Victims Wednesday, issued an Open Letter to parents. Children are struggling, she said, to make sense of Saturday's shooting that killed six and left 14 injured, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. "We can t...

Arizona Shooting -- Jared Loughner No Different Than Any Other Defendant In Eyes of Law
An undated photograph of Jared Lee Loughner released by the Pima County Sheriff's Office. Even though he might be stealing headlines because he’s charged with murdering a Federal Judge and attempting to Murder a U.S. Congresswoman (among others) Jared Loughner is no different than any other defendant in a criminal prosecution. Who will represent such a despised and high profile defendant? All indigent criminal defendants have a Sixth Amendment right to assigned counsel. Since Arizona publi...

Note from First Lady Mrs. Obama
Like so many Americans all across the country, Barack and I were shocked and heartbroken by the horrific act of violence committed in Arizona this past weekend. Yesterday, we had the chance to attend a memorial service and meet with some of the families of those who lost their lives, and both of us were deeply moved by their strength and resilience in the face of such unspeakable tragedy. As parents, an event like this hits home especially hard. It makes our hearts ache for those who lost loved ...

A letter from Michelle Obama to parents after the Tucson tragedy
From the White House: Dear parents, Like so many Americans all across the country, Barack and I were shocked and heartbroken by the horrific act of violence committed in Arizona this past weekend.  Yesterday, we had the chance to attend a memorial service and meet with some of the families of those who lost their lives, and both of us were deeply moved by their strength and resilience in the face of such unspeakable tragedy. As parents, an event like this hits home especially hard. ...

Message from the First Lady to Parents in wake of the attack in Tuscon
Like so many Americans all across the country, Barack and I were shocked and heartbroken by the horrific act of violence committed in Arizona this past weekend. Yesterday, we had the chance to attend a memorial service and meet with some of the families of those who lost their lives, and both of us were deeply moved by their strength and resilience in the face of such unspeakable tragedy. As parents, an event like this hits home especially hard. It makes our hearts ache for those who lost loved ...

Obama draws 31 million TV viewers for memorial tribute
The emotionally charged Speech, in which Obama urged Americans not to politicize a tragedy that left six people dead and 13 others wounded, drew generally high marks for his bid to balance words of consolation with a call for national unity. The seven-network tally for Obama's 30-minute address, carried live on Wednesday night from the University of Arizona, topped the 29 million viewers the president drew in August for his speech on U.S. involvement in Iraq. It fell just shy of the 32 million ...

Tucson event more political rally than memorial service
Although President Obama said what needed to be said Wednesday night, the memorial service in Tucson had the look and feel of a political campaign event, complete with T-shirts and a special logo. The memorial for those lost in the Tucson massacre was branded with a special name: Together we Thrive. Fox News reported the event was attended by nearly 30,000 people. Those who attended the memorial rally were handed blue and white t-shirts with the "Together we Thrive" logo.  One person tweete...

A 9-year-old's death hits home for Obama
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is not known for showing a surplus of emotion in public, but toward the end of his Speech at the University of Arizona on Wednesday night, he paused for 50 seconds and appeared to gather himself. The audience was on its feet. Obama had just laid down a stark and powerful gauntlet, challenging the country to live up to the expectations of 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, whose death Saturday was an emotional punch to the gut for so many people across the co...

The Tucson Massacre Pep Rally
Listening to the service on the radio during rush hour traffic was something. I can’t imagine what it must of looked like on TV. I have been to more then a few memorial services in my life, as I’m sure many of you have, but this surreal service is…as Michelle Malkin wrote…gross. Of all the memorial services I have been to for slain officers I have never, EVER, heard cheering..whoops and hollering. I’m at a loss for words at this disgusting display tonight. Update 8...