Obama calls for an end to 'sharply polarised' US

Obama urges Americans to debate 'in a way that heals'
Reporting from Tucson and Los Angeles — President Obama, facing the challenge of consoling Arizona and uniting the nation, urged Americans on Wednesday not to point fingers of blame but to "expand our moral imaginations" and to "sharpen our instincts for empathy." Speaking at a memorial for Victims of the Tucson shooting rampage that left six people dead and 13 wounded, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), the president said the gunman's motives were shrouded in mystery. "T...

Obama Lifts Spirits in Spite of Tragedy
TUCSON, Ariz. - It was an emotional memorial, and an uplifting rally at University of Arizona, as Arizona and the nation unite to remember the Victims of the shooting in Tucson. A moving tribute was given to those who died, those who survived, and the heroes of Saturday's attack --an attack that has touched the entire country. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attended the service Wednesday night at McKale Center. Members of his cabinet, including Homeland Security secretary and form...

Obama leads memorial for Tucson shooting
President Barack Obama led a national outpouring of grief while calling for unity at an emotional memorial after a shooting that unleashed fierce debate about inflammatory political Rhetoric. In a Speech repeatedly interrupted by applause for those who tackled the gunman -- and the announcement that a US lawmaker who was shot in the head had opened her eyes -- Obama said the attack must not lead to new divisions. "At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -- at a time when w...

Obama calls for unity, humility at Tucson memorial
At a memorial for the Victims of the Mass Shooting in Tucson, Ariz., Saturday, President Obama sought to move beyond finger-pointing to healing. He said of 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, who was killed: 'I want to live up to her expectations.' Speaking at a memorial service at the University of Arizona in Tucson, President Obama honored the Victims of last weekend’s shooting rampage in that city, sharing thoughts about those who had died and lauding the heroic behavior displayed durin...

In Arizona, Obama Appeals To Our Better Angels (The Nation)
The Nation -- At his best, Barack Obama is a leader who appeals to our better angels, who rode to the White House on a campaign of “hope.” Nowhere was Obama’s empathy more needed, and more appropriate, than in Tucson Wednesday night. “If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost,” the president said. He led by example in a powerful, emotional and poetic address. He consoled not only thos...

Obama's Call for Renewal: Democracy 'As Good As Christina Imagined It'
President Obama's Tucson memorial Speech was as much about being a father as it was about being a president. He melded the personal and the political into a call for renewal and a road map to a healthier civic life -- all of it powered by memories of the dead, in particular a murdered little girl who expected great things of her country. Obama did not take the easy way out at the University of Arizona. He could have simply eulogized those lost in the eruption of violence last Saturday, and raise...

Obama Finds His Voice, MSM Still Lost
If you missed the Tucson Memorial tonight , you can read President Obama’s Speech here. It was a very good speech, very well delivered. I was watching it and monitoring twitter at the same time, and saw many judging the Speech to be his best since the election. I think I agree with that. I recall being disappointing with Obama’s Inaugural Speech, and even some of Obama’s biggest supporters have complained that he sometimes seems too detached from his words or surroundings, but ...

'Gabby Opened Her Eyes'
President Obama says that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has opened her eyes for the first time since being shot through the head on Saturday. In his remarks at a memorial service in Tucson, Ariz., for the Victims of last Saturday's shooting rampage, Obama hit an emotional high point when he told of Giffords' opening her eyes for the first time not long after his visit to her bedside. "Gabby opened her eyes, so I can tell you: She knows we are here, she knows we love her, and she knows that we are root...

Obama: 'I believe we can be better'
President Barack Obama, seeking to gently guide the country towards healing and greater civility, called on Americans Wednesday to pay tribute to the Victims of an Assassination attempt against Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords by bringing a new sense of respect to the nation’s political discourse. “If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost,” Obama said, addressing a capacity audience at memorial s...

Obama's Moving But Ultimately Unsatisfying Speech
[Guest post by Noam Scheiber:] Wednesday night’s Speech in Tucson could turn out to be the trickiest assignment of Obama’s presidency. Consider what the situation called for: Memorializing Victims, comforting a traumatized community, unifying a country left even more polarized by the tragedy, projecting optimism about the future. Perhaps most challenging of all, Obama had to draw some larger lesson from events that, we’re discovering, have little intrinsic meaning. But he had ...

Sam Stein: Obama Re-Introduces The Human Element To The Giffords Tragedy
WASHINGTON -- It is when there is a human element to his presidency that Barack Obama tends to stand the tallest. And on Wednesday evening, as he spoke to 20,000-plus at a memorial service at the University of Arizona, there was, if nothing else, an emotional honesty to what he had to say. To a nation looking for clarity, Obama didn't pretend to have all the answers. There is, he noted, a tendency to demand "order" from "chaos," to try and "make sense out of that which seems senseless." Life d...

At Memorial, Obama Announces Giffords Opened Her Eyes
President Obama speaks at the Tucson, AZ memorial event (AP) NEXT » President Obama spoke at a memorial for those killed and injured in Saturday shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords outside a Tucson, Arizona Supermarket, and told the country, "There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen," and also referred to the debate, "It's important for us to paus...

Obama: Don't turn on each other
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other "in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds." Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: "She knows we're here, and she knows we love her." In a memorably dramatic...

Obama: Make shooting debate 'worthy of those we have lost'
President Obama sought Wednesday night to unite the country after last week's shootings in Arizona, saying the country can not let the attack be "one more occasion to turn on one another." The president called on the nation to transcend the heated Rhetoric and blame-laying of both recent months and the days following the shooting as he sought to move the debate to higher ground. "If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost...

Obama Calls for Civility in Wake of Tragedy
For the most part, the response to the Tucson tragedy has been a dispiriting spectacle. Within hours of the shooting, some on the left were pinning the blame in part on Sarah Palin, despite the lack of evidence that alleged shooter Jared Loughner had been inspired by her Rhetoric. Then some on the other side began attacking the left for politicizing the tragedy - accusations, of course, that were themselves a politicization of the tragedy. Instead of remembering the Victims of the attack, many ...

In Memorial Address, President Obama Pleas For Discourse Worthy Of Those Lost
It was the keynote address at tonight’s memorial for the tragic events of last Saturday, and the first time President Obama was given a full platform to address the nation and attempt to heal its wounds. In a poignant address filled with scripture, the President individually honored those killed and injured, plead with Americans not to “turn on one another,” and offered the best news about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of the night: she opened her eyes today. “There is nothing ...

Obama Arizona Speech: FULL TEXT
TUCSON, Ariz. — Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other “in a way that heals, not in a way wounds.” Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: “She knows we’re here, and she knows we love her.” In a...

Obama: Rep. Giffords Opened Her Eyes
(Newscore) - Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) "opened her eyes for the first time," just moment after US President Barack Obama visited her in the Hospital, he revealed at Wednesday's memorial service in Tucson, Ariz., for the Victims of Saturday's shootings. Giffords' husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly, told Obama it happened right after he left the room. "She knows we are here, knows that we love her and knows we are rooting for her through a difficult journey," Obama said. The president ...

Obama Says Polarized Americans Should Be Talking With Each Other in a Way That Heals
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other “in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.” Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: “She knows we’re here, and she knows we love her.&...

Obama urges nation to speak healing words in Ariz.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other “in a way that heals, not in a way wounds.” Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: “She knows we’re here, and she knows we love her.”...

Obama: Polarized Nation Needs Healing
TUCSON, Ariz. - Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other "in a way that heals, not in a way wounds." Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: "She knows we're here, and she knows we love her." In a memorably dramatic moment, the pres...

Obama: Polarized Nation Needs Healing
TUCSON, Ariz. - Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other "in a way that heals, not in a way wounds." Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: "She knows we're here, and she knows we love her." In a memorably dramatic moment, the pres...

Tucson Memorial Service: Obama on God, broken hearts, hopes of a nation
 An eloquent and at times emotional President Barack Obama spoke of God, broken hearts and the hopes of a nation Wednesday evening. Speaking at the Tucson Memorial Service for the Arizona Shooting Victims Obama spoke of moral imagination and the healing of the American spirit. Last Saturday, outside of a strip mall in Tucson Arizona, Jared Lee Loughner killed six people, including Federal Judge John Roll and nine year old  Christina Taylor Green, and wounded more than a dozen, includin...

Full video and text of President Obama's speech at the Arizona victims memorial
Today President Obama spoke at a memorial service for the twenty Victims of the Arizona shootings.  Six people were killed and fourteen were wounded when a gunman opened fire at a public event hosted by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.  To the left is a full video of the President Speech.  Below is a the full text of the Speech. "To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the p...

Obama: Don't Assign Political Blame in Shootings
A child was among the dead. And in her memory and honor, President Obama urged Americans to commit to forging a country that would be forever worthy of the "gentle, happy spirit" of 9-year old Christina Taylor Green. Addressing an overflow audience of 14,000 in an arena on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, the president decried those in his own party who were quick to try to blame the shooting incident on the incendiary Rhetoric and campaign materials of conservative commentator...