Obama temporarily lifts ban on religious expression

Rush: Obama Speech Was Pep Rally
Mediaite reports: Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves and wasn’t so eager to echo the overwhelming praise of President Obama’s memorial Speech last night. Not only was he shocked by the “pep rally” tone of the crowd (something that also troubled CBS’ Mark Knoller during today’s Press Conference with Robert Gibbs), but he also had some complaints about what was said, the timing of the ceremony and the media reaction to it. Limbaugh first doubted the wisdom of having Depar

Limbaugh Slams Arizona Pep Rally And Slobbering Fox News All-Stars
Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves and wasn’t so eager to echo the overwhelming praise of President Obama ’s memorial Speech last night. Not only was he shocked by the “pep rally” tone of the crowd (something that also troubled CBS’ Mark Knoller during today’s Press Conference with Robert Gibbs ), but he also had some complaints about what was said, the timing of the ceremony and the media reaction to it. Limbaugh first doubted the wisdom of having Department ...

O Pleaze. No More Tragedies for Profit of Politicians.
Will he stand with the America that wants an end to the invasions and occupations of foreign lands. Operations preferably referred to by the Administration and those who buy the Administration's line as, "wars?" Will he stand with the poor? The Brown skinned? The Elderly who needs a raise in their cost of living? The sick who need Health Insurance? Obama's words to me sound like profiteering in the midst of tragedy. Profiteering aided by the entire tone of the media in the midst of this traged...

Bogus Christianists
Yes, I have paid attention to the attempted Assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), the Murder of six other people, and the attempted political Assassination by the Leftist media of Former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) in these past few days. Yes, I'm up to my ears in taking care of my great-aunt--an invalid since her accident on September 24th of last year.  Yes, I am grateful to the awesome King Shamus for keeping my blog alive from that time until now. But what I want to know...

Bizarre Tucson Memorial
Humor me while I throw in my two cents. Perhaps it was the raucous whopping. Perhaps it was the Opening Ceremony with the Chief blessing all above, below, here, there, everywhere. Maybe it was the Holder and Napolitano reading the scriptures. No one of the cloth this time to invoke the spiritual. Janet shouting out “hello Tucson, hello Arizona” didn’t awaken my empathy, but perhaps it was her reading of Isaiah. “Make straight in the dessert a highway” that came to m...

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...

An evening in Tucson -- the good, the bad, and the ugly
Posted by Paul at 9:55 PM In the post immediately below, I praised President Obama's Speech in Tucson this evening in honor of the Victims of that horrific Shooting Spree. That Speech was part of a larger ceremony which, on the whole, was rather a mixed bag. The best thing about the evening, even better than Obama's speech, was the news he delivered that Rep. Giffords today opened her eyes on her own for the first time since she was shot. Other good spots: Daniel Hernandez, the intern who helpe...

President Obama at Tucson memorial service
About 45 minutes into the service, following remembrances by Gov. Brewer, former Governor and current DHS Secretary Napolitano, and Attorney General Holder, President Obama is introduced by UA President Robert N. Shelton. The text of his remarks as prepared are available below the fold. President Obama is expected to speak for just under twenty minutes. Update: President Obama's begins: To the families of those we’ve lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university...

President Obama official schedule and guidance, Jan. 12, 2011. Tucson Memorial Service
In the morning, the President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. This meeting is closed press. Later in the morning, the President will meet with Prime Minister Saad Hariri of Lebanon to discuss U.S. support for Lebanon's Sovereignty, independence, and stability, the ongoing work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and other regional issues. Lebanon is an important partner in U.S. efforts to promote peace, stability, and justice in the Middle East. The President an...

Right now: President Obama headed to hospital where Rep Giffords is in the ICU
Here is the White House pool report (from Arizona). Note also there is the list of people who met President Obama on the tarmac in Arizona. News: We are heading to University Medical Center to see Rep Giffords, husband and several other Victims still in the Hospital . Pool will hold outside. Flotus and potus walked down steps and each spoke for a few moments with each of several greeters (names below). Flotus was first, followed by potus, Eric Holder, Janet Napolitano, Justice Kennedy, Nancy Pel...

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...

The First State Approved Megachurch Service
That's essentially how The PJ Tatler describes last night's memorial in Tucson: Last night we may have witnessed the 21st Century's first spiritual gathering in which our political leaders become High Priests too. There were no Jewish rabbis or Catholic and Christian clergy who represented the faiths of those who actually died or were terribly maimed. Instead, the University of Arizona offered up Secular political leaders to serve as our spiritual leaders. They were the ones who were there to s...

State Shariah ban moves up judicial ladder
A constitutional scholar who graduated cum laude from Harvard Law and later taught at the University of Oklahoma and Oral Roberts University says a Federal Judge got it backwards when she wrote an opinion that Oklahoma voters would not be allowed to ban the use of Shariah law in their courts. That opinion came from Chief Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, who before Christmas blocked the state from certifying a Constitutional Amendment ap...

Obama Calls for Unity to Prevail Over Divisive Rhetoric
Friends of the accused killer, Jared Lee Loughner, keep using the same words to guess at his reasons for gunning down a congresswoman, several Retirees and a nine-year-old girl in a Safeway Parking Lot. "He loves causing chaos," a former target-shooting buddy told one reporter. "Mainly to just promote chaos," echoed another High School pal. On Wednesday night, President Obama addressed Loughner's alleged crime before a crowd of 14,000 in Tucson, Arizona. The Speech was watched by millions of ...

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...

Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno on 2011 Priorities For The Environment and Natural Resources Division
Many thanks to my good friend, Jim Rubin, for inviting me here today. It is always a pleasure for me to see my long-time friends at the D.C. Bar.  I have been a D.C. Bar member since 1991 – that is 20 years – and have served on various Bar committees and participated in pro bono activities sponsored by the Bar. So I can’t resist making a pitch to you that you get involved in the D.C. Bar’s many programs and pro bono c...

DOJ to Commemorate 50th Anniversary of RFKs Swearing In as Attorney General
Former and current DOJ employees are expected to attend, along with Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy , other members of the Kennedy family, Civil Rights leaders and historians. The event will include remarks from Attorney General Eric Holder and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend , Kennedy’s daughter and the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. A video retrospective also will be shown. In addition, Jack Rosenthal , a chief press officer at DOJ under Kennedy, will moderate a panel ...

DEMOCRAT Vice President Joe Biden: One more GOP budget gripe and "I am going to strangle them"
Biden: One more GOP Budget gripe and 'I am going to strangle them' The Hill Vice President Biden jokingly expressed his frustration toward Republicans on Tuesday, accusing them of having insincere concerns about the Budget Deficit. Biden jokingly said that GOP Protests about the need for a Balanced Budget made him want to strangle them, which the vice president quickly clarified was a figure of Speech. “If I hear one more Republican tell me about balancing the budget, I am going to strangl...

House Vote on Repeal of ObamaCare Scheduled
A spokesman for the House leadership says the vote to Repeal the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 19th, 2010. The battle over the healthcare law is also being waged in U.S. states, who are charged with implementing many of its key requirements. On Tuesday, Kansas took the first step in joining a multi-state Lawsuit led by Florida, saying the reforms are an overreach of federal power. Currently, more than half of all states are suing, and the U.S. governme...

Obama to see Pakistani president, attend memorial
President Barack Obama will meet with Pakistan's president, who has come to Washington to attend a memorial service for Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Obama and Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari (AH'-seef ah-LEE' zar-DAH'-ree) will discuss such issues as economic reform, Democracy and Counterterrorism efforts when they talk Friday morning. In the afternoon, the two leaders, along with Vice President Joe Biden and other dignitaries, will attend the memorial for Ho...

Obamas full speech at Tucson Memorial
Obama’s full Speech at Tucson Memorial Here’s the thing with Obama’s Speech at the Tucson Memorial tonight. I can’t really bash him. It was long, but that’s not uncommon for Presidents. What really offended me tonight, which I don’t blame Obama for was the crowd yelling and screaming he walked in the arena, and then started to speak. This was supposed to be a memorial service which is a somber event, not a pep rally, yet the college kids in the crowd didn...

Is Obama Leaving the Left Behind?
Friday, January 14, 2011 By Patrick J. Buchanan The day that President Obama departed for Arizona to address the nation on the Tucson massacre, Washington was abuzz. Would he take the line of the hard left and call out the right for having created what columnist Paul Krugman called the "Climate of Hate" in which a mentally deranged Jared Lee Loughner had acted? Would he lay moral responsibility for the slaughter at the feet of Fox News and Sarah Palin, as the wilder voices of the left have ...

You Must Read Allahpundits Summary of the Obama/Palin Comparisons. Now.
You Must Read Allahpundit’s Summary of the Obama/Palin Comparisons. Now. I will not excerpt. A homework assignment for aspiring Speechwriters: Try to write an address titled “I Didn’t Kill Anyone” without sounding aggrieved. Now read the whole thing. They called Obama’s Speech masterful. Absurd. This is masterful....

A Lincoln without a Gettysburg: Obama speaks at Tucson
Whatever others may make of him, Barack Obama continues to see himself as a statesman standing above party and Partisanship, one who, unlike his opponents, is actuated by a lofty civic vision. This vision was on display in Tucson on Wednesday evening. Mr. Obama rose above tacky surroundings to deliver the best Speech of his career. It was the best because it was the most Lincolnian. The problem was that Tucson wasn’t Gettysburg. The event, Together We Thrive: Tucson and America, was quite ...

Obama speech recalls Reagan
Two weeks after President Barack Obama returned from a Hawaiian Vacation spent reading a 900-page biography of Ronald Reagan, he delivered a Speech in Tucson, Ariz., Wednesday that incorporated, but didn’t parrot, the gilded, common-touch oratory of the 40th president. The pageantry and patter of the Oval Office that came so naturally to Reagan and Bill Clinton haven’t come quite as easily to Obama, an electrifying campaign performer who is finally mastering the intimate, idiosync...