Some question pep rally atmosphere at Obama speech

Some question pep rally atmosphere at Obama speech (AP)
TUCSON, Ariz. – Some conservative commentators are criticizing the cheering and peppiness of the Arizona Mass Shooting memorial that featured President Barack Obama. Some have wondered whether it was a scripted political event, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday he and other aides didn't expect Obama's Speech to receive as much applause as it did. The University of Arizona, which hosted the event, insisted it was not political. The school said it planned the event with ...

Some question pep rally atmosphere at Obama speech
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Some conservative commentators are criticizing the cheering and peppiness of the Arizona Mass Shooting memorial that featured President Barack Obama. Some have wondered whether it was a scripted political event, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday he and other aides didn’t expect Obama’s Speech to receive as much applause as it did. The University of Arizona, which hosted the event, insisted it was not political. The school said it planned ...

Obama's heartfelt speech for congresswoman opens eyes
This past Wednesday, at the University of Arizona hall building, there was a Speech. Not just any ordinary speech, it was magnified because of the attention that it was getting on certain television channels, and all the media coverage. Not just that, though, the speech was for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the representative of  the state of Arizona. Last week, at a Safeway super market, Giffords and her staff, were practicing free speech by engaging in a movement, when a 22 year old g...

Michael Chabon Waxes Eloquent on Obama's Tuscon Speech
President Obama's address to the nation, delivered last night from the Tuscon, Arizona Hospital where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is recovering from Saturday's tragic shooting, has been lauded basically across the board. The Atlantic published the reaction of Pulitzer Prize-winning Park Slope novelist Michael Chabon, however, and he voiced his initial lack of enthusiasm with the Speech. His complaint has as its origin the comment about slain 9-year-old Christina Taylor-Green, famously born on Sept...

Barack Obama calls for 'new era of civility' in Tucson speech
US President Barack Obama offered the American nation's condolences to Victims of the Arizona shootings at a memorial service on Wednesday night. • President Barack Obama with wife Michelle at the memorial service. Picture: Getty He also called on Americans to learn from the Tucson tragedy - in which six people were killed and more than a dozen injured, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, 40, by gunman Jared Lee Loughner, 22. The president said if lessons were drawn from the lives o...

Obama Delivers Very Different Speech Than Intended
Before the president took to the podium Wednesday evening, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs advised the press his memorial Speech would run less than 20 minutes and would focus on the memory of the Victims. Politico's Roger Simon received an advanced copy of the Speech along with members of the press. "On paper, it was written for a much more solemn setting. It was written for the National Cathedral," he said Thursday. Mr. Obama's remarks, which called for the audience and entire country not...

Robert Gibbs To Russian Reporter: No, Arizona Shooting Is Not American
White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs , speaking about this weekend’s shooting in Arizona, responded to one Russian reporter’s assertion that the shooting was somehow “American” - as in a wholly American demonstration of one practicing his freedom to… kill… people? We’re not entirely sure what the reporter’s thought process was. In any case, here is how he phrased his question to Gibbs: This is America, the Democracy, the Freedom of Speech, ...

White House Responds to Concerns about Pep Rally Atmosphere at Arizona Memorial
Thursday, January 13, 2011 By Fred Lucas White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs talks to reporters about President Obama in Tucson last night where he gave a Speech to console the nation and honor the Victims of a shooting rampage that that killed six people and left 14 injured, at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Washington (CNSNews.com) - White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs explained Thursday the atmosphere at the previous nig...

Obama in Arizona
A little girl was buried Thursday in Tucson, Ariz. Christina Taylor Green was 9. She was an A Student, a member of her student council, born on Sept. 11, 2001, and, as a result, interested in American politics. "She saw public service as something exciting and hopeful," President Barack Obama said at a memorial service Wednesday night. "She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted." The ...

Obama praised for leadership after U.S. shooting
Sheldon Alberts, Washington Correspondent, Postmedia News · Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011 TUCSON, Arizona — John Jewell did not vote for Barack Obama — and he never voted for Gabrielle Giffords either, for that matter. But as the 59-year-old Tucsonan paid silent tribute to Ms. Giffords on Thursday outside the Hospital where the Arizona congresswoman is recovering from her gunshot wound, he had a message for his president: Well done. On the day after Mr. Obama rallied Americans to beg...

Rep. Giffords Recovery: Moving Legs and Arms
Like this Story? Share it: President Obama addressed a crowd of 26,000 people at a memorial in Tucson, Ariz. and urged Americans to rise above partisan differences in the wake of the shooting rampage. In addition, he made a surprise announcement that Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes for the first time. Erica Hill talks to Bill Hileman, husband of Arizona Shooting Victim, Suzi Hileman and Daniel Hernandez, the 20-year-old intern who helped save the life of Gabrielle Giffords. Sen. Kirsten Gilli...

Obama's emotional plea for unity on day of grief
Was it a new Barack Obama who flew home from Tucson in the early hours of yesterday or the old one he had lost sight of? In 33 minutes on Wednesday night he had reminded Americans of what used to be the essence of his appeal: his conviction that politics – and leadership – should be about uniting not dividing. Moments of great tragedy become moments of opportunity for every president. But the days since the shootings in Tucson last weekend arguably demanded Mr Obama's touch especia...

Obama returns to form with plea for unity
Was it a new Barack Obama who flew home from Tucson in the early hours of yesterday or the old one he had lost sight of? In 33 minutes on Wednesday night he had reminded Americans of what used to be the essence of his appeal: his conviction that politics – and leadership – should be about uniting not dividing. Moments of great tragedy become moments of opportunity for every president. But the days since the shootings in Tucson last weekend arguably demanded Mr Obama's touch especia...

Any pause in harsh rhetoric may be short-lived (AP)
WASHINGTON – Despite President Barack Obama's appeal for civility, history suggests any move toward cooler political Rhetoric after the Arizona shootings will soon fade. An early test will come Jan. 25, when some lawmakers are asking Democrats and Republicans to sit side by side for Obama's State of the Union Speech, rather than splitting the House chamber by party as usual. Initial reactions to that idea on Capitol Hill were not encouraging, especially from the Republican side. A spokes...

Critics Assail Cheering and T-Shirts at Obama Tucson Speech
T-shirts reading "Together We Thrive: Tucson & America" were handed out to attendees at the event, prompting conservative pundit Michelle Malkin to complain: "Isn't the churning of the instant messaging machine a bit, well, unseemly? Can't the Democrat political stage managers give it a break just once?" Pointing to the fact that the slogan appeared on various items at the event, Malkin wrote, "Yes, the Tucson massacre is being branded." She later wrote that she had been informed that the...

Michelle Obama's advice to American parents on the Tucson shootings
Here's an "Open Letter to Parents" from First Lady Michelle Obama just posted on the White House blog: 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 s...

Obama's Tucson Speech Fails To Accommodate Cable News's Attention Span: The Mediagasm
Did you watch the memorial service in Tucson last night? It sure seemed to me to be a cavalcade of statemanship -- presidents of nations and universities and Student bodies, governors new and old, political figures on the left and right, cabinet officials and interns, all coming together to put a human face on the fallen, and give heroes at all levels a chance to bask in the gratitude of a thankful nation. What a fortunate thing it is, to see such lives blaze so gloriously in a time of darknes...

Sarah Palin vs Barack Obama: Their differing reactions to the Arizona shooting according to Politico
  Earlier today I read this article on Politico about the differing reactions between Barack Obama and Sarah Palin on the shooting in Arizona. I found the article quite interesting, here is the main crux of the article: In the span of a single news cycle, Republicans got a jarring reminder of two forces that could prevent them from retaking the presidency in next year. At sunrise in the East on Wednesday, Sarah Palin demonstrated that she has little interest — or capacity —...

Some question pep rally atmosphere at Obama speech...
AP – President Barack Obama greets Daniel Hernandez, a intern for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who helped her after … Play Video Barack Obama Video: UMC memorial visitors watch with hope as President passes. ...

Speech Wins Praise
President Barack Obama's Speech at a service for the Arizona Shooting Victims came amid an effort to recast himself as a unifying figure, after two years of partisan fights. Soon after he left the podium, it was clear he had taken another step in that direction. On Thursday, the Speech won praise from a vast swath of the political spectrum, including Democrats who have criticized Mr. Obama as insufficiently liberal and possible Republican challengers in 2012, among them former House Speaker Newt...

9-year-old AZ shooting victim laid to rest
Stumble This! Tucson, Arizona - The youngest Victim of the Tucson shootings was laid to rest Thursday, after 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 ...

Media meme o the day: Obamas speech was much more presidential than Palins
This is a useful way to wrap up (hopefully) the coverage of Our National Conversation On Rhetoric as it’s a stark example of how easily the Propaganda about Palin’s culpability in the shootings was accepted as a political fact of life. There are two ways a reporter could address yesterday’s oratorical bookends by her and Obama. One: “Hey, isn’t it insane that Palin had to give this Speech? People don’t normally have to point out that they’re not respon...

Your Opinions
Kudos to the developers, architects and to the firm of Godfrey & Kahn for having the courage and foresight to develop Milwaukee's next downtown Skyscraper called Washington Square. The parcel slated for construction has been vacant for decades and deserves far better. As reported, the new 22-plus-story building will be a real economic and aesthetic boost for downtown, and if it is truly touted as a mixed-use development, perhaps a hotel could be included to add much needed height to what c...

NASA Names Back-up Commander for Final Shuttle Mission
Mark Kelly, husband of wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, is scheduled to be the commander of the final Space Shuttle mission in April. Because of his current family circumstances NASA is readying a back-up: NASA announced a backup shuttle commander Thursday in case they need to replace the Astronaut-husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in a Mass Shooting last weekend. Officially, Capt. Mark Kelly, who is Giffords' husband of more than three years, is still the commander for the fi...

Presidential Library Puts JFK Archives Online
The Presidential Library is putting John F. Kennedy's archives online, including hundreds of thousands of personal photographs, documents and doodles. Wyatt Andrews reports. The USDA is proposing a calorie limit for School Lunch, according to age group, in an effort to battle Childhood Obesity. Michelle Miller reports. Despite allegations that the suspected Tucson shooter Jared Loughner was mentally ill, it is still unclear the role it played in the deadly rampage. Katie Couric reports on the la...