Some question pep rally atmosphere at Obama speech

Michelle Obama's open letter to parents about Tucson
First Lady Michelle Obama has penned an Open Letter to parents about how to talk to Children about the shootings in Tucson last weekend. The full letter: "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 mov...

Obama: Time to tackle nation's challenges again (AP)
WASHINGTON – Citing "great challenges for us to solve," President Barack Obama is pledging to work with Democrats and Republicans in the aftermath of the Arizona shooting that killed six, grievously wounded a member of Congress and brought legislative debate to a virtual standstill. In his weekly radio and Internet address, the president moved to turn the page from the week of solemn observance for the dead and the Victims to the governing business ahead. "We carry on because we have to,...

Obama urges Americans to work together after rampage (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama urged Americans on Saturday to maintain the "spirit of common cause" that arose from grieving over the Arizona shootings and use it to solve the nation's problems. Legislative work in Washington came to a halt this week while lawmakers and citizens from both parties mourned the Victims of a gunman who went on a rampage in Arizona on January 8, killing six people and wounding 14, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Obama...

Obama: Time to tackle nation's challenges again
President Barack Obama speaks 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. Citing "great challenges for us to solve," President Barack Obama is pledging to work with Democrats and Republicans in the aftermath of the Arizona shooting that killed six, grievously wounded a member of Congress and brought legislative debate to a virtual standstill. In his weekly radio and Internet address...

Obama urges Americans to work together after rampage
WASHINGTON | Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:11am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Americans on Saturday to maintain the "spirit of common cause" that arose from grieving over the Arizona shootings and use it to solve the nation's problems. Legislative work in Washington came to a halt this week while lawmakers and citizens from both parties mourned the Victims of a gunman who went on a rampage in Arizona on January 8, killing six people and wounding 14, including Representative Gab...

Obama urges Americans to work together after rampage
WASHINGTON | Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:11am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Americans on Saturday to maintain the "spirit of common cause" that arose from grieving over the Arizona shootings and use it to solve the nation's problems. Legislative work in Washington came to a halt this week while lawmakers and citizens from both parties mourned the Victims of a gunman who went on a rampage in Arizona on January 8, killing six people and wounding 14, including Representative Gab...

Obama urges Americans to work together after rampage
Legislative work in Washington came to a halt this week while lawmakers and citizens from both parties mourned the Victims of a gunman who went on a rampage in Arizona on January 8, killing six people and wounding 14, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Obama gave a well-received Speech at a memorial service for the Victims on Wednesday in Arizona and he revived the theme of national unity in his weekly radio and Internet address. The president lauded lawmakers who came together to pay...

Obama Tucson Speech: Call for Unity Over Divisive Rhetoric (Time.com)
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 9-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 a High School pal. On Wednesday night, President Obama addressed Loughner's alleged crime before a crowd of 14,000 in Tucson, Ariz. The Speech was watched by millions of Americans, w...

Weekly remarks: Both Republican Jeff Flake and Obama take heart in Tucson spirit and heroes
Weekly remarks by Rep. Jeff Flake, as provided by Republican Party leadership Hello, I’m Jeff Flake, and I represent the people of Arizona’s 6th Congressional District. Last week's horrific attack in Tucson is a stark reminder of the senseless brutality of which some are capable; the selfless Bravery with which true heroes respond; and the enduring need for leaders who will uphold their oaths and listen to their constituents. My heart goes out to the family of my friend and colleague,...

Some Question Pep Rally Atmosphere At Obama Speech
TUCSON, Ariz. — What was billed as a memorial for Victims of the Arizona shooting rampage turned into a rollicking rally, leaving some conservative commentators wondering whether President Barack Obama's Speech was a scripted political event. Not so, insisted the White House and host University of Arizona. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday he and other aides didn't expect the president's remarks at the school's Basketball arena to receive as much rousing applause as it did. Gibb...

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 ...

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
President Barack Obama greets Daniel Hernandez, a intern for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who helped her after she was shot, at a memorial service in Tucson, Ariz., on the University of Arizona campus, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. 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 othe...

Obama pledges 'spirit of common cause'
President Obama and a prominent Republican pledged Saturday to promote a new spirit of Bipartisanship, one week after the Arizona shooting that claimed six lives and seriously wounded a member of Congress. "Before we are Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans," Obama said in his weekly radio address. Both Obama and Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., in the GOP radio address, focused on the shooting that included the Attempted Murder of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. They spoke as Congress prepares...

Figures. White House Blames Pep Rally On University of Arizona
The White House wants you to believe that they had nothing to do with the planning of the Tucson pep rally this week even though the president, the First Lady and several top members of Congress would be attending the event. Of course, that’s utter nonsense. Every shooting memorial needs a special T-shirt. Workers place shirts on chairs before a memorial service for the Victims of Saturday’s shootings at McKale Memorial Center on the University of Arizona campus Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2...

First lady addresses Tucson shootings
WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Michelle Obama in an Open Letter posted on the White House Web site said Friday parents can teach "valuable lessons" about the Tucson tragedy. "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," Obama said. "But they will provide an opportunity for us as parents to teach some valuable lessons -- about the character of our country, about the values we hold dear, and about fin...

For Obama, somber end to a sad week
Friday will complete a week that, for the White House, was almost entirely removed from politics, in the wake of last Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson. President Obama will attend the Funeral of Richard Holbrooke, who was serving as the administration's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan when he died last month. Obama will also meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who is in Washington for the Funeral despite a simmering political situation at home. At a news conference, N...

Mayor Daley, Maggie invited to White House State Dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao
WASHINGTON--Mayor Daley and wife Maggie have been invited to their first Obama White House State Dinner--on Wednesday, honoring China's president Hu Jintao--with Chicago's trade ties to China a good a reason to include them--as well as having a Chicago president and top aides from the city. I confirmed the state dinner invitation with the White House. Daley's visit here next week will also include him being honored at the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a group he has been ver...

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...

Chicagoan helped pen Obama Tucson speech
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s emotional Speech Wednesday addressing the Tucson tragedy was penned in part by Chicagoan Cody Keenan, a Northwestern University graduate. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs had praise for Keenan while aboard Air Force One as it traveled back to Washington late last night. According to a Northwestern Magazine feature called “Wildcats in the White House,” Keenan won a bachelor’s degree in Political Science there and later earned a master...

Photos of Giffords
Jan. 14, 2011 Photos of Gabrielle healing from her wounds and a comforting hand from her husband as we learn that she is now opening her eyes, moving limbs and seems to be engaged in her surroundings.  It is unknown whether she is able to remember the shooting at this time or the events leading up to her attack. Gabrielle Giffords continues to defy all odds, to defy doctors warnings, to defy the statistics of this type of brain injury which most likely results in death.  Gabbie co...

Metaphors Don't Kill People; People Kill People
metaphor: a figure of Speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our god.” Sticks and stones might break my bones but words will never hurt me. ~Nursery rhyme The recent tragedy in Arizona managed to unleash the pundits on both sides of the aisle. In this world where there must be a root cause for every wrinkle in the landscape and every calamity that befalls us, eve...

Federal judge remembered as a fair jurist
A hearse carrying the remains of U.S. District Judge John Roll arrives at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church before his Funeral on Friday, Jan. 14, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz. One day after mourning a bubbly 9-year-old slain during the attempted Assassination of a congresswoman, residents and fellow jurists gathered Friday at the same Tucson church to remember the Federal Judge. Judge John Roll, the federal jurist slain in the Arizona shooting rampage, was known for presiding over tough Immigration ...

Obama: 'We carry on'
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday the nation must carry on following a week of grieving for the Victims of the shooting that left six dead in Tucson. In his weekly radio and Internet address, one week after a gunman killed six and wounded 13 - including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. - the president said the nation "properly spent much of the week mourning the Victims and remembering their lives." "We also discovered stories that serve to l...

Picture of our OTR at 10pm guest (she was shot) with President Obama
Pam Simon is one of the Victims of the Arizona shooting -- but luckily survived.  She will be ON THE RECORD at 10pm tonight ...she will tell you exactly what happened on Saturday..how far from Congresswoman when they were both shot..when she first saw the killer etc. While in the Hospital, President and Mrs. Obama stopped to see her...here is a pic: The pic is courtesy of the Office of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. ...