The president’s talents as a communicator were in desperate need in Arizona, where he spoke Wednesday at the memorial for the victims of the shooting in Tucson.
Remarks by President Obama at Wednesday’s memorial service for victims of the shooting in Tucson
McKale Memorial Center
University of Arizona
Tucson, Ariz.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Please, please be seated. (Applause.)
To the families of those we’ve lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university; the public servants who are gathered here; the people of Tucson and the people of Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today and will stand by you tomorrow. (Applause.)
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. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy will pull through. (Applause.)
Scripture tells us:
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
On Saturday morning, Gabby, her staff and many of her constituents gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech. (Applause.) They were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders –- representatives of the people answering questions to their constituents, so as to carry their concerns back to our nation’s capital. Gabby called it “Congress on Your Corner” -– just an updated version of government of and by and for the people. (Applause.)
And that quintessentially American scene, that was the scene that was shattered by a gunman’s bullets. And the six people who lost their lives on Saturday –- they, too, represented what is best in us, what is best in America. (Applause.)
Judge John Roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years. (Applause.) A graduate of this university and a graduate of this law school—(applause)—Judge Roll was recommended for the federal bench by John McCain 20 years ago—(applause)—appointed by President George H.W. Bush and rose to become Arizona’s chief federal judge. (Applause.)
His colleagues described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit. He was on his way back from attending Mass, as he did every day, when he decided to stop by and say hi to his representative. John is survived by his loving wife, Maureen, his three sons and his five beautiful grandchildren. (Applause.)
George and Dorothy Morris -– “Dot” to her friends -– were high school sweethearts who got married and had two daughters. They did everything together—traveling the open road in their RV, enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon. Saturday morning, they went by the Safeway to hear what their congresswoman had to say. When gunfire rang out, George, a former Marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife. (Applause.) Both were shot. Dot passed away.
A New Jersey native, Phyllis Schneck retired to Tucson to beat the snow. But in the summer, she would return East, where her world revolved around her three children, her seven grandchildren and 2-year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she’d often work under a favorite tree, or sometimes she’d sew aprons with the logos of the Jets and the Giants—(laughter)—to give out at the church where she volunteered. A Republican, she took a liking to Gabby, and wanted to get to know her better. (Applause.)
Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard grew up in Tucson together -– about 70 years ago. They moved apart and started their own respective families. But after both were widowed, they found their way back here to, as one of Mavy’s daughters put it, “be boyfriend and girlfriend again.” (Laughter.)
When they weren’t out on the road in their motor home, you could find them just up the road, helping folks in need at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. A retired construction worker, Dorwan spent his spare time fixing up the church along with his dog, Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers. (Applause.)
Everything—everything—Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion. (Applause.) But his true passion was helping people. As Gabby’s outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits that they had earned, that veterans got the medals and the care that they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved -– talking with people and seeing how he could help. And Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fiancée, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year. (Applause.)
And then there is 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green. Christina was an A student; she was a dancer; she was a gymnast; she was a swimmer. She decided that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the Major Leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her. (Applause.)
She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age. She’d remind her mother, “We are so blessed. We have the best life.” And she’d pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.
Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken -– and yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness.
Our hearts are full of hope and thanks for the 13 Americans who survived the shooting, including the congresswoman many of them went to see on Saturday.
I have just come from the University Medical Center, just a mile from here, where our friend Gabby courageously fights to recover even as we speak. And I want to tell you—her husband Mark is here and he allows me to share this with you—right after we went to visit, a few minutes after we left her room and some of her colleagues in Congress were in the room, Gabby opened her eyes for the first time. (Applause.) Gabby opened her eyes for the first time. (Applause.)
Gabby opened her eyes. 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 rooting for her through what is undoubtedly going to be a difficult journey. We are there for her. (Applause.)
Our hearts are full of thanks for that good news, and our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved others. We are grateful to Daniel Hernandez—(applause)—a volunteer in Gabby’s office. (Applause.)
And, Daniel, I’m sorry, you may deny it, but we’ve decided you are a hero because—(applause)—you ran through the chaos to minister to your boss, and tended to her wounds and helped keep her alive. (Applause.)
We are grateful to the men who tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload. (Applause.) Right over there. (Applause.) We are grateful for petite Patricia Maisch, who wrestled away the killer’s ammunition, and undoubtedly saved some lives. (Applause.) And we are grateful for the doctors and nurses and first responders who worked wonders to heal those who’d been hurt. We are grateful to them. (Applause.)
These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, all around us, just waiting to be summoned -– as it was on Saturday morning. Their actions, their selflessness poses a challenge to each of us. It raises a question of what, beyond prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?
You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations –- to try and pose some order on the chaos and make sense out of that which seems senseless. Already we’ve seen a national conversation commence, not only about the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health system. And much of this process, of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future, is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self-government.
But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -– at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do -– it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. (Applause.)
Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, “When I looked for light, then came darkness.” Bad things happen, and we have to guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.
For the truth is none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped these shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man’s mind. Yes, we have to examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in the future. (Applause.) But what we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other. (Applause.) That we cannot do. (Applause.) That we cannot do.
As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let’s use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together. (Applause.)
After all, that’s what most of us do when we lose somebody in our family -– especially if the loss is unexpected. We’re shaken out of our routines. We’re forced to look inward. We reflect on the past: Did we spend enough time with an aging parent, we wonder. Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices that they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in a while but every single day?
So sudden loss causes us to look backward -– but it also forces us to look forward; to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. (Applause.)
We may ask ourselves if we’ve shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we’re doing right by our children, or our community, whether our priorities are in order.
We recognize our own mortality, and we are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame -– but rather, how well we have loved—(applause)—and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better. (Applause.)
And that process—that process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions –- that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires.
For those who were harmed, those who were killed –- they are part of our family, an American family 300 million strong. (Applause.) We may not have known them personally, but surely we see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own husbands, our own wives, our own life partners. Phyllis –- she’s our mom or our grandma; Gabe our brother or son. (Applause.) In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America’s fidelity to the law. (Applause.)
And in Gabby—in Gabby, we see a reflection of our public-spiritedness; that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating, sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never-ending process to form a more perfect union. (Applause.)
And in Christina—in Christina we see all of our children. So curious, so trusting, so energetic, so full of magic. So deserving of our love. And so deserving of our good example.
If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate—as it should—let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost. (Applause.) Let’s make sure it’s not on the usual plane of politics and point-scoring and pettiness that drifts away in the next news cycle.
The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better. To be better in our private lives, to be better friends and neighbors and coworkers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their death helps usher in more civility in our public discourse, let us remember it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy—it did not—but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation in a way that would make them proud. (Applause.)
We should be civil because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other’s ideas without questioning each other’s love of country and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American Dream to future generations. (Applause.)
They believed—they believed, and I believe that we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved life here –- they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another, that’s entirely up to us. (Applause.)
And I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us. (Applause.)
That’s what I believe, in part because that’s what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. (Applause.)
Imagine—imagine for a moment, here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that some day she, too, might play a part in shaping her nation’s future. She had been elected to her student council. She saw public service as something exciting and hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. 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.
I want to live up to her expectations. (Applause.) I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it. (Applause.) All of us -– we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations. (Applause.)
As has already been mentioned, Christina was given to us on Sept. 11, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called “Faces of Hope.” On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child’s life. “I hope you help those in need,” read one. “I hope you know all the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart.” (Applause.) “I hope you jump in rain puddles.”
If there are rain puddles in Heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. (Applause.) And here on this Earth—here on this Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and we commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.
May God bless and keep those we’ve lost in restful and eternal peace. May He love and watch over the survivors. And may He bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
The Lotto Symbolizes the False Promises of Barracuda Capitalism
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By ocjim, January 19, 2011 at 9:03 pm Link to this comment
gerald, well said.
Report thisBy MarthaA, January 19, 2011 at 7:03 pm Link to this comment
m rna tokofsky, January 19 at 4:09 pm,
President Obama does an excellent and wonderful job of representing the Middle Class, huge corporations, huge banks and the GOP in the United States, the problem is that there are 216 Million citizens in the United States that are NOT in the DLC’s Middle Class.
Report thisBy m rna tokofsky, January 19, 2011 at 11:09 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
No matter what president obama says the ignorant,racist people in this country
Report thiswill have something negative to say.
By UNF, January 17, 2011 at 6:55 am Link to this comment
I did not read the lobotomized dribbles exuded from TelePrompterBoy, as I prefer to digest my breakfast before throwing it away.
However, it is encouraging to read the comments from others who see through the thick skein of hypocrisy which cloys to every official pronouncement of the WarParty U$A, as when its CEO, a mass-murderer, war-criminal and psychopath who ‘jokes’ of extra-judicially killing randy teenage HomeLanders using robot drones, stands up to condemn a slaughter which he has not licensed.
Of course, if JLL had gone to Iraq for Cheney’s Oil-Piracy Project and shot up a load of *their* defenseless civilians instead, this same inhuman freak would be pinning a medal on him today for conspicuous bravery in ‘neutralizing Insurgents’.
So when will anyone in U$A seriously question the sanity of OBawmer, those who applaud his perverse words, ‘humor’ and actions, and the sick system behind them both?
Maybe Jared was perfectly sane and just wanted to impress upon Yankees how Iraqis really feel about having 1,000,000 of their relatives ‘liberated’ for no good reason?
Report thisBy SuperMike1661, January 17, 2011 at 6:40 am Link to this comment
Mr. Obama, what about THAT OTHER 9 Year-old murdered by Right Wing discontent in Arizona
Christina Taylor Green was not the first 9 year-old recently murdered in Arizona. The fact the you do not know this points directly to ongoing and sophisticated censorship by American Corporate Media. The Managers of Corporate Media feel that they must “protect” the stability of the American polity; so they have erected their own Great Wall of China around your mind.
On 30 May 2009, Brisenia Flores, 9, and her father Raul, 29, of Arivaca, Arizona, were murdered by a Right Wing hit team of the splinter group, Minutemen American Defense. Jury selection begins this week in the capital murder trial of the Minutemen, including a national director of the group. Nine year old Brisenia, pleaded for her life, but was shot to death anyway. Brisenia’s mother was able to fend off her attackers.
The SuperMike1661 Right Wing Murder List is about to be re-posted. Version 1.2 will contain this profoundly disturbing hit.
Send your candidates for the murder list to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Report thisReport this
By MarthaA, January 16, 2011 at 9:22 pm Link to this comment
Mark A. Goldman, January 16 at 11:41 pm,
Subjective liberty in hearts and minds will never die, but objective liberty can die and has been dying in the majority common population since the NEW CLASS separated from them. The Common Population in the United States must realize they are the common population in the United States, not the Middle Class in the United States, and that the Common Population are without political representation and quit trying to deal with the lack of representation as individuals, but work to unify the majority common populace as a class and culture for equal representation with the other two class and cultures that each have political party representation, draw up a Common Populace Agenda for representation and demand equal representation with the Middle Class Democratic Party and the Aristocracy’s Republican Party, because since the Democratic Party separated from the 216 Million members of the majority common population to become a NEW CLASS of academic elite, many problems have arisen because there are 216 Million citizens in the United States without political party representation, all the populace has is individual representation of ones self, the Democratic Party represents only the Middle Class, which is only the 20% upper crust of the common population and all the rest of the common population get is whatever trickles down, like scraps falling off the table for dogs and cats. If the majority common population want representation they are going to have to quit pulling on the coat tails of the Democratic and Republican Parties, unify and demand representation for themselves as a class and culture—only then will it be imposed on Congress to institutionalize into legislation a new and equal political party to represent the Common Population. It must be made to happen, otherwise it won’t.
Report thisBy Mark A. Goldman, January 16, 2011 at 6:41 pm Link to this comment
“Liberty lies in the hearts and minds of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it…”
Report this—Judge Learned Hand
By Mark A. Goldman, January 16, 2011 at 6:34 pm Link to this comment
I found the President’s speech particulary offensive and I felt the same way about the applause he got. I didn’t have anything against what he said, per se. I was offended by the hypocrisy. I resented hearing these words from someone who is surely responsible for the unnecessary deaths of uncounted numbers of innocent people and the destruction of so many lives, the trashing of our Constitution, the hypocrisy of this accessory after-the-fact who turns his back on Bush’s war crimes as he continues to follow in his footsteps. And I was offended by the cheering from those who, to some extent, are willfully ignorant of all the acts of betrayal perpetrated by the person giving the speech and the politicians and corporate honchos who seem to influence or control his mind and numb his senses. I don’t mean to judge that man, or any man. I am simply offended by the apparent fact, that no matter what anyone says, or what I say, there doesn’t seem to be much I am able to do about it… except mourn the death of my country.
Report thisBy Mark A. Goldman, January 16, 2011 at 6:18 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
I found the President’s speech particulary offensive and I felt the same way about the applause he got. I didn’t have anything against what he said, per se. I was offended by the hypocrisy. I resented hearing these words from someone who is surely responsible for the unnecessary deaths of uncounted numbers of innocent people and the destruction of so many lives, the trashing of our Constitution, the hypocrisy of this accessory after-the-fact who turns his back on Bush’s war crimes as he follows in his footsteps. And I was offended by the cheering from those who, to some extent, are willfully ignorant of all the acts of betrayal perpetrated by the person giving the speech and the politicians and corporate honchos who seem to influence or control his mind and numb his senses. I don’t mean to judge that man, or any man. I am simply offended that no matter what anyone says, or what I say, there doesn’t seem to be much I am able to do about it except mourn the death of my country.
Report thisBy MarthaA, January 16, 2011 at 3:32 pm Link to this comment
Since a Jewish Democratic Congresswoman was gunned down in apparently a “blood libel” killing, President Obama’s speech was appropriate and did an excellent job of healing in that AZ mass murder situation; and he could not have dealt with our government’s atrocious history at that time. My hope is that he, instead of only representing the minority Middle Class, will deal with stopping our government’s atrocious history in the future for the lack of representation of the other 216 Million citizens of the United States American Common Populace that he doesn’t claim.
Report thisBy Peter Knopfler, January 16, 2011 at 12:35 pm Link to this comment
I can not help myself I have to be a Hard Ass about
Report thisthis Martin King talked about the killings over seas
will haunt us here at home Martin King was aware of
the collective consciousness of violence in America
and America killing overseas all the while FBI, J.
Edgar Hoover the closet queen cross dresser labeled
Martin a communist stirring up trouble Bobby Kennedy
signed the FBI wire tap on Mr. King, because a few of
us knew that Vietnam was a phoney, false war, Vietnam
did not attack USA Navy in Bay of Tonkin, and that
reminds me of how we got into Iraq, lieing at the
UNITED NATIONS Powell still can not face the public
for lieing, when Iraq did not attack us Saudi Arabia
did, but you do not know that, the 911 was a plot
between Bush family and house of Saud, but you know
that, and that if you train 22 year olds to kill in 4
different countries, thousands of young troops
collective consciousness says the same 22 year old
will kill at home, you did not know this, killing
over there over here the collective consciousness
does not separate us we are after all, One, you
breath the same atoms I breath and if you exhale
murder I too will sense murder, if you call out
repeatedly for Julian Assanges murder you will get
what you asked for a dead nine year old baby girl.
OBAMA why the tears after killing hundreds of babies
children, and mothers and old men, you do not even
keep count of those you kill in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Yemen killing children over there crying
over here, WHAT F IS THAT ALL ABOUT, close by Mexico
same day in Tuscon 51 dead 15 heads cut off by the
Christian God fearing people,everyone, victim and
murderer all wore Crosses while doing the dirty
deeds, what! Soldiers in USA military killing for
Christ is what they tell me, talk to the boys all the
time, cross bearing military murders. That is the
OBAMA way Drone killings are easy nothing personal
just kill there and kill at home, nothing personal it
is a job and we americans always do our job. USA set
up the Lusitana Ship to get into WW1, then we did the
same ignored Assie intelligence let Pearl Harbor get
wacked so we could go into WW2, then Bay of Tonkin
false flag, to make money on war attack Vietnam,
120,000 injured, 56,000 dead Americans,
1.3 million, Vietnam people dead, there was no
communist threat we did the same to Martin King
considered him communist so to justify killing him
and others, Malcom X, murder of the Mr. Mrs. Rosen, I
remember most of this being almost 70 years old now,
crying for the truth all my life Family loss to
Hitler and Stalin, Austro/hungarian Jews, and now
families lost to Obama Drones will be remembered by
many just like me, the dead are not always dead.
American needs a breath of fresh air and OBAMA is
yesterdays stench. You can not HEAL WITHOUT THE
TRUTH, AND AMERICA IS NOT READY FOR THE TRUTH, SO
MORE KILLING IS ON THE WAY ALL THE WAY FROM
AFGHANISTAN, addicted soldiers coming home form the
kill, all look crazed like Jared Lee a true american.
ONLY THE TRUTH SETS ALL FREE AND YOUR NOT READY TO
TELL THE TRUTH! yes I tortured, yes I would do it
again, sounds about right, 50,000 people in long term
solitary confinement that is torture on a BIG SCALE!
SO NOW YOU KNOW WHY THE WORLD, MOST OF THE WORLD AND
ALL OF THE TRUTH OF THE WORLD, SINGS DEATH TO
AMERICA: I have been to the mountain Top, I have seen
the coming of glory of the lord! Truth is marching
on! Remember that. SHAME I FEEL SHAME I WROTE This in
tears,Now the America I could have loved! You break
my heart every time.
By John, January 15, 2011 at 1:01 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
God I’m sorry I opened these comments.
Report thisI’m glad I don’t have a cabinet full of meds.
By drbhelthi, January 14, 2011 at 3:54 pm Link to this comment
Mister H.B. Obamas experience in the CIA certainly equipped him well to put up a good front and to “act.”
One might even think he believed some of his speech palaver, which he did a good job of remembering.
Did he qualify himself for a special recognition award by the “Actors Guild”?
I´m not totally convinced that all the hooting and hollering reflected “broken hearts.”
Report thisBy samosamo, January 14, 2011 at 1:35 am Link to this comment
****************
I reserve my own respect for those victims in AZ. I don’t believe
in o anymore today or tomorrow than when I saw and heard him
pledge loyalty and fealty to corporate america and the izraeli
zionsts. Of course, I will say that o’s actions have in my eyes
done nothing more than continue the agendas set forth from all
those think tanks that cropped up in nixon’s administrations but
I am not excusing him for his actions at all.
tony_ompoc, read Howard Zinn’s ‘The People’s History of the
United States’. you might find that America WAS invaded.
Problem is those invaders are still here and still doing all the
damage they can.
““Before we get to World War III, isn’t it time to make peace and
Report thisactually apologise to the rest of the World and actually tell the
Truth about what America has been doing since the end of WWII?
The truth is known by everyone who is prepared to find it. It is
exceedingly well documented and indisputable. Lying doesn’t
change it. No one has invaded America.””
By gerard, January 14, 2011 at 12:11 am Link to this comment
Frankly, my heart was broken long before the Phoenix craziness. A decade of illegal and useless wars, the hundreds of thousands of dead bodies and refugees it has produced and continues to produce, the failure of the economic policies that enable it, and the inability of people of common sense to be able to cummunicate their anxieties and frustrations and demands to the centers of power—all of it is heart-breaking. Arizona just comes as an extra-debilitating addition to sorrow and anxiety. Now we seem to be turning on our own.
Report thisInstead of parading the windowdressing of how wonderful “we” all are, how patriotic, how “together”, how special, Obama and all of us need to face facts: The country is close to a mental illness all its own. Rather than being “exceptional” it is becoming uncommonly heartless, and enslaved to an economy based on world destruction. Knowing what is happening at the heart of things, how can one avoid understanding the craziness rampant in Arizona?
What we need and don’t have is another Martin Luther King, God rest his soul!
By gerard, January 14, 2011 at 12:05 am Link to this comment
rankly, my heart was broken long before the Phoenix craziness. A decade of illegal and useless wars, the hundreds of thousands of dead bodies and refugees it has produced and continues to produce, the failure of the economic policies that enable it, and the inability of people of common sense to be able to cummunicate their anxieties and frustrations and demands to the centers of power—all of it is heart-breaking. Arizona just comes as an extra-debilitating addition to sorrow and anxiety. Now we seem to be turning on our own.
Report thisInstead of parading the windowdressing of how wonderful “we” all are, how patriotic, how “together”, how special, Obama and all of us need to face facts: The country is close to a mental illness all its own. Rather than being “exceptional” it is becoming uncommonly heartless, and enslaved to an economy based on world destruction. Knowing what is happening at the heart of things, how can one avoid understanding the craziness rampant in Arizona?
What we need and don’t have is another Martin Luther King, God rest his soul!
By MarthaA, January 13, 2011 at 11:16 pm Link to this comment
Great speech, but as far as Rupert Murdoch’s Republican Right-Wing EXTREME is concerned, President Obama’s speech will be like Neville Chamberlain of England making peace with Hitler in Germany; a little humor while they carry on their political business of propaganda and sophistry as usual.
Report thisBy Robespierre115, January 13, 2011 at 8:32 pm Link to this comment
Now that we’ve had another media circus high, can we please deal with real issues in our society which created the kind of atmosphere and conditions for the Arizona tragedy? This is all a show and no matter how pretty Obama’s words were, people remain angry and unemployed and finding it increasingly difficult to even afford the basic necessities.
Report thisBy berniem, January 13, 2011 at 6:56 pm Link to this comment
Was this “touching” polemic copied to the grieving famlies in Iraq and Afghanistan and wherever the American jackboot has been laid accross the necks of the innocent? I think not! Nor do I believe that justice will come to those in Guantanamo anymore than Bush and Cheney will face retribution for their crimes. Mr. President, you are beyond a disappointment! FREE BRADLEY MANNING AND JULIAN ASSANGE!!!!!
Report thisBy tony_opmoc, January 13, 2011 at 2:29 pm Link to this comment
Nice that Obama can give Americans a bit of love at a time of tragedy, but we all know its not going to make the slightest difference, and the slide into the insanity of fascism will continue after the funerals and the healing and it will rapidly accelerate.
In my view there is only one way to fix this mess, and that is to reverse the process that caused it instead of escalating it and making it far worse.
Its not just the torture, the violence, the guns, the wars and the financial collapse, it is the sheer arrogance and stupidity of Americans - which come right from the top and feeds down to almost the entire population.
The fact of the matter, is that although Americans actually care very little about other Americans - particularly other Americans of different politics, race and religion, they still think All Americans are somehow special and better than the rest of the human race - who they think they can torture and kill at will - even completely innocent Children - because America has decided it is at war with these people - and war excuses everything…
Well, I am sorry to inform you but this culture of violence, torture and assassination that America quite freely carries out across the World is going to swamp America itself.
Its like a cancer that spreads. You can’t just confine it to those who you have decided are your enemies, and the rest of the World understands quite clearly why America has decided that its enemies are countries that have the mineral resources that America wants to steal.
The reality, is its not the Iraqi’s and the Afghan’s that are shooting back at Americans from their own homes that are The Terrorists….
Try looking in the Mirror. If China - who may well have the technical capability at some time in the future, decided to attack Americans in America - with thousands of mini predator drones - all targeted at Americans carrying guns - wouldn’t you get those guns out and shoot the drones down - and if it was a Chinese Helicopter with a Chinese Pilot and Gunner - shooting up Your Family in Your Back Garden - wouldn’t you shoot back?
Wouldn’t you be somewhat offended if the Chinese invaders labelled you insurgents and arrested and tortured you???
What makes you think that it won’t come to this, if America does not stop this escalation to total and complete moral degradation and outright war and fascism. Americans are just human beings like the rest of us, and many have now become degenerate lazy slobs who think the rest of the World owes them a living….
Before we get to World War III, isn’t it time to make peace and actually apologise to the rest of the World and actually tell the Truth about what America has been doing since the end of WWII? The truth is known by everyone who is prepared to find it. It is exceedingly well documented and indisputable. Lying doesn’t change it. No one has invaded America.
America is The Terrorist State That is Rapidly Sliding Into Outright Fascism.
Obama hasn’t stopped what Bush and Cheney Started. He has escalated it and brought it home to America.
Report thisTony
By tony_opmoc, January 13, 2011 at 2:26 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Nice that Obama can give Americans a bit of love at a time of tragedy, but we all know its not going to make the slightest difference, and the slide into the insanity of fascism will continue after the funerals and the healing and it will rapidly accelerate.
In my view there is only one way to fix this mess, and that is to reverse the process that caused it instead of escalating it and making it far worse.
Its not just the torture, the violence, the guns, the wars and the financial collapse, it is the sheer arrogance and stupidity of Americans - which come right from the top and feeds down to almost the entire population.
The fact of the matter, is that although Americans actually care very little about other Americans - particularly other Americans of different politics, race and religion, they still think All Americans are somehow special and better than the rest of the human race - who they think they can torture and kill at will - even completely innocent Children - because America has decided it is at war with these people - and war excuses everything…
Well, I am sorry to inform you but this culture of violence, torture and assassination that America quite freely carries out across the World is going to swamp America itself.
Its like a cancer that spreads. You can’t just confine it to those who you have decided are your enemies, and the rest of the World understands quite clearly why America has decided that its enemies are countries that have the mineral resources that America wants to steal.
The reality, is its not the Iraqi’s and the Afghan’s that are shooting back at Americans from their own homes that are The Terrorists….
Try looking in the Mirror. If China - who may well have the technical capability at some time in the future, decided to attack Americans in America - with thousands of mini predator drones - all targeted at Americans carrying guns - wouldn’t you get those guns out and shoot the drones down - and if it was a Chinese Helicopter with a Chinese Pilot and Gunner - shooting up Your Family in Your Back Garden - wouldn’t you shoot back?
Wouldn’t you be somewhat offended if the Chinese invaders labelled you insurgents and arrested and tortured you???
What makes you think that it won’t come to this, if America does not stop this escalation to total and complete moral degradation and outright war and fascism. Americans are just human beings like the rest of us, and many have now become degenerate lazy slobs who think the rest of the World owes them a living….
Before we get to World War III, isn’t it time to make peace and actually apologise to the rest of the World and actually tell the Truth about what America has been doing since the end of WWII? The truth is known by everyone who is prepared to find it. It is exceedingly well documented and indisputable. Lying doesn’t change it. No one has invaded America.
America is The Terrorist State That is Rapidly Sliding Into Outright Fascism.
Obama hasn’t stopped what Bush and Cheney Started. He has escalated it and brought it home to America.
Report thisTony