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 8:03pm Eastern Obama enters stadium to wild applause. Opening music: Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.
Native American gives rambling speech while holding a feather. His remarks are frequently interrupted by whoops and cheers. He gives a shout-out to his son serving in Afghanistan. Brags about his ethnic Mexican background. Babbles about two-legged and four-legged creatures and the feminine energy that comes from Mother Earth.
Mercy.More whoops and hollers for the National Anthem singer.
More whoops and hollers for the University of Arizona president.
8:28pm Eastern: Intern Daniel Hernandez, who was by Rep. Giffords’ side on Saturday and acted courageously to stanch the bleeding from her head wound, gives an excellent speech paying tribute to the heroes.
Gov. Brewer takes the stage to polite applause and pays tribute to the victims. The shooting “pierced our sense of well-being.” Arizona’s hope “will not be shredded by one madman’s act of darkness.”
Brewer brings reverence and sobriety to the event, God bless her: We will go forward “in prayer, unbending and unbowed.”
And immediately, the sobriety is broken by massive whoops and hollers for Janet Napolitano.
Just. Gross.After reading Isaiah 40, more whoops and hollers for Napolitano.
And now, Arizona-bashing Attorney General Eric Holder, reading 2nd letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
8:42pm Eastern U of A president intro’ing Obama. Cheers, whoops, shout-outs. Ear-splitting applause as he heads to podium.
Audience screaming “WE LOVE YOU!”
People still cheering as he starts his remarks.
You add these blue Together We Strive t-shirts handed out at the service and this officially became a pep rally for Obama and the Democrats.
They should all be ashamed of themselves.
See author page
Un-flippin-believable! Wow.
Never seen anything like it.
Once again it was all about Barack.
Sickening.
par for the idiot course with those people
You’ve got to be kidding me, Curt. Go home and see what Charles Krauthammer said on Fox about the speech. If you can throw stones at Obama here, I’d say you’re pretty much hopeless.
You’re that deficient in reading comprehension Tom?
You beat me to it Aye, by two minutes. I was wondering how long it would take for the Obama cheerleaders to come out and make a fool of themselves.
@Tom:
Reading is fundamental Tommy.
Where, pray tell, did Curt “throw stones at Obama” in this post?
That’s right, he didn’t. Yet, once again, you’re prattling on about a topic of which you have no knowledge.
Hey Tommy….tell us what you think about those snappy t-shirts that were distributed to the crowd at the memorial service tonight…
Creating a brand image for a mass shooting and the resulting memorial service.
Rather classy, eh?
Oh, I’m sorry. You’re right, this wasn’t about Obama.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, would the two of you care to share your impressions of Obama’s speech?
Pretty good speech, one of the better ones he has made in a long time. ….and he chose to acknowledge that political rhetoric didn’t play a part in it:
You agree with him?
The setting, the cheering, the t-shirts, all the rest was disgusting with a capital D. Never seen anything like it.
Now, care to share your impressions of Sarah Palin’s speech?
IMHO Barry’s speech was pretty good. The spirit rally atmosphere by those attending, was less than respectful. I’m guessing that is how the Left does their thing, personally I can’t, I take it a bit more seriously.
Ummm, let me see, a Native American with a Hispanic last name who grew up in a barrio and not on the rez gave a Native American prayer? Hardly. It was a rambling, disjointed bunch of blabber. Perhaps someone should have called the Sioux or Cherokee to tell him how to do a mouning prayer. I can tell you, you will never see anything like what he did (and was not prepared to do) on any rez.
This was not a memorial, as has been said, it was a pep rally, and obviously one for Obama with his little university groupies in full attendance. It was disgusting and shameful. Daniel Hernandez was the only one that acted like a man who understands that the healing will take time. Governor Brewer gave a good speech, acknowledging that there were heroes that day, as well as a degranged young man who took lives needlessly.
Arizona, you should be ashamed. This was not a tribute, or even a memorial but a campaign stop. Pathetic.
Aye, I don’t like the shirts. I assume you can confirm they were Obama’s idea and not the University’s?
As for the atmosphere of the room, I can’t judge the applause because I don’t live there and I don’t know how those people, who have been through this, feel. I think Obama was in a tough spot, offering condolences in a gym rather than in a place of worship. I thought his remarks were quite moving despite that, at least to me.
Napolitano said “we know that the violence we witnessed Saturday does not represent this state or this community.”
Whoa. It would seem she should have checked her facts first. Pima County, under the sheriff that the left wing media is canonizing, has the highest crime rate in the state. You are seven times more likely to be murdered in Pima County than you are in neighboring Maricopa County under the watchful eye of Sheriff Joe. More likely to be a victim of rape, robbery or theft.
There were sections of Obama’s speech which I would have edited out.
Overall, not bad.
In fact, it was perhaps the most Presidential speech I have seen him deliver.
The crowd behavior, on the other hand, was nothing short of disgusting. I have never, ever attended a funeral service or memorial service where the crowd whooped and hollered and cheered like that…never.
This was not a pep rally at the local junior high…this was a memorial service for six people.
What we witnessed in AZ tonight was truly Wellstone Memorial 2.0
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/173566-1
Wonder why Nappy Jan didn’t mention that Pima County has the highest crime rate in the state?
@retire05:
WashingtonTimes
Sheriff Clarence Dupnik might catch the blame, probably that’s why.
Looks like he’s got a BIG BLIND SPOT when it comes to drugs:
The adult daughter of Sheriff Clarence Dupnik was booked into the Pima County jail Wednesday on drug charges.
Mary Louise Alvarez Dupnik, 40, was arrested on suspicion of unlawful possession of marijuana, unlawful possession of a dangerous drug, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and an unrelated failure to appear on a charge of having a suspended license, according to the jail.
She was booked into the jail the same day a search warrant was served at a Midtown hotel room where methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, a scale, syringes, pipes and counterfeit money were seized, according to court documents filed Friday.
Mary Dupnik was arrested on a drug paraphernalia charge after police were called to a South Side motel for reports of yelling and banging coming from a room, according to Arizona Daily Star archives. [2007]
Inside the room officers found marijuana and a pipe, archives show. Authorities said that inside Dupnik’s purse they found 17 syringes, a blood-stained “tie band,” bandages, antiseptic wipes, a metal spoon and a container with white powdery residue.
Mary Dupnik, who listed an address in Tombstone, remained in custody Saturday evening; bond was set at $1,200.
I wonder how she’s doing now?
And I wonder who her daddy is blaming?
Curt, i have always agreed with him.
Believe me, I was on edge the whole speech, looking out for any attempts at scoring political points. Instead, he mildly rebuked those who have tried to assign blame. Most importantly, i think he paid proper due to the victims.
I don’t necessarily disagree with your impressions of the atmosphere and the cheering, but is that his fault? Some on the news have called the gathering cathartic. Who knows? Obama didn’t exactly look comfortable with the cheering, to my eyes.
Honestly, Curt, I thought it was too defensive. Did she even mention the names of the victims? It felt like it was all about her being a victim. I thought it was a mistake and will not be looked upon well by anyone but her most ardent followers. It didn’t bridge any divide. Just my opinion though.
Who said it was?
I’m shocked. The Obamabots and Palin haters salute you.
Curt, what did you think of her speech?
I thought it was quite good, as was Obama’s. Obama gave his during a “memorial” for the victims….she gave hers in response to being blamed for the murders. Her response was measured, thoughtful and respectful. Many insulted her for not speaking up and then when she did, they insulted her for speaking up. The hysteria she produced on the left is quite amusing.
The venue was just wrong. I held on and watched it even as they whooped, whistled and cheered. This had the feeling of a high school home coming football rally. The cheering at the start for the Native American? shaman with the eagle feather when he introduced himself set the tone for a crass spectacle of unruly children. No respect for those that were to be memorialized. Sad very sad.
I too, was bothered by the cheering. I sat with my roommates and said so. But his speech itself was quite moving and exactly right. Aside from the “blood libel” ooopsy, Sarah was on point as well.
I also agree that one nutjob does not speak for an entire group of peoples’ stand, on any corner of the political or religious spectrum. This has been consistent with my stance in defending our Muslim citizens. Hopefully, those who did not previously get that point will now understand what some of us have been saying all along.
Cary: The Term ‘Blood Libel’: More Common Than You Might Think
Of course this was a pep rally. The far left darling being in office gave them (the left) carte blanche to act crassly and disgusting.
Obama would have scored many, many political points if he had just admonished the crowd that this wasn’t the place for that kind of applause and cheering. But it just wasn’t in him.
I felt the speech was well written…the delivery on the other hand, not so much. There were several times that Our President had a self assuring smile on his face after he delivered a well written line and received applause…sickened me to see those expressions…totally uncalled for during a memorial address to the families and friends of the fallen in attendance.(If you don’t believe me, watch the speech again…you will see it several times)…and I agree…the whooping and cheering was so out of touch. I feel so sorry for these families and the loss they suffered…and to listen to cheering?
I do not believe that his speech was a good venue for promoting the gay rights agenda…his comments about telling your family how much you love them…your spouse…”your significant other”?
Really…okay…he was just reading the words, but was it necessary to add this??
I haven’t heard the speech yet, having been at work.
I would caution our side to exercise a certain level of restraint and be careful of how much political hay we make of this, lest we become what we detest in how this whole tragedy’s been politicized by some pundits and politicians on the left.
Seriously, I think it’s backfiring on them. I think most ordinary Americans and even much of mainstream media realizes that political rhetoric had nothing to do with Loughner. Anyone catch Bill Maher on Leno last night? He practically got some boos and received a rather cool response from his attempts at riling the crowd up into blaming the right over the Tuscon tragedy.
I was simply disgusted at what I heard on the radio, not being near a television to actually see the spectacle. Had I not listened to the words being spoken, I would have thought Obama was giving a campaign speech based on the crowd’s reaction. I just wish somebody would have asked for more decorum.
It felt as if those in attendance were giddy about The Comeback Kid being in the spotlight. This was supposed to be a memorial service, wasn’t it? My heart goes out to those people who were expecting a respectful, solemn atmosphere to promote emotional healing. I can’t imagine how the mourners present muft have felt about having the memorial service hijacked and turned into a pep rally. It’s nearly 2:00 in the morning, and I am still so sickened by what I heard that I cannot sleep. Have we, as a nation, lost our senses of compassion and respect? I hope people in other countries witnessing this disgusting spectacle don’t think this is how respectful Americans mourn. I just don’t know how anyone with a shred of decency could have acted in such a crass and disrepectful manner.
Jeff
ON THE OBAMA PEP-RALLY IN TUCSON—JAN.12. 2011
THIS WAS A WELL-STAGED AND CHOREOGRAPHED PUBLICITY EVENT, PRODUCED BY AXELROD/PLOUFE. THE AUDIENCE WERE PURE PARTISAN LEFTISTS. THEY CHEERED NAPOLITANO AND HOLDER, AND BOOED GOV. BREWER, AND THEN WENT WILD OVER OBAMA.
WHAT A HORRIBLE WAY TO GAIN FAVOR—BY EXPLOITING THE TRAGIC EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK. WHAT A MOCKERY TO DECENCY AND PROPRIETY–TO USE A SOMBER EVENT FOR A POLITICAL RALLY. THIS DISGRACEFUL SHOWING IS AN AFFRONT TO THE DEAD AND INJURED VICTIMS.
I HOPE THE PUBLIC WILL SEE THROUGH THE TRAPPINGS OF THIS OUTRAGEOUS CHARADE.
@Curt:
Thanks for that, Curt.
I noted one of the comments after that article said this:
LOL.
As we were discussing on another thread politics is expressed in a huge array of glorious war, sex, weaponry and YES, religious symbols.
Whenever the relationship between two unequals (in politics, the ruler & the ruled over) is explained there is always going to be a goodly portion of imagery thrown in to attempt to cover up the inherent mystery of the relationship.
After all, no ruler wants it said openly that he wields a sword over his ruled.
He will couch it in other terms.
But, in truth, all rulers DO wield swords over their governed.
But blood libel as imagery was not about a relationship between ruler and ruled, it is about a relationship between smearer and smeared.
The false story that Jews require human blood to make their Passover matzos originated with a fiction book passed off as fact in print over 100 years ago.
But to this day, Muslims reprint that fiction and pass it off as fact.
The original imagery certainly evokes great power.
It is the modern-day Vampire myth wrapped up as truth by people who want a good excuse to wipe Israel and all Jews off the map.
But Sarah Palin used that illustration exactly properly.
The blood of the victims was STILL running red when she and some others were being falsely blamed for it.
As an Arizonan, I was embarrassed by the Night Soil of a Male Bovine, that occurred tonight at the University of Arizona. What was supposed to honor the victims, turned out to be a shameless U. of A. school promotion/Democrat Party political rally, complete with what seemed like drunks who’d been tail-gating for 4 hours before another U of A gridiron embarrassment, yelling, hooting and destroying the somber occasion, perverting and corrupting the stated reason for the memorial.
The Leftist’s-Progressive’s-Democrat’s usual over produced/over organized affair bringing on the typical unintended consequences. The fraudulent pre-announced Medicine Man’s rambling, repetitive nonsense seemed eerily similar to the rambling disassociated BS on the murderer’s My Space page. The best speech was the “no notes” young man who may very well be my hero for his humility as almost every Medal of Honor recipient who was just doing his job. I’d like to believe he was there for that special reason, to save her life, to give a very special person a second chance.
Jan Brewer was her usual genuinely human self, before Janet Napolireno got her a little extra face time, and I thought the poor University President MC was going to have an orgasm, introducing President Obama. The President started out in a somber manner, and to his credit, left TOTUS where he can later use it to order dinner. Many have begun calling him “The TRIC” (Teleprompter Reader-In-Chief) but right until he realized the audience came for a pep rally, not a memorial to the victims, he was doing pretty good without TOTUS. The Perpetual Campaigner, got caught up in the idiocy of the moment, his voice went up an octive and he was off to the races. I thought for a moment that he might be able to squeeze out that rap of him being cold and indifferent, by squeezing out a tear, to make him seem more human. God help the Democrats, they can’t seem to help taking advantage of a good crisis.
The last orgy of Leftist bad form was their turning a funeral for a Democrat congressman into a full blown enemy/Republican bashing political rally.
I didn’t know the Congresswoman, just to find out that we had some similar views, but she was pro-Obamacare, which I wasn’t as concerned about it for several Constitutional reasons, but she was vulnerable in 2010, facing tough competitian. When she held her seat, I thought, at least she was a “Blue Dog”, she’s as much distrusted by the Progressives, as are the Tea Partiers, and everytime I saw her on TV she seemed bright and sincere. There’s not much sincerity in the eyes of Progressives, just coldness to the plight of the individual. How can they put another one over on the American people. How many secret meetings, how many late night shenanigans, how many Billions of other people’s money wasted, how many jobs are lost for all time, or an extra 7 years because of government interference ala Roosevelt.
Except for the references to the actual victims, the rest was like a Soros excess paid for Happening. I came away from watching in horror, as the inappropriateness of the whole thing left me feeling a bit unclean.
I agree with you. It took only seconds to realize this was Wellstone II Obama style. In a country that is 90% Christian and not following a Native Indian religion I knew this was politically staged-what else would we expect. Like you, I hope the American people have finally had enough. Obama’s own words have infuriated every average American. Just the seating chart was the first clue this was a political rally. Cheering for Janet Napolitano? I would have like to see the screening line outside! November 2012 is not far away.
Tucson has been described as Arizona’s Berkeley. Now you see yet another reason why that is.
I was fine with Janet mostly quoting the Bible, and was surprised to see that Holder did the same thing. 3 cheers for both of them. Janet’s other remarks–well, hell, she is a liberal. They could have been worse.
I did not get the medicine man and, “Hey, let me first tell you a little bit about me.”
I thought through most of his speech, Obama struck the right tone and got the emotions right, and he managed to dance on both sides of the phony issue brought up by the left, without throwing anyone under the bus. He seemed to go astray in the final 2 or 3 minutes with the dance, but the rest of what he said was well-done. In fact, I would rate this as one of his best speeches, all said.
On the other hand, the pep rally atmosphere and the cheers and clapping every few minutes, as if this was a political rally, was quite off-putting. I believe in the resurrection for all of those who believe in Jesus Christ, and I was glad to hear his name put out there, even by Holder. In fact, this is about the only thing Holder has ever done that I liked and agreed with.
It would have been nice to have a no-nonsense Christian pastor or evangelist to calm the crowd down, to make them realize that this was supposed to be a memorial service, and not a place to do “shout out’s” and all the rest of it.
I watched this “memorial” with utter amazement. Krauthammer was wrong. Mr. Obama could have and should have set the tone and not “gone with” the whooping and hollering crowd. Who by the way were identified as students so their utter lack of decorum and manners at a “memorial” service was justified by their what…immaturity? Tee shirts and phamplets indeed, yes we pass those out at all the memorial services around here! And the posing for pictures on the way out, c’mon get a grip. This speech could have and should have been about 10 minutes long. Krauthammer (I think) said this speech defines Mr. Obama’s stature has head of state? It only defines him as a political whore whose narcissistic nature doesn’t allow him to do the right thing. Mr. O is the President, the leader of the greatest nation on Earth and he can’t take control of a crowd of junior high pep squad members and focus their attention on the “memorial” service and the reverent memories of the fallen? You can whoop and holler after the funeral.
@Rick:
The hero that ran to save Senator Gifford’s life is a gay man. I’m sure there were other gay people listening. No reason to exclude him or them from the sentiment.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/01/11/Standing_Ovation_for_Gay_Tucson_Hero/
He played to his audience, the same audience who fell in love with the Hollywood glitz but no substance campaign. They are liberals folks, respect, tradition, and dacorum have no place in their world. There really isn’t any point in criticizing them for not holding a memorial service the way normal adults would. They are what they are, more’s the pity.
I’m wondering if any of those idiot students will send comments into the University or local papers saying the shooting was awful, but at least they got to see Obama (their messiah).
Just sickening. The sad thing is they probably don’t have a clue how wrong their actions were.
@Tom:
I agree 100%.
@Nan G:
Well Said!!
I can not believe that the “speech writers” don’t have a program similar to “spell check” that can be loaded with potentially harmful words, whether they be of violent or religious nature…
Pure political bullshit. Had a member of my family been a victim, would not have attended. Didn’t watch but a few minutesof it then turned to the Outdoor Channel and watched Wednesday Night At The Range.
Was this a Memorial Service for victims who were senselessly gunned down? or a Rock Concert?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rycZLU6vzg&feature=player_embedded
I don’t get it: Why were Leftists hooting and cheering at a memorial service?
/orgiastic
I was expecting to see Metallica come out on stage at any second with all the cheering and hollering going on.
Obama can’t even hold a proper memorial service without turning it into a political rally. They have NO respect at all for those killed by their own kind.
What is wrong with Leftists?
*sick*sick*sick*
I agree with Krauthammer. Obama had a brilliant peformance.
… I missed who got “best actress“?
/sarc
I think the hooting and hollering had more to do with the fact that they’re college kids than it did their politics. As an open event on campus, those doing that may well have not known the victims and were only there to see the President. I’m sure there were respectful mourners there, of every political color, but we can’t hear them…. since they were being respectful.
Oh, and Metallica? You must be closer to MY age than most college kids today! 😆
I thought the speech was good, could have cropped it a bit, parts in the middle kind of lost me. I appreciated being able to respect my president, for a change. Liked Governor Brewer’s speech and Daniel Hernandez was absolutely outstanding.
This rememberance was open to the public and grief isn’t a carbon copy, we all have had to experience the different ways people grieve in our personal lives. That said, I think some/maybe many, the excuse being, the rowdiness was college students. Perhaps they were not as close to the horrific loss of family and friends and lacked the maturity to keep themselves in check, I can’t blame that on the President. The administrator could have said something during the introduction to Janet Napolitano or after, but then again, maybe they felt the community needed a release from the heavy burden they had been carrying since this horrific tragedy struck. It’s over, time to let Tuscan heal with whatever method suits that community.
I give Obama’s speech a B+.
He could have shut down the party atmosphere at any time. He chose not to.
Whatever that thing was last night, it was not a memorial service. More like a frat party.
I wondered if it would be another Wellstone Memorial. It wasn’t.
It was worse.
I was watching it live when hubby came through the door.
The first words he was privy to out of Obama’s mouth was the ”our husbands, our wives, our significant others,” phrase.
Neither of us knew anything about why Obama choose those words.
Thanks, Cary @#35 for the explanation.
I think the heroism of individual gays, such as Todd Beemer on 9-11-01 and this man last Saturday have gone a long way to let people who don’t know many gays see them as regular folks.
I am surrounded by gays, living in Long Beach, the US’s 2nd in gay population.
I already knew gays can do great police work, be great volunteers, live quiet and productive lives, and they can do the same bad stuff as everybody else, too.
Still, until learning the context, I was as mystified as hubby by Obama’s adding that phrase.
The total lack of class on display last night was stunning.
Jan Brewer was boo’ed…
Unreal.
I did not know our dear leader was a healer. I quote: “I just came from UMC. Right after we went to visit….just minutes after we left her room….Gabby opened her eye” . Could he not have just said: I have been told that Gabby opened her eye. NOOOOO! I – WE . I have been annointed. Embarrasing
@Nageur:
While Obama’s story made for a gripping segment in his speech…turns out it’s not true:
Now why, Mr. President, would you lie about such a thing?
Did you really think we wouldn’t notice?
Shameful.
@Nan G:
Nan, “significant other” is not just used to describe a gay partner. If you are not married but in a long term relationship, that is your “significant other.”
Rep. Giffords doctor was just on TV.
He said she had been opening at least one eye for a while now.
Today she opened both eyes.
She is still ”on the ventilator” but she is forcing the air in and out of her lungs herself.
Today she was sat up on the edge of the bed with her feet dangling over the side.
The doctor was very pleased with how she responded to this.
The next step is to remove the ventilator.
@Nageur:
You are probably one of twenty people in this country who would have thought that Obama was referring to this as if he was responsible. He did not say that, he did not imply that, and it is not true. You just made it up, then got angry about what you made up, then blamed Obama for that. Not sound thinking . . . .
@Aye:
At what point in the video do you hear the boos? I’m not saying they’re not there, I just couldn’t hear them. In any case, it is indeed shameful. I once again submit it was immature college kids, and not representative of those mourning.
@pedaling:
Yeah, cuz “Together we Thrive” tee shirts, that honor those who have been shot is so … communal oowwww … can’t have that now, can we. We can’t have thoughts of people getting along … oooosssswwww.
What would you rather they say …
You guys are just too full of hate
Yeah, Together We Thrive is so awful…. we need more hate-shirts.