I’m watching the President’s speech in Tucson. What a speech! It’s in the tradition of Pericles.
I think our best politicians get a bad rap. I don’t think you can give a speech like this in a moment like this without being a person of substance and character. Now compare that with the shallow, defensive, and ungenerous “performance” we had from Sarah Palin today. I say “performance” rather than speech because of course Palin had no live audience, which I think is significant.
I say we are in good hands.
TedF
UPDATE (by David): Here’s the video.
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… what you’re talking about with what Sarah Palin said today – I didn’t pay attention to her today so I’m not ‘in on it’. While we’re at it, for those who didn’t watch, here is a link to the prepared transcript of the President’s speech.
…that was a spur-of-the-moment comment. Here’s a link to Palin’s “blood libel” remarks.
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p>TedF
… not sure why that didn’t work. Here is a transcript.
But I ask you: did tears well up in Limbaugh’s eyes? Did love swell within McConnell’s heart? Did Boehner have an epiphany?
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p>We have a problem. A very serious problem.
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p>P.S. I hate writing this. Hate it. Hate it. But I’m deeply concerned about what comes next.
Technically, it’s probably partly this guy who is “a person of substance and character.” And even putting that aside, how well a president speechifies post-tragedy isn’t really a great barometer for their ability to do the job, as that other guy demonstrated extremely, extremely well.
I hear what you’re saying about speechwriters. But I do think that the President sets the tone, at least, of the speech he wants to give, and this was a mature speech fitted to the occasion, generous and a call to constructive action when it could have been distrustful of others’ motives and a call to further division, as were Palin’s remarks in my view. Plus, there’s no question that the Pres. Obama is a writer, and he’s written important speeches by himself before, so I am not sure that we know who wrote this one.
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p>TedF
Re Bush’s post-9/11 speeches: I think the best of them was this one, delivered before the joint session of Congress, not the one that you cited. The Bullhorn Speech was excellent, too, in its own way. It’s easy to look at Bush’s speeches through the lens of Iraq and what became the Bush Doctrine, but remember that these were speeches delivered days after the attacks, and they were, to my mind, rhetorically right on the money. Of course it’s probably easier to rise to the occasion and give a war speech than to give a speech of healing and reconciliation–our greatest speech, remember, is the Gettysburg Address.
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p>TedF
Great speech, terrible president. My point is that there isn’t much of a correlation.
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p>And as for “healing and reconciliation”–I mean, John Boehner’s talking about healing and reconciliation. Almost everyone’s talking about healing and reconciliation. I’m glad Obama isn’t as bad as Sarah Palin, but I just don’t think this indicates much of anything about the ability to be president.
in which President Obama seemed to connect with the audience and to be emotionally engaged in a way he hasn’t been in a long time.
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p>At first I thought his admonition not to point fingers of blame in this tragedy was letting the rabble rousers off the hook. I wanted him to publicly call out Palin, Angle, Limbaugh and the rest. But as this speech went on, I began to sense that its tone marked such a stark contrast with the divisive rhetoric of the rabble rousers that no fingers needed to be pointed. He may have at least temporarily incapacitated them with kindness.
But the Republican thought leaders seem united in their attacks.
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p>Brit Hume thought it was a pep rally and that a non-Christian blessing was “peculiar.”
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p>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
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p>A number of Repubs are beside themselves with sadness and anger because the University gave out t-shirts with a non-offensive saying.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo…
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p>For all the hope about trying to regain civility in the public discourse, I think that is going to be very hard when one side has completely abandoned reason.
Given Congresswoman Gifford’s religion, an explicitly Christian blessing would have been peculiar. Bush was frequently ecumenical in his language and that never bothered anyone.
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p>For course it doesn’t really matter what Obama did, the right would have latched on to something. I think Marx summarized their position best:
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Without seeing any footage or hearing a word of the speech yet (we lost power), I offer this data point.
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p>People are generally glad to see the President.
They were glad to see everybody: Brewer, Napolitano, Holder, Obama. They all were cheered when introduced and I thought that this was a prime example of the coming together that everyone talks about. After all, how many people do you think are big fans of both Brewer and Obama? Probably not many, but as Governor and President respectively they can receive a lot of good will in circumstances like this. The loudest cheers and most sustained applause, however, were reserved for Daniel Hernandez, the intern credited with saving Giffords’ life.
But it is absolutely appropriate for the president to attend. When I heard he was going, I said, “Good.”
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p>President Clinton attended the funeral of the Worcester firefighters. That was appropriate too.
His delivery was classic Obama with the right intonations, speaking over the ovation leading to crescendos… He seemed to be trying very hard to pull us together and not blaming any group and he remained serious but “upbeat”. I liked it.
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p>On the other hand, I was “annoyed” by the party atmosphere. The continued hoots and hollers after the President finished was an example of something more fitting a pep rally than a memorial for people who were murdered. I think a little more decorum would have been appropriate, which I am not blaming the PResident for.
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p>I am a fan of “Irish wakes” so by no means do I expect a somber depressing feeling at a Memorial but I just didn’t like the yelling and hooting…
They negated his great speech. Did the dems pass out campaign t-shirts? No snark intended. That is why I’m asking?
Campaign t-shirts?!??! “Together We Thrive”? A message of hope, a plea for tolerance and togetherness, of unity? That’s a campaign t-shirt?
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p>What should they have said, “Don’t Shoot”?
Was Axelrod in charge of the T-shirts? It sounds an awful lot like together we can.
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p>Also what is your reaction to those in the audience that according to the New York Times booed Governor Jan Brewer during a Memorial Service.
I think the DMC showed restraint: it didn’t shoot the shirts to the lucky attendees via tee-shirts cannons.
designed by students. Gov. Jan Brewer was cheered and was very gracious to everyone present. She gave a short and respectful speech about the shooting victims and thanked President Obama for being there to help them in their time of need.
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p>You should have watched the event instead of waiting for the right wing blogs and radio talkers to tell you what happened. The crowd did seem loud and a bit wired. They cheered for everyone there, esp. their fellow student, Dan Hernandez, the intern who administered first aid to Rep. Giffords before the ambulance got there.
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p>Obama’s speech seemed to help those who were attending. When he announced, with her husband’s permission, that Gabrielle had opened her eyes for the first time, it seemed very cathartic for the audience.
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p>I did read some of the stuff that was being said on a right-wing live blog of the speech (the tee shirt stories, etc. you know). Do they have a clue how juvenile and petty they sound in the presence of such pain and sorrow and grace?
I agree most with JohnD above. Whoever organized the event apparently was trying somehow to meld a somber memorial with a booster rally for Tucson and Arizona. It was pathetic and failed miserably. Every mention of Arizona or Tucson or the University drew raucous cheers, whoops and whistles befitting a football or basketball pep rally. It was a disgraceful display apparently by students who have almost as little idea how to act at a memorial service as Loughner had for how to act at a Congress on Your Corner gathering.
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p>A common measure of the success of a speech is how many times it is interrupted by applause. This whole event was measured by the Wince-Meter – I must have winced 20 times at the disrespectful, selfish outbursts when Tucson or Arizona were mentioned. I just don’t think students at our local schools – BU, UMass, BC, NU, Harvard – would behave that way in that same situation. The president of the university, who was the emcee, if he has any sense, should be hunkering down with his deans on how to communicate to the students the inappropriateness of their display. I have a suspicion, though, that he was OK with it all.
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p>While I’m on this rant and before I get to Obama’s sterling performance, let me mention Holder and Napolitano. For gosh sakes, couldn’t they compose their own words? Are long, opaque biblical quotes the best that cabinet members can muster, including a former Arizona governor? I excuse them only if they were told what to say, perhaps so as not to compete with their boss’s tour de force. Not that they could have competed in any case.
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p>Now, the president: an excellent speech overall, both in content and in tone. Where he nailed it – found absolutely the most compelling thing to say – was “If this tragedy prompts introspection and debate, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost,” “I want America to be as good as Christina imagined it” and “I want our country to live up to our children’s expectations.” Spot-on.
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p>I read that “students waited for hours to pay their respects.” Unfortunately some of them waited hours to pay their disrespects. The tone in that fieldhouse was nauseating but the president erased it with a speech as deft as the prior tone was bad. Thank God and bravo to him for hitting the right notes for a memorial service: sadness and solemnity mixed with fond and loving reminiscences, occasional dashes of appropriate humor, the power of community, love of country and hope for healing and moving forward.
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I feel better for having vented. I meant it when I said Obama rescued the whole thing, though.
This event was mostly for the citizens of Tucson who have been rocked to their core, while providing the rest of us an opportunity to grapple with a terrible event. I found it moving and cathartic. In this day and age, people applaud at funerals and memorial services. The cheers and hollers I heard were outpourings of emotion. All of the speakers, including Holder and Napolitano, displayed the dignity and respect that you claim you couldn’t find. I’m not a particularly religious person but I found the biblical readings thought-provoking and comforting.
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p>And the comparison with Massachusetts students is, frankly, petty and unfounded.
…and now accept it was primarily Tucson’s event and secondarily the nation’s (and mine). Therefore if that style of event was meaningful and acceptable to the majority of Tucson folks, it is not for me to criticize. We differ in our assessment of the event but I agree it was Tucson’s choice as to how to do it. I think we would have done it differently here but I suppose that’s irrelevant. I appreciate your comments, Pat.