Comments on: Dateline: Tucson

By: Sharon Lim

Sharon Lim — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:55:55 +0000

I am quite shocked bloggers here seem concentrated on finding fault with the memorial event held this week. I see lots of complaints about the T Shirts not being appropriate.
The memorial event is not some show event. This was a public memorial event to help Tuscon heal and come together following the tragedy there. Criticizing those residents and University on how they wanted this memorial event to be conducted is wrong. Each community soley decides how they want to handle culturally and morally public memorial services and come together. The event was how they as a community wanted it to be.
Death and dying is culturally handled differently throughout the US. There is no right or wrong way. Please do take some Death and Dying college classes. I truly believe by doing so you may learn.
The community in Tuscon has really responded to help everyone. I keep going to Arizona Star news agency there. What I see is wonderful. The community spirit and outpouring of sup-port, of reaching out to others during this terrible tragedy is quite evident. Truly amazing!
If you didn’t like how certain things were done, so be it. But don’t criticize how this community chose to publicly memorialize those killed and injured, and their families. Don’t criticize them if they wanted to clap loudly and recognize those they were honoring. This was their way of showing support. They were ready to express themselves in multiple different ways that evening. It is all part of the healing process.
The newspaper there in Tuscon(Arizona Star) seemed to verify how good the families and those affected feltat those meorial services. They felt the arms of those there were wrapped around them. They felt the electricity of warmth enveloping them. One stated it was truly quite emotional and helped him immensely. I believe it was Mr. Hileman, the husband of the woman who had taken little Christina Green(that was killed) to the political event. The people there seemed to feel quite honored President Obama would come, and they seemed to feel very good about President Obama’s speech.
As for the T Shirts – The University of Arizona paid for and distributed these free T shirts to certain members of the audience. These T Shirts were only a tribute. I saw one attendee was quite touched by seeing all those T Shirts – -”Together We Thrive.” The message on those shirts conveys a very strong message to everyone they stand together as a community and they will get through this and thrive as they move forward in the days to come. The memorial event was totally planned for by University. They chose the name – “Together We Thrive.” Tuscon local newspaper already indicated the costs shirts would not affect student tuition in anyway. “Together We Thrive” is how I have seen Tuscon has been dealing with this horrible tragedy. They are really uniting together.
The list of wonderful things occurring there should be admired.
I send my thoughts and prayers to everyone in Tuscon.

By: gk

gk — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:00:10 +0000

“Together We Thrive” OFA’s nice little slogan in 2008. Memorial service? Yeah right. Tick’s on a dogs back say the same thing. Non-producers in this country say the same thing to the producers.

By: Bo, PWD

Bo, PWD — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:13:16 +0000

“When you have to argue that the president is more presidential than an unelected woman you deem an accomplice to mass murder, your president just might have a problem with his presidential cred.”
Ouch! That’s gonna leave a mark.

By: Flash Override

Flash Override — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:47:47 +0000

The complaints about the t-shirts are awful, reflecting the awful, empty hearts of those who are critical of them. It was not so long ago that “united we stand” paraphenalia was available at every 9/11 memorial.

By: blip

blip — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:22:29 +0000

JR: “It was just a dumb thing to do is all. And I don’t think Obama had anything to do with it fwiw.”
I am glad you have come around on this point.
That’s the problem when you run with the worlds of bloggers, pundits, email hoaxers and talk show hosts.
They just make up stuff to make you see the president through a jaundiced eye.
And then poor people who don’t know any better run around repeating it like it’s true. That’s the nature of political spin. It’s warp reality to fit a narrative.
But if the University printed up shirts for volunteers and then passed out what was left over…. that shouldn’t be used to disparage the event. We should be thankful that the University shared their facilities and offered up support in whatever way they were able.
It wasn’t even about Obama. It was about remembering people who died. It was about a bunch of people trying to heal from what happened.
It simply does us no good to just attack the event because someone who gets paid to say bad stuff about Obama said so.
I find myself feeling very frustrated lately by this event. I can understand why people might have their feelings hurt by comments about vitriol. Insofar as anyone has been vitriolic, they have reason to be ashamed of themselves.
I don’t think Rush Limbaugh is responsible for what happened. Rush Limbaugh is only as big as his audience and sponsors. He gets rewarded for being provocative. And he is.
Did he kill anybody, no. Is he vitriolic. Absolutely. Are there vitriolic lefties… absolutely. The problem is that Limbaugh, Palin, and Beck are the most influential…. and so it is natural that people would look to them first. They have a bigger market share of the total pool of vitriol. So, of course, they are going to be criticized in proportion to their visibility.
They are what they are. And, well, they make money for weaving scary stories about Obama and how he’s the worst ever and that if you don’t vote for brand X, the world will collapse. It’s a political reality. But it is one that we could change if we could simply agree that vitriol is beneath us. Rush would probably have to retire if we all became Minnesotans…. but he’s got enough money… he’ll be fine.

By: J.R.

J.R. — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:36:45 +0000

“These t-shirts were given to the volunteers who showed up to help.”
I’ve seen you state this elsewhere, yet according to what I’ve seen and read it is only half-true. Volunteers did indeed receive shirts, but so did attendees. It was just a dumb thing to do is all. And I don’t think Obama had anything to do with it fwiw.

By: raven

raven — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:30:49 +0000

Anyway, Thank you, Mr. President and First Lady for sharing this huge grief with these families…whether they were republicans or democrats.

By: raven

raven — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:26:51 +0000

Last night I cried for the victims of this tragedy…Today, I cry for the Country that are so “riddled” with hate, anger and plain old racism. Just read some of the sad, sad comments. The University wrote the program and it’s students gave out Tee-Shirts to remind everyone that put them on that They Will Thrive. Who are anyone to tell this community HOW to mourn, afterall, there were Survivals that STILL had HOPE. Take your Divisive and Hateful comments and go to a site that will accommodate them and cheer your state of mind on. Should I NAME ALL THE VICTIMS FOR YOU TO KNOW THAT HUMAN BEINGS WERE KILLED AND INJURED IN THIS SENSELESS ACT?

By: blip

blip — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:53:40 +0000

“Complete with souvenir t-shirts?? Really?”
I know that bloggers are trying to stoke outrage over the event over the t-shirts. How cynical and paranoid…. to see t-shirts and tell the whole country that these were souvenirs handed out as freebies to attract people to the “pep rally.”
These t-shirts were given to the volunteers who showed up to help.
They were expecting large numbers of volunteers to arrive…. and this is the quickest and easiest way to make sure that the volunteers are visible and recognizable to help the sizable crowd that gathered to mourn.
You gotta stop listening to bad information, my friend. This was a very moving memorial…. don’t let Michelle Malking or whoever interpret it for you. These bloggers and pundits get paid for being provocative…. so they look at everyday life and try give it a sinister spin.
And look! It works. Even normal people, millions of them, will now look at the Memorial with hate and resentment…. and won’t even listen to the inspiring words or think about the actual people who were murdered.
Now, imagine how an insane person might respond to such sinister, cynical rhetoric….
And we are back to Saturday.
Obama was right…. we have some lessons to learn from this tragedy. But we also have some teaching to do.
It’s time to tone it down and start arguing honestly, using facts and reason.

By: carl

carl — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:38:24 +0000

“Sarah Palin-Fox News & AM:Radio Hate Pundits, Cannot Rise Above The Blame Game-Their On Offense, All The Time- 24 Hrs a Day- 7 Days A Week.
Partisan Politics & The 2012 Presidential Election Means Much More To Them..
Very Sad State Of Affairs.”
Posted by: AM:Hate Radio Inc. | Jan 13, 2011 8:14:09 AM
Obama 1/12/11:
“But what we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. 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 us 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 our hopes and dreams are bound together.”
Apparently you didn’t get the President’s memo.