[wetibbe]

I have always been a BIG fan of Sarah and she did not disappoint me with her speech.

But here's what did disappoint me:

Barack Obama calls for an end to 'sharply polarised' USUS president warns against allowing search for answers about Arizona shooting to further divide the country

As it happened: Barack Obama's speech at the University of Arizona


Share97 Chris McGreal in Tucson guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 January 2011 02.55 GMT Article history
Barack Obama and Michelle Obama after his speech calling for US unity after the shooting in Arizona Link to this video Barack Obama has appealed for an end to the "sharply polarised" debate that has consumed American politics in recent years and provided the backdrop to the aftermath of the bloody assassination attempt against a congresswoman in Tucson.

Speaking at a memorial event in Tucson for the six dead and 14 wounded, the president said he understood why people looked for explanations for the tragedy, which has prompted a vigorous debate about the role increasingly aggressive political rhetoric may have played in the killings

In a powerful and, at times, emotional speech that repeatedly drew rousing cheers, Obama warned against allowing the search for answers to further divide the country.

"When a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations – to try to impose 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 systems. 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," the president said.

"But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarised – 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 are talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds."

Obama said no one could know exactly what triggered the attack or "what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind".

He said lessons must be learned but warned against that process further dividing Americans.

"What we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each another," he said. "If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let's make sure it's worthy of those we have lost. Let's make sure it's not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle."

Obama's address to the memorial, called Together We Thrive: Tucson and America, at a packed University of Arizona sports arena, stood in contrast to Sarah Palin's videotaped defence released a few hours earlier which has been widely criticised for catching the public mood wrong with a belligerent defence of aggressive political rhetoric.

Before the memorial, Obama visited survivors of the deadly attack beginning with Gabrielle Giffords, the Democrat congresswoman who was the target of Saturday's assassination attempt by Jarad Lee Loughner. She remains in critical condition after she was hit in the head by a bullet.

Obama said that when members of congress visited Giffords on Wednesday, she opened her eyes for the first time.

Afterwards, Obama met the families of those killed including the parents of nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green who is to be buried today.

At the memorial, he said nothing could replace their loss.

"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," he said.

Obama drew on his experience of dealing with the shooting rampage by a soldier at Fort Hood in 2009 by focusing on the lives of the victims including a couple, George and Dorothy Morris, who were together for 50 years, and a federal judge, John Roll. He also spoke about Dorwan Stoddard, who died shielding his wife from the bullets, and Christina Taylor Green, who was born on September 11, 2001 and died in what some are characterising as another terrorist attack.

"Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken – and yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness," he said. "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."

Obama also praised those who saved others.

"We are grateful for a petite 61-year-old, Patricia Maisch, who wrestled away the killer's ammunition, undoubtedly saving some lives," he said.

The 14,000 seat sports arena was filled to capacity hours before he arrived. The mourners gave a standing ovation and ringing cheers to some of those involved with the tragedy, including the two of the surgeons who have been treating Giffords.

But the loudest cheer was reserved for the president who was greeted with the orchestra playing Fanfare for the Common Man.

Among the others who addressed the memorial were the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, the Arizona governor, Jan Brewer, and Carlos Gonzales, a Native American who offered a traditional prayer.

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I said I will no longer bash Obama. I just don't like it. It's not my style. It turns me off. However, what he is saying is that we, the people, are supposed to acquiesce and roll over while he continues to antagonize us by hiding his bio-data and pays well over a million to attorneys to conceal his past.

What he is calling for is to have the American people roll over and acquiesce while he surges ahead with his socialist, leftist steeped, agenda to neuter American and turn all into surfs while our economy is being decimated and our country is being overrun with ex-nationals. I won't go into the very extensive ancillary aspects.
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