Immediately preceding last night's memorial service for the Arizona shooting victims, I saw the above tweet from American Prospect reporter and blogger Adam Serwer. I'm not sure it was a prediction that'll make me call Serwer today to ask for lottery numbers, but credit where credit is due. Pamela Geller, conservative author and architect of the ZOMG Ground Zero Mosque!!!! hysteria, typed out the following comment on her blog:
I am watching Obama give what appears to be a campaign speech in Arizona. Call me old fashioned, but the Arizona memorial event was more like a sporting event than a memorial service. The wolf whistles, the whooping and hollerin' for Obama, Big Sis Napolitano, Holder (?) et al is making my skin crawl.
After the speech, a Fox News panel led by anchor Brit Hume also noted the audience's fervor.
"I think the president prepared this speech in the expectation that this would be indeed a memorial service," he said. "I think it ended up being nothing of the kind. This was much more of a pep rally and perhaps that's precisely what the people of Tuscon and the people of this region needed...and wanted."
Bingo, Mr. Hume. According to Politico, Tucson's mayor said that was exactly what his community needed:
Asked if the mood was appropriate, Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, a Republican, didn't hesitate: "Oh yes. Yes! If there was one thing that was appropriate, it was cheering. I've been in the hospital, and the people that are healing, they want to hear people cheer."
Nothing to add, Mr. Mayor.
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The way we deal with tragedy, shock and grief is personal but it's also cultural. Those who say the audience was not somber enough, too enthusiastic, are commenting as much on their own culture as on that which they claim to objectively observe. It is oppression itself to tell others (who do no harm) the proper way process such a complex moment.
I agree and would even add that it is situational. I think that's what gave me and many other pause. Memorial services usually are more reserved and somber.
How many memorial services have you been to where they gave away free t-shirts? You have to admit, this and the atmosphere was a little unconventional.
That said, I think it was appropriate. I could not tell until I heard from those present and those who have a stake in the immediate healing. I heard many pundits on both sides express surprise and uncertainty.
And although a little long winded, I applaud the President's message and tone.
I would add that I wish the President would have come out stronger sooner. Unfortunately, those wanting to exploit this for political gain had a lot of time to create a divide that now will be hard to back off of.
I'd also add, to her credit, I do not think Ms. Maddow and her show joined in this negative bandwagon. Focusing on reasonable gun controls and how to assist those who struggle from mental illness or psychological challenges seems very appropriate.
I live in Tucson. The President's speech is exactly what we needed. We have been derided, boycotted, insulted, and treated as less than human ever since the Phoenix crew passed laws that, not only we Tucsonans, but the rest of the country didn't like. It's about time someone came here and gave us some nice words.
We love Janet Napolitano, our former governor. We appreciate her coming here as well. And the blessing from a Native American spiritualist was so appropriate, given the number of reservations around us. It was a very touching hour. What better way to honor those who came than to provide t-shirts of the event. Every time I see someone wearing that t-shirt, it will remind me of this beautiful event at a time of extreme sorrow.
Of course we cheered. We've been scared for quite a long time. It was such a relief.
Pointdexter, I hope that you did get from the service what you in Tucson needed. I applaud you for speaking up, those who would criticize from afar are way out of line.. and just trying to spin this in a political way. They are obviously "enemies" of the President. They also may have forgotten, folks were mourning those who died., and cheering those who survived and those who were heroes, and lifting up those who were so numb and scared by the events. This was held in a sporting arena and many were college students, .. so given all of that, it was an amazingly moving and appropriate event!
I thought the POTUS did a great job. How unsurprising they would throw stones at him.
Ya know, we have the most elegant President ever. One who knows how to bring people together. There are some people (critics) who are not going to be happy in heaven!
This label is only as accurate as the results of his efforts. Gov. Bush carried this label, a uniter not a divider, from his days working with the state legislator but in the end he did not produce that same result with the American people. Those who liked him like him, those who did not still do not.
If President Obama can turn the page from low approval ratings and become someone who leads those with different points of view to cooperation, collaboration, and reconciliation, then he will have earned this label. I hope, in that, he is successful.
Well, RobDon, the Republicans have to go half way. They need to stop saying that they would rather the country go to hell than see him succeed. They have to start compromising, they have to quit hating, they have to quit being disrespectful. The President's approval rating has always been high to my way of thinking and the Republican Congress's approval rating rock bottom.
I don't know that I've heard Republicans say "they would rather the country go to hell than see him succeed." I have heard many say they want him to fail if his policies are harmful to America as they see it.
But I guess that is the dilemma. How do you disagree without being disagreeable? How do you oppose someone's policy without opposing that person?
I don't see President Obama's ratings as a sign he has been successful at bringing people together so far.
In the end, if the President is able to get more cooperation and both sides work together to affect positive change, then he will be successful as a leader who was able to unite both sides.
I understand the natural tendency to say "we would have been united had the other side cooperated more" but that is the challenge of leadership. You wouldn't need leadership if unity happened just because one wanted it to happen.
Again, in respect to bringing about a civil dialog that produces more bipartisanship and a stronger nation, I hope he is successful.
Can any one person accomplish everything we all agree is needed? Whether it's President Obama or Sarah Palin, one person can only lead those willing to follow. He or she can't "make us drink." Each of us has to make some kind of decision how we'll conduct ourselves, and maybe we have to accept some of the responsibility for the toxic atmosphere in this country.
Vitriol and vehemence and general nastiness certainly have an affect, and the real danger to all this lies with the unbalanced who are simply not capable of making those rational decisions. The debate about mental heath availabilty is a good one, and the issue should be examined carefully.
Meanwhile the rest of us can think about our actions, whether it's carrying a particularly insulting sign at a protest, or posting something online attacking the entire other side as purely evil.
RonDon, no I'm not buying it. When a Republican shouts out to the President that he lies and his party does not chastise him, when rallies are filled with Obama hate speech, hate signs and the Republican Party does not speak out against it, when the Republican Party says out right that they will NOT compromise, then they are wrong. They have done nothing to oppose the policy without maligning the President. There is a strong undercurrent of racism in their attitudes as well. Sometimes the hatred is so think you could cut it with a knife. The Republicans are just obstructionists plain and simple. They have no defense.
p.s. and when the Republican Party cow- tows to the right wing radicals then they loose all respect as far as I can see. They no more understand civil dialogue than a rattle snake.
And while I'm ranting, when we need a show of solidarity and support and a firm commitment from our leaders to bring about a peaceful and civilized government Mr. crocodile tears, John Bohener (sp) is at a NRA fund rally. A beautiful congressperson has taken a bullet to the head and he goes to a NRA rally!!!!! Where's the comittment to peace and civility??????????????????????????????????? Is this what we are to expect from the Republicans?????????????????????
No, Haddie, you are correct, they can not. I was only responding to the narrow focused area of leadership, bringing both sides together. Other leaders have done it in the past even if short lived. Will President Obama? Hopefully.
Newsblog, nice to see you are so open minded, unbiased, non-judgmental and well informed on the subject. I'm sure if all the Democratic leadership adopt your approach we should have a unified nation in no time.
And furthermore, with everything the President has had to contend with the country should be appreciative that he even wants this thankless job! I think the man's a saint for putting up with all the crap he gets.
So RobDon, prove me wrong!
Well, let's just start with an easy factual (as opposed to an opinion) issue. Mr. Boehner did not attend an NRA rally. He stayed in Washington to attend a prayer service in honor of those who died. Rep. Pelosi sent Minority Whip Hoyer and she went to Arizona...which is fine. Later yesterday evening Rep. Boehner attended an RNC reception, not an NRA rally.
Your attempt to say this proves Rep. Boehner is uncaring or uncooperative or whatever political statement you were trying to make proves you are the one with contempt and hate. Your comments blaming the Republicans, the Right, and anyone else but the shooter less than 24 hours after the shooting while families were just getting words of their lose including that of a 9 year old girl shows you are the one who wants to be divisive and not cooperative.
President Obama has a hard job. Of course he does. Bush was (is) hated, too. Unfortunately that is par for the course now a days. But true leaders can rise above that and make corrections. Effective leaders are the ones who despite adversity preservers and leads those willing and unwilling to a better place. It has happened before and can happen again. Sorry you seem so doubtful.
Boehner is not the issue. The poisonous atmosphere in Wa. is. Nasty politics are. The wrath of the radical right wing is. True leaders can't rise above this when there are so many dragging them down. The President is not some kind of super hero and shouldn't have to be to get the job done.
Secondly, don't even throw that poor little girl's death in my face. I'm sure she thought politics was something not as venomous as it has been lately. I'm sure she would have thought advocating using second amendment rights to solve problems was wrong even at her age. I'm sure she would never have thought that the cross hairs of a rifle on a map would be appropriate to use in a political argument. I'm sure screaming at the President and calling him a liar would have shocked her. And that's just the tip of the ice berg.
I am not hateful just very angry. The killer may or may not have been influenced by what is going on but the tension, and negativity are affecting everyone. Since we don't live in a vacuum I can't imagine how the shooter could not have been affected. Generating an atmosphere of violence and hate just feeds on itself and in that respect we are all responsible for what happened.
I agree with the first half of the sentence but not the second. Do I believe this opportunity can be used for positive reflection and change? Yes, I do. Do I think it is what caused or even contributed to this young man's actions? No, I do not because I haven't seen anything pointing in that direction, quite the opposite. He had this good woman in his "sights" before the Tea Party or Palin graphic was ever on center stage.
In regards to your "hate," I apologize. I should have said it seems as so, I can accept it is anger. Just the same, it can't be on the front if the tone and process is to be more civil. Passion, yes...anger seems to cloud the view.
As the President's spokesman said today, you can't be so negative towards others and then expect to sit down and work out problems (my paraphrase). It seems every time someone on the Right suggest laws governing entering this country should be followed and we should take steps to make sure that happens, they get labeled a racist. That's not fair and over time erodes the relationship just as much as what the Left complains about.
My point: it is on both sides and someone has to stand up and take the lead telling everyone to tone it down, set an example, and not be afraid to call anybody out on the rhetoric. Generally, over time, people can see and recognize fairness, even if they don't get their way.
The young man's actions are rooted in the general ambiance of what's happening around him. He has absorbed the Annie get your gun mentality that's been going on as surely as you and I have absorbed it. Fortunately you and I are able to process, cope, and consider but we feel it none the less. It's draining emotionally.
I'm not sure I know what you mean by " laws governing entering the country," but no matter. The issues are not the topic right now.
As for anger/hate. I think what I and so many others feel is just down right pain. It pains me to no end to see the President maligned. I did not like G. Bush but I would never think to disrespect the office of the President or him personally. I just don't know where the hate comes from. I have heard over and over again certain people say that they hate the president. I have heard someone actually call him "an uppity n----." The racism is there, the hate is there, sad to say.
So yes, let's all tone it down.
To make things accurate, John Boehner stayed behind in WA for a Republican National Committee FundRaiser That is the truth. He also said he would leave it when the President began to speak.I think he should have gone to the service. a PS. There was a time, and I am 64, that whenever our president spoke, regardless of party, he was featured on the major tv channels and radio etc. if you did not want to watch you turned off the set. But I was surprised to see that he was not even on all of the channels. I saw him cause I knew where to look. But this country needs to again show respect for the office and the man, regardless of who he is.. and our children should be taught to follow suit. Policy can be discussed and objected to, burt if we don't all show unity behind our President as part of the American election process, the very thing that sets us apart from other countries, then we are doomed to fail to thrive. No one is evil or trying to take down our country, for holding a different opinion. And none of that deserves the hate and nastiness and the threats on lives that do come form the extreme right!
If you want to look at an analogous instance, find a clip of the memorial service after the Virginia Tech shootings, particularly the extremely moving speech by Nikki Giovanni, which drew in and united the college crowd in the same way as President Obama's speech did last night.
Nikki, of course, is a national treasure. ANY time you get a chance to hear her speak on any topic, you should do it. Picking her to deliver that speech was brilliant.
Here's some links I still have to related stuff from 2007 (doncha love old blog archives?):
http://www.serendipit-e.com/blog/2007/04/transcript_of_n.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/17/vtech.victims/index.html
They also applauded Gov. Brewer. Anyone complaining?
I admit at first I was taken back by the applause but it didn't take long to get into the spirit. I viewed that memorial as a celebration of life and a way for Arizonans to unite behind moving forward. I will not take away their right to do that however they see fit.
1) it's Tucson, we love to clap.
2) Like the Mayor said, this is exactly what we needed
3) I'm not sure if political commentators are aware, but it IS possible to clap and weep at the same time. If there had been video of me, and of those sitting in my row, there would have been absolute proof that we were all weeping and cheering together.
4) I absolutely went nuts screaming for Janet Napolitano, because she will always be my governor. Her signature is on both my college degrees. It was like, when you see your favorite elementary school teacher in the grocery store and you just really want to run up and give her a hug and tell her everything that's happening in your life - that's how Tucson feels about Janet. But since 13,700 people couldn't hug her at once, we cheered. And teared up.
5) Tucson needs something to cheer about right now. Sorry if that isn't what you wanted to see on TV. But celebrating the lives of those who were lost, the bravery of those who are healing, the selflessness of the heroes and first responders; celebrating the togetherness of our community, celebrating how much the rest of the country cares about us - that's ABSOLUTELY something to cheer about.
Thanks for sharing this. I admit it was a little weird at first, but people need to express their grief in their own way. If that means getting together with others and sharing an experience that makes you cheer, applaud, etc. then who am I or anyone else to say that's right or wrong? I glad that the people of Tucson were able to come together and mourn and grieve the way they needed to, and the rest of us got a chance to see a community stand up and say "We're together."
Also, as UofA President Shelton mentioned in an interview with Politico this morning, the event was billed as a "unity rally" on campus, and it was really only called a "memorial" by media coverage.
I couldn't help but think about Jan Brewer cutting off some of the mental health resources in her state, while holding back stimulus money (so we're told). I think she is a horrid governor regarding Health, and immigration. Her bad actions have been reported in the AARP magazine and national news, not just the cable stations.
Of course bonehead Conservatives are going to turn a Porterhouse into Spam. But I must come in Brent Hume's defense a little. I was watching Fox (to see what was going to unfold for myself) as Brit was commenting. What he was saying is that the crowd was very into it, more than he expected and viewed that as a powerful thing. He commented that he agreed that the President did a great job to bring everyone together and did the right thing, with class, for those involved and affected.
Judging from the write-ups I have perused since the telecast of last evening's memorial "Together We Thrive" my cable network must have pulled in a memorial from an alternate dimension.
What I witnessed is 180 degrees out from what is being discussed by most. I saw victims memorialized and praised; I saw heroes thanked and honored; I saw a packed stadium of Arizonians thankful to the POTUS, his wife and all of the representatives who had the decency to show up to the event to let them know they were not alone in their grief and suffering; nor would they be alone in their healing and recovery; that the majority of Americans stood with them.
I must be in the minority in my belief that the hours for tears had past, that the time for renewal had begun and what I saw was the renewal of the true American Spirit.
@Kelly, I saw all those things too. I also saw the victims' families clapping. I saw them getting their photos taken with President & Mrs. Obama. Who am I (or anyone else) to say that is wrong?
As I stated yesterday on another thread, some folks can't handle "different" as there is only "right" or "wrong" in their world where they are always right and everyone else is always wrong. Must be a sad, small world.
I didn't get to see the speech but my Mom did and she said that she found the cheering very off-putting, but she is an older lady and probably didn't give much thought to the fact it was at a university with kids. I read the speech and thought is was pretty good. I didn't read or hear what anyone else had to say in their speeches.
@PeterMac - I'm an "older lady" and I remember days when after one passed they were spoken of only in whispers as folks didn't want to talk about the dead as it might offend or remind the survivor that their loved one was gone - as if they would need reminding?
In any case, as a society we have evolved to the place where we now celebrate someone's life rather than mourn their death. So when the word "Memorial" is used, it evokes a different expectation for some folks than others - see there's that word "different" again; not right, not wrong, just different.
My view of last night's Memorial was a celebration of life - those whose life was taken and those whose life was rescued and those whose life has been forever changed. It was proper to applaud; it was a form of honoring them and I don't think it is only the "kids" who feel that way. Then, again, maybe I am still a "kid" at heart - I certainly hope so!
jo6pak.. I am with you! Also older , I guess, tho I dont feel so much so; but it is a highly better way to celebrate lives and encourage the saddened.. It was awonderful event and President Obama was right on!
Dear Rachel: I'm not singling you out, because all of your colleagues are also doing it, but if I see that hideous picture of Jared Loughner again I'm going to go watch Spongebob. Could you (collective you) please give us a break. I'm in Tucson and I've seen that photo about eleventy bazillion too many times.
I think Joan Walsh, Salon.com, has it right.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/
Agreed, thanks for posting.
Thanks for the link.
I thought President Obama's speech was what Tucson and America was needed. He showed great caring for those who died and those who were injured on Saturday. It was not and should not have been a political speech. There will be a time where such issues such as gun control can be talked about.
In his opening blessing, Dr. Gonzales reminded us of the need for humor even in the darkest times. The memorial encompassed mourning and humor along with the cheering, acknowledging and honoring the full spectrum of emotion people here have been experiencing all week. It was all completely appropriate and necessary for this community.
I am of the 'older crowd' and thought at first it was odd to have all the cheering. Then I remembered it was a college campus, AND an awful lot of people LIVED and should be spirited in support. As often as I have teared up over Christina Green, I am raised back up again at the miricle of Gabby's current recovery. My hope is Peace to all in this time.
"The wolf whistles, the whooping and hollerin' for Obama, Big Sis Napolitano, Holder (?) et al is making my skin crawl."
That's not what's making her skin crawl... it's just trying to get away fast (because it doesn't want to be anywhere near her when the lightning strikes). Seriously... manufactured "outrage" much?
Its pretty obvious that 'cons' are desperately trying to out on top of the situation and in the process losing it.
Sarah Palin's comments inclusive of 'blood libel' was an attempt in the same vein.
I hope this isn't considered OT, but I just sent this email to Michelle Obama, and wanted to see if anyone here has an opinion about it...
Michelle;
Christina Green was a future President, whose inspiring legacy might abide through time, if we can find a way to honor the memory of her political curiosity and her irrepressible civic spirit.
The Department of Education, or even the White House itself, could start a nationwide movement to get more youngsters involved in and aware of the political process.
Call it the "Christina Greene Future President's Club" and let them act out government functions, elect their officers and recruit new members the same way we do in our political parties. And once a year, let them choose delegates to come to Washington and vote on some real issue.
I'm crying again, so I'll leave it that. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your grace and your compassion in this tragedy, and please tell your husband how proud we all are of him that he has brought us together in this time of great divisions between us all.
"JEP"
if you're on Twitter and/or Facebook, a "Twibbon" campaign in support of the Tucson victims - http://twibbon.com/join/For-the-Victims-of-Tucson-AZ
It would seem that people have been trained to seek any morsel they can find in order to attack the President. How sad for us that we cannot see that this is strong leadership, setting examples of how to say what's he's been saying the entire time. We can strongly disagree with each other, speak respectfully, or we can continue to stay in our own corner and never get anything done.
This reaching out to the other side and listening is really the only way to have a respectful dialogue, but who will mediate the debate? Ourselves? What are the rules going to be?
I saw some inflammatory comments, I do not think it's right to censor people, but it might be true that flaming and bashing is not helping to get gov't. to work for US.
Then again, if you cannot respond when someone punches you in the face, you are not sparring. Is sparring acceptable to say, rather than gun analogies?
One of the biggest things is being missed when we keep attacking each other with extreme rhetoric, or avoiding each other, we are not going to accomplish much.
The people want things to be accomplished, but we have many distractions and obstructions that prevent anything from being done.
We have people that do not want anything done so they can keep saying... see, gov't is inept. Setting off a "doing nothing is better than wrecking something".
We have people that want too much done, setting off an argument of nanny state.
I see offering solutions that can be imperfect or may be needing more work to perfect it. Debate it, inspect the consequences from all sides. Setting up what is a common goal to see how it might benefit many people as the goal.
Doing nothing is not an option for me. Stopping the other guy's issues, even when it serves the public. We can debate this, but how do we present the solution that helps us all without the charge of communism or socialism? We should read the Constitution over and over, not as a ploy to "seem patriotic", but understand the meaning of it.
Debating solutions with thorough committees and panels, to show us pro and cons. That's what it's about.
Of course we have our own viewpoint, but that is what is meant by, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
It is despicable to say you HAVE to do it my way or the highway and the other side is the devil incarnate, so you have to gut the whole thing or prevent everything that might be something that works for the greater good.
We cannot just stay in our own little comfort zones and not listen to what someone says, because someone told us what this word signals to them as some country destroying thing that is the first step toward the undoing.
Gun analogies really are over the top now, and we just try to use more sense when we talk to each other?
We have to admit that the anger is whipped up my media, then reinforced by people that are sworn to serve the people.
Joe Wilson told that gun A15 manufacturer to stop selling the "you lie" engraved weapon part. We have to say "thank you" Joe for having the sensibility to see how inflammatory that is to evoke anger and it's not a cutesy, clever sales gimmick. We have enough animosity without stoking it with gun imagery.
Some cannot see anything good, they have been trained to find fail for a variety of reasons. The President led by example, they feel threatened by any positivity. A terrible event occurred, the target was the Congresswoman. There is a good reason for the President to help with healing the Arizonans and try to lead us to higher ground, away from the sewer filled with filth and poisonous rhetoric.
Problem with last assault weapons ban law is they listed each banned weapon by name. Manufacturers just changed one small item and sold guns under a different name. We need a law that bans any weapon that is designed to kill a lot of people quickly. We are not at war within the United States. There is not any need to make these weapons readily accessible to the general public. I am tired of hearing opponents say they should be able to have the weapons because they want them - that is the only reason they need. That is the dumbest excuse I have ever heard.
Prersident Obama gave a strong and proper speech in light of the disgraceful act of this mad man who killed and injured these wonderful people. The despectable speech is carried out by TV commentators led by MNSBC. Not one word against the head of the Democrats who posted a map the same as Sarah Palin. Not one word agianst the journalist a Democrat who said that Scoot the Republican Governor should be shot and killed (Nothing said like this by the awful Republicans you continue to hate) President Obama said "if they bring their knives we will bring our guns" MNSBC thinks that hateful speech by Democrats are alright it just wrong if it is said by the Republicans. What about the hateful speak agains President Bush and also a movie made assiniating President Bush. MNSBC that is ok it is against the Republicans. As an Australian I do not back Republicans or Democrats but dislike bias rubbish done by MNSBC.
Meant to post this here. Sorry.
My first exposure to mourning was my uncle's passing when I was around 6 years old. I thought it was strange that my Dad and his brothers were cracking jokes at a wake. Weren't people supposed to be crying at these things? Since then, I've realized that every wake, funeral, or memorial service has been just as much a time to grieve as it has been a celebration of the deceased's life. Celebration is often accompanied by laughter and smiling and yes, cheering. So get over it--I admit I had to "get over it" last night in the first few moments when I, too, thought the crowd's reaction was bordering on inappropriate. Let Tucson respond to this horrible tragedy in their own way. If that involves as much laughter and cheering as it does tears, then so be it.
Being a PhD student at the University of Arizona who is currently spending a considerable amount of time on discourse analysis, I try to make sense of the discourse surrounding the "memorial service" by analyzing different aspects of it (credit here goes to Dr. Perry Gilmore, who talked about this in class today). Also, it has to be noted that I am an international student from Germany who has lived in Tucson for almost 5 years which means I am an outsider yet a member of this community who loves this city very much. Also, I am not a native speaker of English, so pardon any weird and clunky wording.
The event: Exactly, what kind of event was the "memorial service"? Was it explicitly labeled as such? The U of A website calls it "an event honoring the victims of the shooting" (). The event was never labeled as a memorial service and thus its very nature, the "what is it" can't be specifically answered. For some it was a memorial service, for others it might have been a political event or a pep rally. For me it was a gathering of Tucsonans celebrating and honoring the events of the shooting.
The people who criticized us, the Tucsonans who stood in line "like it was a rock show" saw the event through one specific lens- the lens of what the white middle class considers makes up a memorial service. Someone said today that if it had been a black service, no one would have had anything to say about people clapping and cheering.
The venue was a basketball arena and I believe that that actually had an impact on the crowd's mood. A fellow student told me that she was watching the event being broadcast outside and that, to her, the clapping and cheering seemed almost awkward since she, where she was watching the event, didn't feel like clapping and cheering. Me and my friends (including Carie in AZ) on the other hands were clapping and cheering like it was the playoffs. There was an arena and there was a jumbo monitor where the camera zoomed in on people like Drs. Rhee and Lemole as they walked in and Sherrif Dupnik. People were excited to see them and cheered, celebrating their heroes. Did the fact that they walked in from wherever athletes enter an arena aid to the excitement? Absolutely. Add that to the fact that people were happy to have actually gotten inside to witness the event after hours and hours of waiting in line and everything makes much more sense.
American culture. Tucsonans were always good at what can be considered taking the best of all cultures and making it their own. One great example of this is the all souls procession, a day of the dead (dia de los muertos) procession through downtown Tucson that is accompanied by people celebrating their loved ones who have passed in a cheerful yet respectful manner. People dress up, people dance and people get together. This is how Tucson celebrates both life and death and it was also reflected in the- let's just call it "event".
Some news outlets also criticized Carlos Gonzalez and his Native American blessing (Pascua Yaqui, that is). They complained about him giving unnecessary information about his background and said he was "rambling". In fact, in some Native American cultures, introducing yourself, relating who you are and where you are from (including your parents and their heritage) is a part of the blessing ceremony. Carlos Gonzalez is a Tucsonan who best reflects what Tucson is made of- Mexican and Native American culture and he shared a tradition. Insulting him is, in my opinion, an insult to Tucson. We (yes, I am including myself) have been through enough, we don't need to be insulted any more.
To me, the event was therapeutic. To see all those people there made me feel less lost and alone and I greatly enjoyed cheering and crying with thousands of people. I was honored to see the president of your country give what might be one of the greatest speeches ever and I feel like that is the first step toward healing. I am grateful for this experience and every single minute in line was absolutely worth it.
Vic: Well said. It was very similar to All Souls', and true to many of Tucson's eccentric ways of dealing with death and sorrow. The point about the reaction being based on expectations of "white middle class memorial service" - to me, all the cheers felt like the "Amen"s shouted in church. But then, I was raised in a multi-ethnic Southern Baptist church, which incorporated many aspects of traditionally African-American liturgical styles (i.e. shouting "amen" etc).
Dr. Gonzales clearly prefaced his blessing with an apology for the awkwardness of introducing himself, but with the disclaimer that such was required for the blessing to be completed.
I spoke to someone today who felt it was awkward to cheer during parts of the blessing - but it was hard not to feel overwhelmed by emotion hearing him mention growing up in the barrio, in south Tucson (like me!), and going to the UofA for undergrad (like me!) and discovering that he could make something of himself - seeing ourselves in his story was part of the theme of unity throughout the event.
And while TV and other media outlets have been labeling this a "memorial" service - on campus and on press releases it was either referred to as a "unity rally" or simply as an "event" or "speech."
For me, the event reaffirmed my lifelong belief in the goodness and love of my fellow Tucsonans - we have the capacity to be heroic, to rise above, and to accomplish miracles - and we love and support and cheer each other on as we do so. For those folks out there who don't get it, I pity them - they're missing out on something very very special: Tucson.
lavicenrose - thanks, I especially appreciate your explanation for Dr. Gonzales' manner of giving the blessing.
See comments here rebutting negative Fox coverage of the event.
Well spoken.
Yes, thank you! Very nice to have an insider view and perspective. The news shows should be interviewing people like you rather than having discussions with their own paid "expert round table" of analysts.
And your English was much less clunky than some of us knuckleheads whose first language is English. :-)