Criticisms of the Tucson memorial service

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Critics Assail Cheering and T-Shirts at Obama Tucson Speech

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... coming in for criticism was the boisterous crowd at the event, which included 14,000 in the arena and another 10,000 in the overflow room, many of them college students. While the president was cheered wildly, some in attendance booed Arizona Republican governor Jan Brewer, prompting complaints that the event was more partisan pep rally than solemn remembrance.


In the New York Post, John Podhoretz wrote that "the president's stunning speech was marred by the feeling of the evening that surrounded it and the appalling behavior of the crowd in Tucson listening to it."


"It was as though no one in the arena but the immediate mourners and sufferers had the least notion of displaying respectful solemnity in the face of breathtaking loss and terrifying evil," he added. "... The tone of the event came to resemble a pep rally, no matter the monstrous fact of the six dead and the many injured."


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Tucson Republican Mayor Bob Walkup told Politico that the mood of the rally was appropriate.
"If there was one thing that was appropriate, it was cheering," he said. "I've been in the hospital, and the people that are healing, they want to hear people cheer."
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SOME OF THE POSITIVE COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE, extracted from the usual negative ones:
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by LRachael January 15, 2011 3:46 AM EST
To all who have a hard time understanding why people from Tucson were cheering at the memorial: Perhaps it might help if you knew about our annual tradition of the Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos) procession. We dress up in black or as skeletons, and we carry images and handmade memorials of people we have lost over the year. Over 20,000 of us gather on 4th avenue and walk in procession through downtown. It's profoundly reverent. But you know what? We cheer, we celebrate, we bring drums and incense and we DANCE. You can get a flavor of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8xcBJsHIxE&feature=fvw This may be different than how your community processes grief, but please don't judge our way of grieving. Trust me, our loss is genuine. Please stand by us in this difficult time-- the last thing we need is judgment.
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by Rodeo_Joe January 15, 2011 1:00 AM EST
Real Heroes live in Tucson. 
"Real" Americans live in Tucson. 
The Memorial service was for, and by, Tucsonans. 
It was THEIR service. Comprendes?
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by MikeSech January 14, 2011 5:02 PM EST
Cheering in Tucson
I live in Tucson, and I attended the Wednesday memorial service at which President Obama and several other attendees were cheered and applauded repeatedly during the evening. I suspect that anyone who is criticizing the good citizens of Tucson did not stand with them for six and eight and twelve hours to get in to this event. Perhaps if they had, those critics might have understood the grand emotions those twenty-five thousand people were feeling: sorrow for the dead and their families, joy for the survivors and their loved ones, hope for our city and our country, and knowledge that the others around us were joined in those emotions. Please excuse us if we did not conform to some New York or Washington, D.C. model of decorum in our expression of feelings. And please do not try to politicize our gathering in retrospect. We had just gone through four days of hell, and still had to face on Thursday and beyond the final services for those we had lost. We came together with the leaders of our city, state and country to look for a way forward, and many of us found it. We came to cheer our heroes, the student who staunched Gabrielle Giffords' wounds, the people who wrestled the gunman to the ground and held him for the police, our medical community which poured its soul into saving our victims, and the elected leaders who bravely showed us that democracy had not been assassinated by a mad man.
Did we cheer and applaud? Loudly and happily.
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by MCAinTucson January 14, 2011 8:28 PM EST
The cheering was for the heroes and the tears were for victims. Who are you to tell us how to mourn and how to grieve? I was in line for 4 hours with retirees, working people who took time off and brought their children and students of all ages to support the victims and yes, cheer the heroes of that day. The tee-shirts and ribbons showed support for the victims and the people of Tucson. Those tee-shirts were made by and given away be the students of the University of Arizona. Your embarrassment is yours only, and shows a lack of understanding of what happened here on Saturday. I am proud of the response by this city.
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by Mark520x January 14, 2011 12:49 PM EST
Let me clear this up for all of you, as there seems to be a lot of confusion. The reason there was so much cheering is because we choose to celebrate the lives of those we lost. We choose to put the evil of this entire catastrophe aside, if only for a few minutes. I would want my friends, family, and community to celebrate my life if I happened to be one of the victims of this. The fact that the President of the United States came to our university, the University of Arizona, was so touching. We know that the rest of America (for the most part) stands with us. We are very grateful for the kindness shown to us by President Obama and his staff. 
As for Jan Brewer, you have to understand this, too: Jan Brewer was able to enact an unconstitutional law that made it legal for police in our fine state to demand to see papers at random of any citizen with pigment in their skin. We have border patrol trucks patrolling our city. We are now compared to Missouri because of our apparent intolerance of others. She has ruined our state's reputation simply by manipulating the masses of sheep.
Now, on a personal note, how dare you question how we choose to honor the innocent victims of this insanity. Once you have a tragedy in your community, you can hold whatever kind of ceremony you want. Until then, ****.
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by January 14, 2011 11:02 AM EST
Those who are fixated on tee shirts given by the University of Arizona or the enthusiasm of college students are willfully ignoring the real content of the memorial. President Obama led our nation in mourning the victims, celebrating the heroes, beginning the healing from this tragedy and encouraging us to be better individuals and become a better nation. There was no political message, it was personal, emotional and inspiring. And for me, thousands spreading the message "Together we thrive" seems a positive response to senseless violence. E pluribus unum.
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by mikelpond January 13, 2011 7:36 PM EST
Michelle is confused: a t-shirt that reads "together we thrive" is only partisan to someone who sees partisanship in everything. I repeat, Michelle is confused by a non-partisan message because she lives and breaths partisanship. And Bret Hume is a radical nut-case. sorry.
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by tr4187 January 13, 2011 7:29 PM EST
I was present at the memorial in Tucson and as a Tucson native I can tell you that we are a very tight- knit community and in no way were our intentions to be disrespectful. What you could not see from your television screen were the tears rolling down everybody's faces as they "cheered" in honor of the heroes of our tragedy and for our survivors and for the miracle of our congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords still being alive! We also applauded when our president called for unity and asked that the death of our neighbors not to be in vein! We have all cried every day since this had happened and have heard countless stories from our families and friends of how they or someone they know have been affected by this. Most of you have no idea what we've been through?so judge us if you must but also keep in mind the the "hooting and hollering" as you call it?was just our way of expressing the hope, faith and unity that Obama's kind words provided. It uplifted our spirits and is helping us start to see the light at the end of a very dark tunnel and in no way does this mean that we will soon forget the tragedy that occurred or the six people/neighbors/family/friends that we lost
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by modpa101 January 13, 2011 7:12 PM EST
It's evident why Malkin is a blogger and not a reporter. A little investigating would have shown that the event and the venue were established before the President's decision to attend. The shirts were designed by the event organizers. The event was originally designed as a way for the University to bring the community together.
I have met Gabby, my teen-aged son volunteered at her office during elections, other members of my family are very close to her and Gabe who died. We have all been in shock since Saturday. This has been a gut-wrenching and often sleepless 5 days. We are sad and angry. Some of my anger is purely selfish. I'm mad that someone effectively, albeit temporarily, has removed my voice from Congress. I'm mad whenever I see my son upset. I'm mad every time I pass by her office a mile away from me. I'm mad that I'm still mad. 
I took my son to see the President speak. I did get a T-shirt from the student volunteers, I didn't make any connection to any campaigning. I thought the crowd was a bit energetic, but it was exciting to see the President. 
What was comforting was the way the President's speech seem to lighten the hearts of my teenage son and my family in a way that my words could not. For the first time in too many days, people were feeling something. 
I will not get mad again because someone didn't want a T-shirt, or they thought the whoops for Gabby's recovery, for the heroic people involved, and for the memory of those we lost were too loud. 
And Ms. Malkin, traditional Yaqui ceremonies are not babble.
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by kidofstl January 13, 2011 4:48 PM EST
come on folks and let's face this for what it is. People that don't like President Obama for WHATEVER reason (and they have that right not to) are not going to approve of ANYTHING he does. If he had told the audience to "calm down and not cheer" then the critics would have said "Who does he think he is, this is NOT about him" If he had said not to pass out T-shirts they would have said the same thing. It has more to do with the Obama-haters really than what happened here last night. I think the speech may have run a tad bit long, but if he had left out any victim's name he would have caught it about that too. I always said that President Obama could find a cure for diabetes and some on the right would complain that he's putting some doctors out of work.
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by tenayaj January 13, 2011 4:32 PM EST
I must say, as a University of Arizona student, Tucson resident, and a member of the audience last night, this article is off base. There was no spirit of a "pep rally" last night. While yes, there was cheering and there were t-shirts, it only served to remind Tucson that as a community we are there to support those who are directly affected and devastated by the event of last Saturday. We cheered when we were uplifted, when we were reminded that the heroes of Saturday prove that there is hope for this country, and when we felt called to make our world a better place for our future generations. This had nothing to do with politics. The slogan and t-shirts are for the community, not for the President. Please remember, we asked him to come. He did not organize this. For the thousands who were there last night who were only affected collectively as a community, this memorial was a chance to come together, to show the families of the victims that we are supporting them every step of the way. This may be a city of half a million people, but we intend to stick together and find the light in this darkness. We mean no disrespect to the victims and their families, and this article does exactly the opposite. Please, stop arguing about politics and campaigns and remember that six innocent people died, and a dozen more were wounded. It doesn't matter who votes for who, let's just make sure that we learn from this and make the world a better place.
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by PilgrimSoul January 13, 2011 3:57 PM EST
There's no right way or wrong way to grieve. When John Belushi died, his best friend rode into the funeral on a motorcycle, in full leathers. I can give you plenty of other examples, from my own experience. Ask any clergy who have facilitated memorial services. Grieving takes every different form that you can imagine. If ever there's a time to cut people slack, that's the time.
In this case, it took the form of an exuberant, cheering group of people who were saying "No" to evil, who were saying "No" to death, and celebrating the best in the people that died, and the best in the people that risked their lives to save others. They were saying, "We're going to honor you by being good Americans." Cheering? Damn right. This country is worth cheering for.
The president's speech was awesome. It spoke, as Lincoln spoke, to our "better angels." I support Malkin's right to say her piece, but I'm afraid there's something wrong with that woman's soul. She personifies the worst aspects of partisanship--bitter, spiteful, and mean-spirited.
Thank God Obama was at his best. He comforted us, but he challenged us to be better. We needed that.
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