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From
Politico.com... President Obama in
Tucson, AZ
President Obama and the first lady have entered the auditorium in
Tucson to thunderous applause and cheers from the thousands of people
at the service. He is standing next to Daniel Hernandez, the intern who
is credited with saving the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords; Michelle
Obama is standing next to Giffords’s husband, Mark Kelly. (8:02 p.m.)
A unique moment: Obama serenaded with a standing ovation fitting for a
campaign rally, stoically acknowledging the audience, next to his wife,
who appeared to be feeling the emotion of the moment. The reverie was
halted by the jarring staccato of a drum marking the start of the
program, followed by music from the orchestra. (8:05 p.m.)
A man giving a Native American blessing notes the “time of disunity”
and hopes for “balance.” He looks to the “east door” for guidance, the
“southern door” for families and healing, the “western door” for
ancestors, and the “northern door” for challenges.
“Let us also look within ourselves to see how we can improve and be
better human beings,” he says. (8:10 p.m.)
The man giving the Native American blessing asks that those in Tucson
and around the country find the strength to heal after the tragedy in
Arizona. He also mentions his son, who is serving in Afghanistan.
“Welcome here, and please bless each and every one here,” he says.
(8:14 p.m.)
University of Arizona President Robert N. Shelton begins, thanking the
speaker and introducing the orchestra as it gets set to play the
national anthem. (8:15 p.m.)
After the anthem, Shelton takes the lectern again, and he calls the
shooting in Tucson “senseless.” He says it is “impossible to
comprehend.”
“No one who lives here was untouched by the events of last Saturday,”
he says. (8:17 p.m.)
Tucson, he says, is a community where people “know each other and care
about each other,” as members of his audience applaud. “Tonight we have
a chance to pray for those who were wounded, to remember those who were
lost, and to reaffirm -- reaffirm our commitment to each other,” he
says.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is a “good friend of mine, as she is of almost
everyone in this community,” he says. “This attack on her and on her
constituents, our neighbors, our friends, has changed us all. The
question we have to answer is whether that change will make us angry
and afraid or whether it will inspire us to commit to building a more
sensible and caring world.” (8:20 p.m.)
University of Arizona President Robert N. Shelton thanks the country’s
“leaders” who are in Tucson, to which the audience applauds. He then
mentions Daniel Hernandez, the intern credited with saving Gabrielle
Giffords’s life, to which the crowd gives sustained applause.
“Daniel showed extraordinary poise at a most difficult moment,” he
says. (8:22 p.m.)
(POLITICO’s Abby Phillips, in Tucson, reports that 14,300 people have
filled the stadium.)
The school’s student president speaks next, saying that the community
won’t be “silenced” after the attack. She praises Hernandez, next to
him, and says he showed “courage and heroism in the face of danger.”
(8:24 p.m.)
Daniel Hernandez, the hero intern, takes the lectern to applause that
rivals that of President Obama’s introduction.
Hernandez begins by uttering “E pluribus unum” -- “never have those
words ever been truer than they are today.” He adds that on Saturday,
“We all became Americans.”
“Despite the horrific actions ... we saw glimmers of hope,” he says,
speaking quickly. Adding that he is gratified by being called a hero,
he says, “I must humbly reject the use of the word ‘hero’ because I am
not one.” He instead says the people who are working to keep Giffords
alive are heroes, and the public servants and first responders who
dedicate their lives to “taking care of others.”
“With that, I thank you all,” he says as the crowd claps again. (8:28
p.m.)
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, the next in line to speak, begins by thanking
some of the people in the audience, like the first lady and other
officials. She adds, “Mr. President, on behalf of the people of the
State of Arizona, I thank you for coming today to help us with our
healing.”
As the audience cheers for Obama, Brewer continues, “Your words have
been a source of comfort and strength.”
“Your presence today serves as a reminder that we are not alone in our
sorrow,” she says. (8:31 p.m.)
Brewer mentions those killed in Saturday’s shooting -- Judge John Roll,
Giffords aide Gabe Zimmerman and 9-year-old Christina Green among them.
She says the attack raised serious questions, and she declares,
“Arizona is united in a mission of recovery.” And she says Arizona
won’t be destroyed “by one madman’s act of darkness.”
“We will go forward together, rejoicing in hope,” she says. “We will go
forward, unbending, unbowed.” (8:34 p.m.)
Brewer ends by asking God to bless and protect Arizona and the country.
(8:35 p.m.)
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the former governor of
Arizona, takes the stage to loud applause. She thanks Tucson and
Arizona as people cheer.
“We know that the violence that occurred Saturday does not represent
this community, this state or this country,” she begins as the audience
cheers and whistles. “At these times, words can fail us. So let us
listen instead to the words of the Old Testament.”
Napolitano reads a portion from Isaiah that calls for preparations to
be made for God. “The crooked places shall be made straight and the
rough places smooth,” she quotes. (8:38 p.m.)
After her reading -- which ends with the “word of the lord” offering
assurances -- the crowd cheers again. Attorney General Eric Holder, the
next person to speak, begins by saying that he as well will read from
the Bible -- the second letter of Paul from Corinthians.
“For it is all for your sake so that as grace extends to more and more
people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God,” he reads.
“So we do not lose heart though our outer nature is wasting away, our
inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary
affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparison.” (8:42 p.m.)
Before President Obama speaks, the president of the school says he is
“truly honored” for him to be there. “We are obviously saddened by the
circumstances that have brought President and Mrs. Obama to Tucson, but
we are comforted by their compassion and inspired by their
determination to reach out and help,” he says.
Obama walks on the stage to deafening cheers. (8:44 p.m.)
As the crowd applauds and whistles, Obama keeps his face stoic, saying
“Thank you” repeatedly, and, “Please be seated.”
He begins: “To the families of those we’ve lost, to all who call them
friends, to the students of this university, the public servants who
are gathered here, the people of Tucson and the people of Arizona: I
have come here tonight as an American, who like all Americans kneels to
pray with you today and will stand by you tomorrow.”
“There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your
hearts,” he says. “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.” (8:46
p.m.)
President Obama recalls Gabrielle Giffords’s Saturday, the “Congress on
Your Corner” event that he calls an updated version of government
serving the people.
“That quintessentially American scene -- that is the scene that was
shattered by a gunman’s bullets,” he says. “And the six people who lost
their lives on Saturday, they too represented what is best in America.”
Obama recalls Judge John Roll, who was killed Saturday. “His colleagues
described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit,”
Obama notes. (8:49 p.m.)
He moves on to recall George and Dorothy Morris, a married couple who
were both shot on Saturday. The wife died. He then mentions Phyllis
Schneck, a “gifted quilter” -- “A Republican, she took a liking to
Gabby, and wanted to get to know her better.” The next victims he
mentions are Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard, who helped people at the
Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. “Dorwan spent his spare time fixing
up the church along with his dog, Tux,” he says. His final act of
selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for
hers.” (8:52 p.m.)
President Obama recalls one of the aides for Gabrielle Giffords:
“Everything -- everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion – but
his true passion was people. As Gabby’s outreach director, he made the
cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that
seniors got the Medicare benefits they had earned, that veterans got
the medals and care they deserved, that government was working for
ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved – talking with people and
seeing how he could help. Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and
Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fiancée, Kelly, who he planned to
marry next year.”
Lastly, Obama talks about Christina Green: “Christina was an A student,
a dancer, a gymnast, and a swimmer. She decided that she wanted to be
the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on
her little league team, no one put it past her. She showed an
appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age, and would remind her
mother: ‘We are so blessed. We have the best life.’ And she’d pay those
blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who
were less fortunate.”
He continues: “Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our
hearts are broken. And yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness.”
He says he’s grateful for those who survived the shooting. (8:55 p.m.)
President Obama recalls his visit to Gabrielle Giffords just hours ago
-- and he shocks his audience by telling them minutes after he left,
she opened her eyes for the first time since being taken to the
hospital.
“Gabby opened her eyes for the first time,” he says. “Gabby opened her
eyes for the first time. Gabby opened her eyes.”
He adds: “She knows we are here, she knows we love her, and she knows
that we are rooting for her through what undoubtedly is going to be a
difficult journey. We are there for her.” (8:58 p.m.)
Obama offers some thanks: For Daniel Hernandez, the intern who helped
save Giffords; for a 61-year-old woman who wrestled away Jared
Loughner’s ammunition, and for the doctors and nurses and emergency
medics “who worked wonders to heal those who’d been hurt.” The audience
applauds after each mention.
He continues: “These men and women remind us that heroism is found not
only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not
require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, all
around us, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, just
waiting to be summoned – as it was on Saturday morning. Their actions,
their selflessness, also pose a challenge to each of us. It raises the
question of what, beyond the prayers and expressions of concern, is
required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we
be true to their memory?” (9:01 p.m.)
President Obama mentions gun laws and the mental health system: He says
that as a result of the shooting, “it is part of our nature to demand
explanations.” He says a “national conversation” has begun about the
gunman’s motivations, and also “everything from the merits of gun
safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health systems.” He says that
discussion is “an essential ingredient in our exercise of
self-government.”
But he adds: “But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply
polarized, 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’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not a
way that wounds.”
And he questions whether anyone can know what Jared Loughner was
thinking: “For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what
triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty
what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts
lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man’s mind. Yes, we must
examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be
passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge
old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in
the future.” (9:04 p.m.)
The lesson, Obama says: “What we cannot do is use this tragedy as one
more occasion to turn on each other. That we cannot do. That we cannot
do. 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’s 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 that our hopes and dreams are bound
together.” (9:06 p.m.)
President Obama touches on his thoughts after Saturday’s shootings. he
says the senseless attack can make people question “mortality.”
“In the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not
wealth, or status, or power, or fame – but rather, how well we have
loved,” he says.
Obama recalls the victims again: “We may not have known them
personally, but we surely see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in
Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own
husbands, our own wives, our own life partners. Phyllis – she’s our
mom, or our grandma; Gabe our brother, or son.
“In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and
doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America’s fidelity to
the law. And in Gabby, in Gabby we see a reflection of our public
spiritedness, that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating,
sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never-ending process to
form a more perfect union.” (9:10 p.m.)
Obama reserves special time for Christina Green, the 9-year-old girl
who was killed. “in Christina, we see all of our children. So curious,
so trusting, so energetic and full of magic,” he says. “So deserving of
our love.”
He continues: “And so deserving of our good example. 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.” (9:11 p.m.)
A toxic political environment didn’t cause Saturday’s shooting,
President Obama says. “Let us remember that it is not because a simple
lack of civility caused this tragedy – it did not – but rather because
only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to
our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud,” he
says.
“I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and
goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those
that unite us,” he says.
For the third time, he mentions Christina: “That’s what I believe, in
part because that’s what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed.
Imagine -- imagine for a moment: Here was a young girl who was just
becoming aware of our democracy, just beginning to understand the
obligations of citizenship, just starting to glimpse the fact that
someday she, too, might play a part in shaping her nation’s future. She
had been elected to her student council. She saw public service as
something exciting, and hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman,
someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model.
She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism
or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.” (9:15
p.m.)
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