As I write this, Pres. Obama has just finished giving his surprisingly long speech at the memorial ceremony in Tuscon for those shot last weekend after a day when members of Congress paid tribute to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the House. Admittedly, a white member of Congress and other white people, including a little white girl, getting shot will get top of the news for a while. And while what happened is obviously a tragedy, isn’t there at least a little bit of hypocrisy in it all?
– How many other innocent people injured or murdered by attackers in the past year who weren’t famous got such attention?
– How many others were killed by someone who, for lack of funds for mental health treatment, were on the streets untreated?
– How many service people killed heroically serving over seas got such attention?
– How many ordinary people will get the health care now and afterwards that Giffords will get?
I could go on, but you see what I’m getting at. I don’t begrudge the attention and so on to the victims and to what happened, but don’t others unknown to the President and Congress deserve at least a little attention, too?
Don’t you know? Everyone is equal. Some are more equal than others.
Was it a eulogy or an Obama fan boy meeting? On what planet do you stand and cheer when talking about a the tragic death of a nine year old?
Your lead in story is a good example of this circus, your post would be banned for trolling on most chat boards, what does it matter the color of the dead.
Everyone one is talking about closure, how about starting with respect.
(Hypocrisy)
The crowd included a lot of college students who apparently didn’t follow proper protocol for a memorial. Too bad.
I’m guessing you must’ve had a real hard time dealing with all the attention the memorials for victims of other tragedies like Columbine, 9/11, etc received.
You are part of the very media that brings tragedies like this to the attention of the masses to dissect and discuss. It appears the hypocrisy you perceive is alive and well right here in your own words.
Well of course the nation grieves when a radical-right-wing murderer, shouting Glenn Beck quotes, empties his NRA-approved, 30-shot clip into the back of a beloved Democratic congresswoman, who was only trying to cleanse the evil racists from Arizona when she was shot.
We couldn’t help but grit our teeth in anger when the Sheriff confirmed that the killer did indeed place copies of Palin’s map on the windshield of cars in the parking lot. “Yes,” the sheriff said, “the maps had the congresswoman’s district highlighted in yellow with the message: ‘I got this’n, y’all get the rest.'”
Our nation must mourn and join in group hugs until we purge our radio waves and cable news of those hate-spewing teabaggers.
What? What do you mean the Fort Hood victims didn’t receive the same attention? Well why should they? Their murderer was just someone who became mentally unstable after being forced to listen to Limbaugh on the radio at work. His actions were unfortunate, but understandable…. Nah, nah, his religion had nothing to do with it — wait, he wasn’t a Christian or Jew was he? No? Well then his religion had nothing to do with it.
Our President acted with statesmanship doing his job as a visible leader of the nation in a public display which history required of him. Where is the hypocrisy you speak of? He often speaks up on the sacrifice of our service people, he has worked for a more accessible health care system. Of course, every year, many good people are innocent victims, which each of us as friends and family privately mourn and eulogize. This was an important national event, so a public national response is understandable.
Your criticism is self-contradictory, as your complaint sounds like you really do begrudge the victims of this event. Why them? Well, they do represent all of us, and fate has made their story, our story. You remind me of the school teacher, telling your classmate wishing to share his candy bar with you, that she can’t do it unless she has candy bars for everyone in the class! Indeed, no good act goes un-whined about by The Cranky Geek.
“How many other innocent people injured or murdered by attackers in the past year who weren’t famous got such attention?”
I’m pretty sure that if 20 people got shot all at once, it would be big news no matter who they were.
I’m not sure what sickens me more. People cheering at a memorial service or dallas and smith trying to use a nine year olds death to make themselves feel good about their political religion.
We have kids being killed every day overseas but that seem to be ok as long as your king is in power.
Jobs, what sickens me is the politicizing of the whole tragic affair, including the crap spouted on this website — you included.
“I’m pretty sure that if 20 people got shot all at once, it would be big news no matter who they were.”
Exactly.
Shooting 20 people, whether they were Republican (the judge that died was Republican, you know) Democrat Congresswoman, or unaffiliated (like the girl that died) is a big story.
This awful event was caused by the psycho, not by the Congresswoman, the judge, or the little girl and the others killed.
Good post Dave.
Since when do politicians and the media not go all out when one of theirs is killed or injured.
Bob Woodruff’s injury over in Iraq is a prime example. The coverage got to be down right overwrought. You would have though this guy was the only one to have ever been taken out over there.
If you ask me, the main motivation is it’s just another podium for these types to get attention.
politicians care about other politicians. when the president decides to give a shit about something, the rest of the nation is supposed to follow suit.
what really got me riled up was that obama decided that this would be a good occasion to perpetuate the myth that partisan divides somehow run deeper now than in the past and that we need to be more polite when arguing about what people do with our money.
if obama really wanted to address the causes of this shooting, he should’ve gone after weed, heavy metal music, and those zeitgeist movies first, since those all had an indisputably greater impact on him than people arguing on tv channels he didn’t watch.
Are you done with your pity party? Because it sounds like you resent this memorial to me.
Gee, Unka Dave… wasn’t anybody else killed on November 22, 1963?
Dummy.
What an f’ing circus. I just watched the extravaganza and was embarrassed. I lived in Tucson for a while when I did some of my post grad training at the UMC. In what alternate reality do you go to an event like that and cheer for your university? When are big smiles all around and hearty handshakes de rigeur How does the definition of “hero” get so slanted? And when, oh when can Obama learn to speak without campaigning? Could Brewer have been more patronizing? (Oh, “thank you for coming and helping us with our healing.” Jeeeez.) And the miracle of Obama being there to see the Congresswoman open her eyes for the first time! Of course that forgets she saw and recognized her husband two days ago.
I really felt the ceremony was an insult to the dead and injured.
What government official is cheered and applauded for waddling to the stage and doing nothing but reading some long, semi-pertinent verses from the Bible? Oh, yeah. The Director of Homerland Security. Then Eric Holdenem (though not waddling) does the same thing for the Department of Justice.
Sad, really, that no one discussed protocol with the students in attendance. This should not have seemed like a pep rally. Also very sad the students NEEDED coaching on the protocols.
Uncle Dave
“- How many other innocent people injured or murdered by attackers in the past year who weren’t famous got such attention?”
What’s stopping you from blogging, posting and drawing public attention to other innocent people injured or murdered by attackers?????
Where have you been in the past year?????
I don’t think it’s helpful in anyway to compare merits of cases where people are injured or murdered by attackers. Each case, should and deserves to be treated separately!!!!!
It’s very dishonest to point fat fingers at “other” for not giving enough public attention to the “other” people who are injured or murdered by attackers; when you are just as capable as “others” to report it!!!!!
“…Pres. Obama has just finished giving his surprisingly long speech…”
You were surprised? There was a teleprompter and a TV camera – is anyone surprised that Obama made a long speech?
“We need to round up the Palins, Becks, Limbaughs and similar scum and send them to Guantanamo.”
Right away Comrade Dallas!
Stalin, Hitler and all the other petty tyrants would agree with you…
Uncle Dave, you’ve gone too far.
Sounded like a campaign speech.
He mentioned that someone “did not die in vain.” That figure of speech has always annoyed me. What exactly has been accomplished? There are still all kinds of anti-gov nutters out there.
Senseless violence doesn’t have have a hidden silver lining.
Let me summarize Uncle Dave:
Because Obama can’t solve every problem, he shouldn’t do anything.
It always a different matter when a member of the power elite dies. Seems we heard about Mrs. Edwards death from cancer, much longer than we heard about any Tv anchorman’s death by cancer. She wasn’t a Senator, but the wife of one. So her death made the news for a week.
Then on the heels of that, the Florida school board gunman. And now the long dragged out story, this shooting occurs. So it’s another long protracted story, that’s easy pickings for the networks. They’ll tell us everything that was known, but ignored, about the shooter and his victims. Cheap Television programming.
The game plan for the memorial was already telegraphed a few days before. When somebody on Tv said they ought to make bigger stars of the heroes, and less of the villain. So while they still haven’t quit covering the villain’s pathetic life. They picked the memorial to praise the “heroes” who helped the fallen. Or should a say ordinary people, who they picked to be heroes, because they did something other than run for cover. But other than the intern, who kept Giffords from bleeding to death. I doubt the rest really think of themselves as true heroes.
These days, getting in the way of a bullet, or knocking down a nut with a gun, makes you a Tv news hero. We’ve got pretty wimpy standards for heroism. And maybe we ought to admonish all those who ran for cover, or stood around wondering what to do, while allowing someone to unload 20 rounds of ammo. In a state that lets pretty much anyone own and carry a gun. How come nobody else was packing and took this nut out? And did the Congresswoman have no security, at all?! Seems strange.
But the thought I couldn’t shake during the memorial, was this. Is this really all about protecting the sacred institution of negative political speech, that the media loves and profits from? And has stooped to, in place of favoring promised solutions? These attack ads could be inspiring violent actions by these nuts. Even if they didn’t in this one case. I’ve heard more media types assure me that it wasn’t. Than any who said maybe we ought to tone down the violent bravado in politics.
I’d like to propose a rule, that no political candidates can display or demonstrate their use or ownership of guns, as a vote getting strategy, and/or defense of gun owners’ rights. Why aren’t they demonstrating how they like getting screwed by speed trap cameras? Or fast running parking meters? Because all that gets FIXED for them. And they can’t display dealing with most of life’s little problems, like the rest of us. So the guns come out, and they pretend to be good shots. Like they REALLY need to be, to hunt for food to eat, OR THEY’LL STARVE! What nonsense. Most are well paid lawyers. Not backwoods hunters. Showing off their gun skills has replaced claiming they grew up in a log cabin.
Well, if any more of these so-called “isolated” tragedies occur in the near future. Perhaps politicians will think that maybe they are reaping the seeds they sowed.
“All the World is a Theater”
Dave, you surprise me sometimes.
-great post.
however this one is easy.
best way to garnish support for the inevitable “Gifford Act” to follow, is to make a BIG scene -and yank on those emotional heart strings way early. (although, if congress has a PR firm with half a brain, they’ll name the Act after the 9yr old)
that aside, there have been many recent, rather embarrassing news items for government at large that have been pre-empted by this wonderful theater of so called “compassion” [sic]
my favorite is that china unveiled their 5th Generation J20 stealth fighter ahead of a chinese talking head coming to visit. (with talk of a supersonic stealth drone to match our own “in progress”)
recall maybe 2yrs ago that SecDef robert gates said china would not have a viable stealth fighter until 2020-25 or so.. (ha!)
however, it’s great news for the den of thieves who delayed the 2011 budget. -cant wait to see the defense spending amendments, can you? :/
i can see all the defense contractors toasting to the occasion: “I love the smell of a new cold war in the morning..smells like, Profit!”
remember, death, like life, is nothing but a business model.
-but i digress.
-s
(btw, i heard on bloomberg radio earlier that giffords “defied doctors orders” and went downstairs to see the people holding a vigil for her. -so much for her “critical condition” eh?)
#3
It’s time the sheeple realize this is not healthy democracy.
Its time that Dallas realise it was never a democracy in the first place. Everyone should
come out of the 19-20th century and stop using terms like democracy, free market, racism and
communist nation like they were ever true.
#6
We couldn’t help but grit our teeth in anger when the Sheriff confirmed that the killer did indeed place copies of Palin’s map on the windshield of cars in the parking lot. “Yes,” the sheriff said, “the maps had the congresswoman’s district highlighted in yellow with the message: ‘I got this’n, y’all get the rest.’”
Source article please.
#23
He mentioned that someone “did not die in vain.”
It gets trotted out all the time as a useless platitude to calm the jangled nerves of simpleton people.
It is expected to be said. Just like “tragic loss of life” and “hope for a better “.
Humans don’t want to hear reality when they are mourning loss. Because the reality is we all die. And they fear death.
There are only three kinds of people that do not fear death.
The Deranged
The Hopeless
The Abused
#26
(btw, i heard on bloomberg radio earlier that giffords “defied doctors orders” and went downstairs to see the people holding a vigil for her. -so much for her “critical condition” eh?)
Misheard. It was Pam Simon a staffer for the congresswoman. Who was not critically injured.
This may help: http://mayoclinic.com/health/hearing-aids/HQ00812
As for the President speaking… it is his job to do this. He did it as well as Reagan and Clinton.
But now will anyone do anything to reduce a chance of it occurring again? No. They never do.
It all sits and festers until another open sore appears. The way it is in the US. Treat the symptoms. Ignore the disease.
Cursor_
My wife and I had just arrived home from work. My wife was busy doing those things she does when we get home from work and I turned on the TV. I have to preface this the fact that my wife might be one of the most apolitical people I know, bless her heart. The memorial was on and Napolitano had just been introduced and the crowd was cheering. My wife heard all the cheering and asked what was on. I said, “The memorial”. She frowned and said, “That’s sick”.
I think she summed it up best.
Some people complain about everything.
I was once married to a woman like that.
Really f’n annoying, I tells ya.
# 27 Cursor_ said, “There are only three kinds of people that do not fear death. The Deranged The Hopeless The Abused”
Cursor, you’re slipping. That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard you say. I don’t believe I fall into any of your three categories but I don’t fear death. That doesn’t mean I’m looking forward to it, but I don’t fear it.
Hey Obumhole lover, your race-baiting troll is about what I would expect from a demonRat such as yourself. This douchebag had a cheering section and handed out t shirts at this somber ceremony. Way to stay classy scumbag. Good thing this country is waking up to the Useless One’s agenda. In the morning.