President Obama Pleads for Unity
President Obama gave an impassioned speech at the memorial service to the victims of the shootings in Tucson, Arizona.
He called on the American people to honor the victims image of what America should be. Many were wondering if he would comment on the use of extreme language in American politcs today and how it influences people.
Many have pointed a finger at Sarah Palins use of a map with gun sights aimed at the location of any democrat politician who voted for Obama’s health care reforms. One of those ‘targeted’ was Gabrielle Giffords.
He choose to confront the issue head on saying people needed to “sharpen our instincts for empathy” and
“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 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 a way that wounds.”
While he didn’t point any fingers or accuse any Republicans of any sort of wrong doing he did say rather pointedly
“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.”
President Obama was speaking after visiting Gabrielle Giffords at the hospital where she is being treated. He mentioned that he was told by her husband, the astronaut Mark Kelly, that after he had left, Gabrielle had opened her eyes for the first time since the incident happened.
Photo: Dana Beveridge
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