Obama calls for national unity at Arizona memorial service
Source: Agencies |
January 14, 2011, Friday
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US President Barack Obama appealed for unity at a memorial service for those attacked in the Arizona shooting rampage, and he implored a divided America to honor them by becoming a better country.
Obama electrified the crowd on Wednesday by revealing that following his hospital visit with Representative Gabrielle Giffords, she had opened her eyes for the first time since being shot point-blank in the head in the assassination attempt last Saturday.
While some have blamed America's overheated political climate and the use of violent imagery in campaigns, Obama conceded that there is no way to know what set off Saturday's shooting rampage that left six people dead, 13 wounded and the nation shaken. He tried instead to leave indelible memories of the people who were gunned down and to rally the country to use the moment as a reflection on America's behavior and compassion.
"I believe we can be better," Obama said to a capacity crowd at the University of Arizona basketball arena - and to countless others watching across America. "Those who died here, those who saved lives here - they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us."
Obama said Giffords, known as "Gabby," opened her eyes a few minutes after he left her intensive care hospital room on Wednesday evening at Tucson's University Medical Center, where some of her colleagues in Congress remained.
"Gabby opened her eyes, so I can tell you: She knows we are here, she knows we love her, and she knows that we are rooting for her through what is undoubtedly going to be a difficult journey," he said.
No matter the cause of the shooting, Obama pleaded for Americans to remain civil now as they debate gun control, mental health -services and the motivations of the killer.
"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," the president said.
The shooting happened as Giffords was holding an event in a parking lot. The gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, shot her in the head and worked his way down the line of people waiting to talk with her.
Obama electrified the crowd on Wednesday by revealing that following his hospital visit with Representative Gabrielle Giffords, she had opened her eyes for the first time since being shot point-blank in the head in the assassination attempt last Saturday.
While some have blamed America's overheated political climate and the use of violent imagery in campaigns, Obama conceded that there is no way to know what set off Saturday's shooting rampage that left six people dead, 13 wounded and the nation shaken. He tried instead to leave indelible memories of the people who were gunned down and to rally the country to use the moment as a reflection on America's behavior and compassion.
"I believe we can be better," Obama said to a capacity crowd at the University of Arizona basketball arena - and to countless others watching across America. "Those who died here, those who saved lives here - they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us."
Obama said Giffords, known as "Gabby," opened her eyes a few minutes after he left her intensive care hospital room on Wednesday evening at Tucson's University Medical Center, where some of her colleagues in Congress remained.
"Gabby opened her eyes, so I can tell you: She knows we are here, she knows we love her, and she knows that we are rooting for her through what is undoubtedly going to be a difficult journey," he said.
No matter the cause of the shooting, Obama pleaded for Americans to remain civil now as they debate gun control, mental health -services and the motivations of the killer.
"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," the president said.
The shooting happened as Giffords was holding an event in a parking lot. The gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, shot her in the head and worked his way down the line of people waiting to talk with her.
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