I had considered going to Tucson to listen to the president, knowing that I would have to get to the UA campus very early to secure a good spot. KVOA's Facebook page, however, announced that by 9am there was already a mile-long line of people waiting to get into the auditorium, which soon grew to a two-mile line and only grew from there. The station's live feed posted constant updates. By early afternoon streets were blocked off, the McKale auditorium had filled to capacity by 1pm and the traffic nightmare began.
Brian Williams from NBC Nightly News was in town. The news was broadcasted from Tucson tonight.
With Kevin recovering from oral surgery, he stayed home to rest and I stayed home with him. I had KVOA on most of the day for its "live updates", minus the time the station broadcasts chatty talkshows and soaps.
The hate-filled Westboro Church from Topeka, Kansas agreed not to protest the funeral of Christiana Green tomorrow. The Arizona legislature passed and Gov Brewer signed a law making their protests 300 feet from any of this week's six funerals (victims of this horrific rampage) illegal. It seems a lot of extremist groups are coming out of the MidWest.
I ended up watching the live updates on our little black-and-white TV while I went through my office closet to declutter the area, only making a bigger mess and stopping numerous times to look over old high school photos and other memorabilia either my mother or father saved for me and which I merely tucked away in old cardboard boxes. I found other books I had been looking for, and soon the clean-up became another typical messup of mine.
Obama spoke very lovingly about the youngest victim, nine-year-old Christina Green who truly did sound like a remarkably gifted child with great ambitions. It's a tragic shame someone like her had her life cut so short.
"I want to live up to her expectations," he said. "I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it."
More than 13,000 people crowded into McKale Center. When that filled up, a similar number filed into Arizona Stadium and watched from large TVs. Backpacks, laptops and large cameras were not allowed in either facility.
"Gabby opened her eyes for the first time" said Obama. So there is indeed hope that Giffords, too will recover. Only time now will tell how much of a recovery she will endure.
Obama gave a very touching speech. Sometimes it sounded more like a campaign speech with people standing, cheering and applauding than a somber memorial speech. He said all the right words. It was more of a speech akin to his 2004 speech and which made me fall into admiration for him. Just judging from the audience and later the internet comments, Tucsonans were very impressed with both the president and his genuine compassion for the city and the survivors of this tragic event. It's the first time in his two years that I didn't see or hear partisan muckraking. And even I, for the first time since his inauguration, have felt hope rise in me that things will finally get better and Americans will unite as Americans and not supporters of a particular political party who have as their one goal the desire to throw insults at one another.
http://www.c-span.com/Events/Thousands-Attend-Memorial-Service-in-Tucson/10737418883-3/
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_3b96fee6-08ec-5403-95c3-712c99805990.html
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