Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
This nonsense started immediately after President Obama's speech in Tucson on Wednesday night. Some commentators on CNN stated that the audience at McKale Center had applauded "inappropriately" at a memorial service. Tucsonans were not somber enough for these Beltway bloviators. This theme quickly was picked up by other commentators as an inappropriate "pep rally" atmosphere.
On Thursday, the right was exercised over the T-shirts that were handed out at the memorial service, concocting wild conspiracy theories – as the right is wont to do – that the White House turned it into a political rally. Right-wing media star Tammy Bruce likened the event to the 2002 funeral for Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN), which conservatives at the time claimed was unfairly turned into a political rally by Wellstone's supporters. Conservatives Criticize Free T-Shirts At Tucson Memorial Service | TPMDC.
Then today, the Arizona Republic's columnist whose only job it appears is to repeat the right-wing talking points of the day, Doug MacEachern, tied these smears of our Tucson community into one tidy paragraph. Inappropriate behavior at Tucson memorial:
President Barack Obama provided a great service to his country Wednesday night, so I am not going to quibble with the fact that T-shirts got passed around. But let's face it: There was something cringingly inappropriate about college kids not knowing how to act appropriately at a wake. We're seeing it more and more: No one is teaching them decorum.
Sorry pal, it was not a wake. It was a memorial service to celebrate the lives of those who were killed and wounded, and individual acts of heroism. There will be time for funerals at which the Tucson community will grieve our loss in somber farewells. Several of those wounded and killed are friends and colleagues of mine, so let me say "how dare you." Your insinuated smears of our Tucson community culled from right-wing talking points are entirely baseless and false. You owe our Tucson community an apology.
Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly addresses the right-wing smears of our Tucson community:
Conservative reactions to Wednesday's memorial service in Tucson have been a little haphazard. They're trying to complain about something, but they're having trouble picking a coherent flaw.
The first complaint had to do with the crowd, but realizing there's no upside to condemning a grieving community, this talking point soon faded. [Exception: Doug MacEachern] The second had to do with accusing President Obama of lying about the way in which Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes. These complaints were as demonstrably false as they were ugly.
The latest complaint is that event organizers gave the memorial a name — "Together We Thrive" — and distributed T-shirts to attendees.
As absurd as this may sound, the right really was worked up about this, blasting "Team Obama" for handing out branded shirts at a "Pep Rally Memorial." [Michelle] Malkin complained, "Can't the Democrat [sic] political stage managers give it a break just once?" Drudge, predictably, pushed this, too.
The problem, of course, is that those doing the whining had no idea what they're talking about. [per usual]
[O]fficials at the University of Arizona said the White House had nothing to do with the name or the logo.
"The name of the event and the logo for the event were done entirely by the university," said Johnny Cruz, a spokesman for the University of Arizona. "Branding of the event was not done in consultation with the White House, or any elected officials or political organization."
The T-shirts were also the university's doing, Cruz said.
"That was the university's idea," he said. "We wanted to give people something to remember, to symbolize the community spirit."
The right also complained that taxpayer money was used to buy the shirts, and that wasn't true, either. Literally every claim conservatives have made about this has proven false.
But here's the kicker: told that her complaint has no basis in reality, Malkin argued, "Given the Obama White House's meticulous attention to stage prop details, however, I would say the odds of involvement by Axelrod/Plouffe & Co. are high."
This is a conservative classic. First, present a baseless, classless allegation. Second, run into facts that prove the allegation wrong. Third, pretend the allegation is correct anyway. Malkin's follow-up, in effect, is, "Oh yeah? Well, I have no proof, but I prefer to think I'm still right."
I so desperately wish these folks would grow up.
I desperately wish they would just shut up and allow our Tucson community to grieve in our own unique way. These are our friends, colleagues and neighbors. Respect our Tucson community's right to say goodbye.
UPDATE: Steve Benen adds more at The Washington Monthly:
If you missed "The Daily Show" last night, there was a great segment on the media reactions to the memorial service in Tucson, and complaints about everything from the audience's reaction to the benediction to the seating arrangements.
For example, Brian Kilmeade of "Fox & Friends" complained about the opening blessing, which Kilmeade found as a "very strange" way to "open the show." Stewart explained, "It's not a 'show.' He didn't 'open up a show.' It's 'mourning,' with a 'u.' You're confusing a morning show — which you are on –with a show of mourning, which is what this is."
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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