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Saturday, January 15, 2011

Memorial Service As Political Pep Rally

Since when are souvenir shirts with a political theme distributed at a memorial service? The picture and a little bit of research tell the tale.

From the Canada Free Press (hat tip to Cube):

The “Together We Thrive” T-shirts that starred at Wednesday’s Arizona `Memorial’ originated from Organizing for America (here), a sad fact unearthed by The Drumbeat of Liberty and the Preservation of Freedom editor and Canada Free Press (CFP) columnist Robert Rohlfing. In the controversy of the pep rally/rock concert style Memorial for those who lost their lives in Saturday’s Arizona tragedy, the mainstream media reported that the “Together We Thrive: Tucson & America” T-shirt given to mourners as they entered McKale Center was the idea of University of Arizona brass, not the Obama administration.

Yet the “Together We Thrive” slogan dates back to a post to Obama’s own Organizing for America in a Feb. 11, 2008 post by self-described “globalist” John Berry IV.

More than passing strange that the Obama campaign message of civility was the same on Feb. 11, 2008 as it was in his Wednesday Memorial speech, and the same one, too carried by the mainstream media in coverage of the Memorial.

“For too long Americans have been set one against the other. It is a side affect of a free market society,” Berry IV posted. “How can profits be maximized, how can I get the work down for the lowest possible costs. This continually sets one group against the other, especially in the blue collar sectors of America. It has become part of the American Business model, whether it was indentured servants, slaves picking cotton, sharecroppers, the industrious people that built the railroads or today’s migrant workers. As long as we remain divided, fighting for the scraps that America has to offer it will be one group against the other.

“What I see in Obama is a chance for revolution. A chance for every group to be heard; A chance to live the American dream that has been denied to so many…

“In a previous career, I was the global leader of Diversity for a global fortune 500 corporation. I have studied the affects of diverse groups working together and the results can not be denied. Together we Thrive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
University of Arizona brass did not originate the “Together We Thrive” T-shirt. They merely recycled it for Obama—and recycled it in time for what should have been a dignified Memorial for the dead.

If you were a mourner who took home a “Together We Thrive” T-shirt have a look at the bottom of your shirt. “Rocking America and Rocking the Vote” is a common theme of the DNC, and it’s right there on your Memorial T-shirt memento.

Welcome to the era of Obama, where cheering and standing ovations, for the first time in history, became part of the Requiem for the Dead.
Despicable!

If a Republican President had delivered a speech under the above circumstances, the mainstream media would have been all over the story.

Those truly mourning the January 8, 2011 shootings in Tuscon have been deceived in a most egregious way.

And Obama's eloquent words in his speech at the "memorial service" count for nothing in light of the information from the Canada Free Press if Obama doesn't come forth to condemn the distribution of those shirts.

44 comments:

  1. From this spot-on post by Chuck:

    No folks, this was not a defining moment in Obama's Presidency, it was merely the first political rally of the 2012 elections.

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  2. It is/was more than sickening. And his poll numbers go up. Yes, first shot across the bow for 2012. We will never ever make it back if he is re-elected, that is for sure.

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  3. No ... this was not a memorial. Pep Rally seems to fit it better.

    From the rambling Native American Blessing to the myriad bursts of applause during the President's speech, it was as Tom said, "tacky".

    The President did however deliver a pretty good speech. If only he could orate our way out of our problems.

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  4. The "Together We Thrive" t-shirts: one size fits all, and they shrink away to nothing after the first wash.

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  5. Did anyone notice that it was at a college (PC church)instead of a regular house of worship?

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  6. That is exactly what I posted right after I saw the "memorial" service on Fox, that it was the beginning of Obama's 2012 election. They tried to make folks think the organizing was done by the folks in Arizona, the University, but no. Wrong. The t-shirts, banners and brochures, and slogan, were all Obama. Shame. Shame on them for using this event.

    Debbie
    Right Truth
    http://www.righttruth.typepad.com

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  7. HERE is something of possible interest:

    Job is known as Ayyūb (Arabic: أيوب ), which is Arabic for Job, and is considered a prophet in Islam. In the Arabic language the name of Job (Ayyūb) is symbolic of the virtue of patience, though it does not mean patience in itself.

    Interesting that Obama quoted from the book of Job, ancient Sumerian literature and not exclusively a part of Judeo-Christian heritage.

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  8. Since when are souvenir shirts with a political theme distributed at a memorial service?

    When the most useless POS to ever INFEST the Oval Office began doing so...

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  9. I can not agree on your statements about Job AOW."not exclusively a part of Judeo-Christian heritage."
    I would submit that there are several books of the OT which are not exclusive to the Judeo-Christian heritage but that does in no way make them of less importance or less a part of the Judeo-Christian heritage. Did you also know that there is a Babylonia Text of Job as well as Egyptian?

    Sorry but I think maybe you did a bit of a stretch on this one AOW.

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  10. Ticker,
    Maybe I wasn't clear with my comment about Job.

    Let me try again.

    Of all the Biblical books that Obama could have cited in his speech, he chose a book inoffensive to Moslems.

    I also noted that Obama didn't mention the word "Bible." He did say, "The scriptures tell us" -- a phrase that Moslems would relate to as Job is included in the Koran.

    Also of note, IMO: Obama did not cite anything from the Psalms. Psalms can be regarded as Judaic.

    I am neither saying nor implying that the book of Job is of less importance or less a part of the Judeo-Christian heritage.

    Yes, the story of Job can be found in Babylonian and Egyptian texts. The story was a renowned one in the ancient world.

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  11. As long as I'm on the topic of Job....

    The story of Job doesn't relate at all to "together we thrive." Rather, the story is about ONE man's faith in the Lord. Group salvation, so to speak, is not a topic in the book of Job.

    Patience is one lesson to learn from Job. But for me, the overriding lesson is that of trusting the Lord in the face of adversity, i.e., tempting by the devil.

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  12. The book of Job does stand in contrast to the ancient Sumerian work The Epic of Gilgamesh, which has a very nihilistic view. Indeed the book of Job presents the opposite of a nihilistic view -- if one stands strong in the Lord. If one stands strong in the Lord, Satan cannot win!

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  13. I googled obama book of job, and got this strange essay from the New York Times.

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  14. This was the Reelect Obama 2012 kickoff rally.

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  15. Obama's citation from Job:

    Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, "when I looked for light, then came darkness." Bad things happen, and we must guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.

    Also, I found this comment at CBS News:

    This memorial service was so bizarre; not one Christian prayer nor a Jewish prayer but an Indian prayer for the snakes and beasts of the land.

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  16. Pep rally, campaign stop, ect... Obama will never condemn those shirts because his followers either won't do the research or are too stupid to do it.

    All of us will be painted as crazy teabaggers. Move along.

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  17. A campaign rally and we paid for it!

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  18. I can't even pretend to be surprised

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  19. The speech, as all of Obama's speeches, meant absolutely nothing. It contained nil semantic content, a meaningless collection of phrases, focus group tested, which minds slip over without purchase and assign their own meaning. Once again, reading into President Empty Suit, some deep thought or thoughts that just aren't there.

    I really wasn't sure it wasn't an Olympic opening ceremony. I kept waiting for someone to jog in with the torch.

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  20. The frightening thing is, his poll numbers go up though nothing substance was said or done. Granted it was a memorial service, but it definitely had all the fixins' of a political rally. It just shows how dumbed down a large segment of our population has become. I saw the Yaqui-Indian prayer. He did a little speechifying about himself and his ancestry before he started praying. After that I was done. Who goes to a memorial to talk about themselves or about their ethnicity? That's a rhetorical question, I know the answer. The only thing missing was someone walking the aisles yelling "Peanuts! Frostie Malts!" I guess I'm just showing my age and allegiance to another generation.

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  21. The good news is this will all be forgotten soon.

    Whatever bounce he allegedly got in the polls will fade faster than the melting snow from this blizzard

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  22. Great point. I'll put this in he Sunday Link post.

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  23. So much for the new civility:

    A Tucson mass shooting victim was taken into custody Saturday after yelling "you're dead" at a Tea Party spokesman during the taping of an ABC-TV town hall event hosted by Christianne Amanpour.

    The Pima County Sheriff's Office said J. Eric Fuller, 63, was involuntarily committed to an undisclosed medical facility, NBC News reported. The Associated Press said he was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

    He faces charges of threats and intimidation and disorderly conduct, according to Tucson TV station KGUN.

    Local officials and others also packed St. Odilia's Catholic Church in northwest Tucson, where the show was taped.

    KGUN reported that Fuller took exception to comments by Republican state Rep. Terri Proud and Tucson Tea Party spokesman Trent Humphries.

    Fuller was in the front row and apparently became upset when Humphries suggested that any conversations about gun control should be delayed until all the dead were buried, KGUN reported....

    I wonder if this was the same fellow who said yesterday or the day before that he blamed Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, etc., for the Tucson shootings. One of the victims so opined a few days ago.

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  24. More evidence that the so-called memorial service was actually a pep rally.

    From Gateway Pundit:

    On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that they were surprised by the applause at the memorial pep rally on Wednesday for the victims of the Tucson shootings.

    I will say that I read the speech several times and thought that there wouldn’t be a lot of applause if any. I think many of us thought that. But I think there was a celebration, again, of the lives of those who had been impacted. Not just at that grocery store but throughout the country. And I think that, if that is part of the healing process, then that’s a good thing.

    Oh really?
    Then why was it [the word "applause"] printed on the Jumbotron?....


    Gateway Pundit has the photo!

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  25. The fellow who so publicly blamed the Right for the Tucson shootings made death threats Saturday against the Right.

    Matt has more at the above link.

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  26. Why doesn't it surprise me that the left was behind this? And as for John Berry's comment, spoken like a true Marxist schmuck.

    Despicable doesn't even describe this.

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  27. Hmmmmmm....:

    And what's the first thing you notice — the difference between today and the speech he gave at the memorial? Right. Different color hair. Gray for the memorial, signifying the wise elder, the father figure. Back to dark hair to signify the vigorous young man, ready to forge ahead, solving problems, and restoring his party's electoral fortunes.

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  28. Warren's comment is spot on:

    I really wasn't sure it wasn't an Olympic opening ceremony. I kept waiting for someone to jog in with the torch.

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  29. Hi AOW! Once again, the o regime have been caught out. This was nothing more than a pep rally and kick-off to o's 2012 campaign. The slogan was straight from his OFA site. I'm glad the blog's and various video's have brought this to light!

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  30. Good comments on Job AOW. You did your homework! He could of course have used any of the first five books of the Scripture and they would have also been acceptable to Muslims.


    As to the subject: It was a kick off to 2012, but as I said before, when has Obama ever stopped campaigning. That is all he knows how to do as have been proven in his failed administration for lack of leadership.

    An oh yea, "the great teleprompter in the sky" as I refer to the jumbo-tron certainly was more in liking to a pep rally than a memorial service. We use such in our church but it doesn't include when to applaud or say AMEN.

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  31. Ticker,
    I also found interesting that some consider Job to be one of the Old Testament heroes not a Jew.

    Yes, Moslems do use the Torah, but some of the stories are changed, for example, the story about Abraham and Isaac and the altar. In the Moslem version, the child for sacrifice is Ishmael. Of course, in both stories the angel of the Lord intervened in the actual sacrifice of the child.

    BTW, I do know quite a bit about the Book of Job vs. The Epic of Gilgamesh because I teach world literature, a Christian-based course for homeschoolers. We study both works in that particular class.

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  32. Ticker,
    You said: when has Obama ever stopped campaigning.

    I say: He does know his strengths as a public speaker, and those strengths lie in his demagoguery during campaigning. Or, maybe it's his handlers who know his strengths better than Obama himself knows.

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  33. It sure as hell was!

    Heard about Canada too. Sad!

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  34. Amusing Bunni,
    The slogan was straight from his OFA site. I'm glad the blog's and various video's have brought this to light!

    If only the mainstream media would harp on these stories!

    Just this morning on the mainstream media shows on television, the anchors and guests went on and on about how wonderful Obama's Tucson speech was.

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  35. What more can you expect from a morally bankrupt political hack? Propaganda and marketing is all that these guys know and the victims be damned. Such a thing is vile and disgusting.

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  36. This was to be expected. Why all the shock and awe? Stupid is as stupid does. Pffft!

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  37. I'm afraid everyone in my neighborhood that still has an Obama sticker on their car is very likely going to explode into another perennial outburst of left-wing violence.

    I'm already shopping for Kevlar armor and stab plating.

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  38. The recent electoral losses suffered by the left have made them desperate and nervous.

    The way i see it, even seasoned observers are going to be surprised at the lows they'll stoop to when trying to get obama re-elected.

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  39. MK said:

    The way i see it, even seasoned observers are going to be surprised at the lows they'll stoop to when trying to get obama re-elected.

    I agree with that statement.

    To paraphrase a famous line from Bette Davis, "It's going to be a bumpy ride to the 2012 elections."

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  40. Did they leave garbage in the building and litter the streets and sidewalks with their signs?

    If they did them yes it was a political rally. You can always tell a liberal rally especially the ones for environmentalism because they trash the place.

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  41. Blogginator,
    I haven't heard about the trash left behind. I've got my suspicions, however.

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  42. I thought I heard my name. Thanks for the link :-)

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  43. In my opinion, anybody who would even wear a T-shirt (much less distribute T-shirts) at a memorial service is an ignoramus in the first place.

    Memorial services call for modest, dressy clothing in subdued colors, preferably black.

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