"We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions."
— Ronald Reagan quote of the day
I sure hope this is going to be a class event. The O’s will be arriving in Tucson today for a memorial ceremony dubbed: "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America." Sounds more like a fundraiser than a memorial. They let the new junior staffers organize this event, and their last assignment was Homecoming so I’m just hoping for no floats.
The event, expected to last around an hour, will include a Native American blessing, a moment of silence, a poetry reading and the presentation of a chain featuring messages from members of the public. Gov. Jan Brewer, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano are also scheduled to speak.
With all the politicians in front of a mic with a crisis to take advantage of, I understand there’s an over-under pool going for that estimated one hour time frame.
The memorial will be held at the McKale Center at the University of Arizona.
For safety and security reasons, certain items are prohibited, including laptop computers, sharp objects and metal or plastic drink bottles. The public is asked to not bring backpacks, bags or large purses. No posters or signs of any size will be permitted. No food or drink can be carried in. Small cameras will be permitted inside.
In the event the 14,000-seat McKale Center reaches capacity, overflow seating will be available in Arizona Stadium, where seats on the stadium's east side will be open. Video of the memorial will be shown on the scoreboard's big screen.
The operative instruction: dress to be frisked. And get used to it. Which reminds me, expect Bruno and Ricky to be covering the un-presidential part of Big Guy’s speech for him. That clears the way for him to give a speech that will focus on national heeling healing.
Over the weekend we dispatched all of the king’s henchmen to stir up the outrage over the vitriolic rhetoric of the right that caused this tragedy. So we’re going to try to keep politics out of today’s event. It will be hard since that’s all we know.
Personally, I don’t know why we’re discussing the evils of rancorous political debate when the real issue is what can we do with our nutty fellow citizens (no, I’m not talking about the R-words).
Why is it so hard to incarcerate people who are clearly a danger to themselves and others before they act it out? Gerard has an excellent handle on it, butt allow me to provide the short answer: because that would be judgmental. And we don’t believe in being judgmental any more. Unless, of course, you’re a member of the vast Right-wing conspiracy. Then you are naturally judged to be a racist, sexist, hater homophobe who should be shut up and locked away forever. Maybe in Gitmo.
By all accounts this evening’s memorial address will be a defining moment for Big Guy’s presidency, so he’s “writing it himself®.” I’m sure it will be Reagan-esque. Or, if not, at least Clinton-esqe.
Lady M is packin’ her hanky. Expect a good performance.
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