I’ve been a student of and an active participant in politics now since I was 13 years old. I have heard many political speeches in my lifetime. But none quite like the one I heard last night from the 44th President of the United States of America.
I am old enough to vividly remember the Challenger explosion, the Oklahoma City bombings, and of course, like most of us, I remember 9/11 all too well. Three very different presidents (Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush), two Republicans, one Democrat — all had to step out of their role as Commander-in-Chief and step into the role of Comforter-in-Chief to heal the nation at a time of national grief.
Tonight, regardless of your politics, or how you may feel personally about President Barack Obama, only someone who has a cynical heart could not be inspired by his impassioned and sincere plea to us all to “not turn on one another” and “to reflect on how we can live a life worthy of the expectations” that a hopeful 9-year-old like Christina Taylor Green had of her democracy when she went to meet her Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, only instead to meet her own violent death.
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH HERE:
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The president made moving statements about all the victims in Tucson last Saturday and then he posed a profound challenge to us all: “Their actions, their selflessness, also pose a challenge to each of us. It raises the question of what, beyond the prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?”
Can any of us disagree with his words? Find fault with his heart?
Sadly, I suspect some will. It was not 10 seconds after the president finished speaking that I saw vitriolic and mean-spirited posts online attacking him. But let me say this to those of you who continue on this course of division (whether you be on the left or right) — this president today “manned up”. He reminded the world that he is indeed a patriot. A man who loves his country, his family, his neighbors, and his fellow citizens. He showed us that he is a caring dad, a man with a good heart, a man who was clearly affected by the violent death of a 9-year-old girl and five other innocent people. He called on us to better ourselves last night. He did not say one negative, mean, digging, unkind word about his political opponents. Instead, he told us to prove ourselves worthy of a discussion that “brings healing, not one that will cause further wounds.”
But mostly, I was deeply touched by the way he made us all confront the reality of our mortality and spirituality. He reminded us that “evil” exists and that “terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding”. He made clear that partisan politics has no place in the discussion that should follow around the deaths of our fellow citizens.
Partisanship fell by the way side yesterday. Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) (not a White House favorite) met the president’s plane and warmly embraced him and the first lady. And who can forget the image of Michelle Obama, fighting back tears as she held hands tightly with Gabrielle’s husband Capt. Mark E. Kelly as the president announced to the nation that Giffords opened her eyes for the first time today?
I will end by saying this, regardless of whether this president now has a 53 percent approval rating or whether he is re-elected in 2012. This speech will go down in the annals of politics as one of the most inspiring, compassionate and reflective of our time. Not because of its eloquence, or stirring rhythms, but because he called us out to prove ourselves a people worthy of the expectations of our children.