" Gibbs: White House Not Responsible for Picking Rowdy Arena for Memorial Service."

[megimoo]

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that the White Houes was not responsible for choosing a basketball arena, as opposed to a church or a smaller auditorium that might be more conducive to a solemn event, for Wednesday's night's memorial service in Tucson, Ariz.

The McKale Memorial Center, an athletics facility at the University of Arizona, was packed with a reported 14,000 people, who repeatedly broke out in cheers and screams of a sort not ordinarily associated with a memorial service.
snip
Gibbs said the White House did not play a role in choosing the venue for the memorial. A university spokesperson told CNSNews.com that the venue was picked after President Barack Obama confirmed he would be attending.
snip
Obama’s speech lasted 33 minutes 44 seconds and was interrupted for applause 51 times. The tone of the applause at times included shouts and whistles similar to a political rally.

The speech was compared to earlier speeches given by presidents during a time of national crisis, such as President Ronald Reagan’s speech after the Challenger space shuttle explosion in 1986 and President Bill Clinton’s speech after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

Reagan’s speech was delivered from the Oval Office and lasted less than three minutes.




http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/white-house-responds-concerns-about-pep

[m00]

Talk about narcissism

[PoliCon]

Right - The White house didn't pick the venue . . . officially. I'm sure they used multiple intermediaries to allow them to be able to make that claim. What's really telling is that they did not pick the stadium. Barry is slipping. Time was when his name would have packed the 57,803 seats of Arizona Stadium.

[Rockntractor]

Right - The White house didn't pick the venue . . . officially. I'm sure they used multiple intermediaries to allow them to be able to make that claim. What's really telling is that they did not pick the stadium. Barry is slipping. Time was when his name would have packed the 57,803 seats of Arizona Stadium.

I wonder if 14000 were all they had time to check out for safe clearance.

[megimoo]

I wonder if 14000 were all they had time to check out for safe clearance.They had enough time to buss in a bunch of Mexicans to cheer the Governor.

[Rockntractor]

They had enough time to buss in a bunch of Mexicans to cheer the Governor.

Grounds staff at the white house.

[megimoo]

Grounds staff at the white house.LA is Closer !

[NJCardFan]

LA is Closer !

And Nogales closer still. Seriously, I didn't mind the venue. It was a big deal and there aren't too many churches in Tucson that could accommodate the expected crowd. What bothered me was the tone. While Obama's speech was succinct, the way he was introduced and the reaction of the crowd, I half expected Obama to be carried out on a litter like Jackie Presser at the Teamsters convention.

[Zathras]

So what we had here is Paul Welstone Part Deux....these cultists of the Obumbler are absolutely pathetic. :mad:

[malloc]

I don't think I'm going to hold this against Obama or his administration. The political rally that resulted I blame on the liberal student body and U of A president Shelton. Way to keep it classy and respectful of the victims U of A. :rolleyes: Then again, what else can we expect from a student body full of drum circle participants.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think Obama was clearly uncomfortable with the way the students were behaving. Whether he knew it would invite bad publicity, or he genuinely was thinking of the victims is uncertain, but I'm sure the mood of the crowd and tone of the "rally" was not what he was expecting.