Certainly you've heard that old Rodney Dangerfield groaner: "I went to a fight last night and a hockey game broke out." Many purists who tuned in to watch a grief gathering in Tucson Wednesday evening were tugging at their neckties Thursday morning, saying: "I went to a memorial vigil last night and a pep rally broke out."
So that my meaning will not be misconstrued in this tense climate of rhetorical judgmentalism, please know from the outset, Word Police, that it is my firm belief each of the memorial's speakers – including Barack Obama – came with and spoke with a broken heart and with words of mourning, comfort and encouragement to match their sincere grief.
Other than some wonderment over hither-to-fore unheard Scripture-quoting – normally reserved for more conservative speakers who might later be chastised for mixing religion with their elected/appointed government positions or for suggesting that the same Book outlaws murder of any kind – my beef is with many of the 13,000+ attendees and with the de facto emcee of the event.
University of Arizona President Dr. Robert N. Shelton encouraged the "mourners'" often-inappropriate exuberance (howls, whistles and the kind of applause one would expect at a rally, concert or sporting event) with his rah-rah, less-than-somber, politically-tinged introductions. I can't recall now if he had ever introduced candidate Obama during the run-up to the last presidential election but I'm sure Obama staffers will remember to call on him during the next campaign.
Furthermore, I believe that one or more of the speakers, as I did, found the audience's reactions to be – to say the very least – different from what they expected based on long-held ideas and the kind of decorum that memorial gatherers normally portray. That is not to say that a standing ovation for the heroes of the tragedy was not in order.
But even University of Arizona student Daniel Hernandez, the intern credited with keeping his mentor Gabrielle Giffords alive until professionals arrived on the scene, modestly shunned the term hero and called for the crowd to quickly put a lid on its exuberance over his admirably efficient actions and to focus on the Tucson Tragedy's dead and injured and their grieving loved ones.
Therefore, one might wonder if those who believe that words and the manner in which they are expressed, could actually have been the cause for such a murderous rampage also believe that cheers, howls and whistling are the appropriate corrective response to such a serious threat to society.
One might also wonder if holding a nationally-televised exuberance-filled event after dozens of bullets hit their marks is not tantamount to sending a message to would-be shooters that dead and maimed people aren't really as dead and maimed as the news media initially makes them out to be.
Meanwhile, after all of our recent coming-together, the killer/maimer retains his ability to say whatever crosses his deranged mind while the size of his listening audience has increased exponentially. By all estimates the politically incorrect event that would end that injustice will be a long time coming.
... and neither is a vigil.