What the Hell?!? Friday -- United HATES of America Edition

If anything good is ever to come from  tragedy, it is because it can unite us to a common cause, remind us that we ought to all be in some way sharing the same goals, help us overlook our differences.

I missed President Obama's speech at the Tucson memorial service, since I have rehearsals on Wed. evenings.   Those who didn't miss it will recognize that he exercised the right blend of compassion and leadership, while leading the nation in morning, and inspiring us to find the good that can follow in the aftermath of the horrific.

Let's see how well it worked.

Here we have a pic displayed by gateway pundit, one of the intellectual giants at RIGHTNETWORK  (they use ALL CAPS in their banner - I'm not shouting)  of  Obama cheerleading at the pep-rally to kick off his 2012 presidential run, with applause queued up for the enthusiasm-response-challenged.  Oh, excuse me: The Tucson Memorial Service for the Fallen.  The pundit, one Jim Hoft queries: "If White House Was Surprised by Applause at Tucson Pep Rally… Why Did They Ask For It On Jumbotron?"

Some commenters at Hoft's blog pointed out that this is closed captioning.  But let us not be mislead.  Hoft points us to this equally brilliant post by Doug Ross, where in update III he quotes bugfurhat from iowntheworld, who points out that, "it’s WORSE that it’s closed-captioning."  (emphaisis in the original.)

Plus, the ever-erudite Ed Driscoll reminds us, while harkening back to the Paul Wellstone Memorial in talking about the event that produced "the damning photo," that "If you missed the rock concert memorial service but still want to pick-up a T-shirt, no worries: Ebay has you covered."

Anyway, closed captioning expert Rush Limbaugh sets the record straight. (Scroll down to Story #5.)  Seriously, I don't have a map the extends far enough to the right to locate someone who has to be set straight by the Rushter coming at him from the left.

The reaction at Faux Noise was, of course, appropriately fair and balanced - for the greater part of three whole minutes.  John Stewart (via TPM) explains.

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To top it all off, here, from the slaktivist, is Grief 101: Intro to Mourning.

Notable Quote, directed to the insufferable Brit Hume and his cadre of Fox blowhards:

It doesn't matter if you find the way they choose to mourn "most peculiar," or "strange" or "offensive." It doesn't matter if you don't agree with them. You're not there to agree with them, you're there to mourn with them.

If you don't know what's going on, try to do what those around you do -- peek a little when they close their eyes and follow along as best you can. If they stand up, stand up. If they kneel, kneel. If they all start to sing the theme from The Smurfs while hopping on one foot and hugging each other, well, guess what? Sing their songs with them, chant their chants, dance their dances, mourn with them.

Alas, no good will come from this tragedy.  It cannot unite us to a common cause when those who are blinded by ideology and hate grasp at even make-believe straws to demonize the President in what might have been his finest moment.  It cannot remind us that we ought to all be in some way sharing the same goals when the real, and clearly-enunciated goal of the disloyal opposition is to make the president fail, without regard for the lies they must tell to do it, or the consequences to the country.   It cannot help us to overlook our differences when at every turn, one party designates  the President as OTHER, while subjecting the American people to a campaign of divide and conquer.

Last Week I asked the Right Wing, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

Now I know the answer.  This is The United Hates of America.

We are so screwed.
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