Comfort amid mayhem

Opinion: January 14, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Comfort amid mayhem

Dallas Morning News: President Barack Obama was superb in his comfort of Americans on Wednesday night during a time of mayhem. He did so by solemnly recalling the particularity of each individual slain or wounded Saturday in Tucson while eloquently calling on every American to embrace a larger national purpose.

The strength of Obama’s remarks lay in his effort to bring America to Tucson to create a sense of a shared national grieving. He reminded Tucsonans that Americans were with them, mourning with them and adding our faith to theirs.

Obama focused on the families — and the many Americans — who are trying to find purpose after young Jared Loughner killed six Arizonans and wounded 14 others at a “Congress on the Corner” event that Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was holding at a supermarket last weekend.

The president described the people whose lives were twisted forever that fateful morning.

By putting a story behind each name, Obama helped the rest of us realize that these victims were more than names in the paper, more than public figures.

He spoke of hope and courage and emphasized what we can do to be true to those touched by this tragedy.

Changing tone

While the early part of the program, at times, had the discordant feel of a pep rally, as those in the audience cheered and applauded, perhaps it was an understandable emotional release for a community that has been suffering for five days in sorrow and shame.

The mood shifted as Obama took rhetorical control and spoke movingly of the individuals and national aspirations.

It would be a national sin to let this tragedy “become one more example of where we turn on each other.”

Let us then renew our willingness to debate with dignity, understanding that those who differ from us are our fellow Americans, not our enemies.

We then can live up to the dreams of 9-year-old Christina Green, just on the brink of life. The student council member’s desire to meet Giffords ended up claiming her life. But she — as the president movingly said — is why we must stay engaged with one another.

Let us live up to her ideals.