At least it doesn't have "Obama 2012" on it..........
Posted on 01/13/2011 5:26:33 AM PST by Red Badger
TUCSON, AZ -- Some conservatives are upset over t-shirts bearing the logo "Together We Thrive: Tucson & America" that were handed out to attendees at tonight's memorial service in the McKale Center on the campus of the University Of Arizona here.
The shirts, which bear the same logo that adorns other items from the event -- including press passes, signage and volunteer t-shirts -- were placed on many of the seats in the lower sections of the arena when tonight's capacity crowd walked in.
The University Of Arizona did not immediately respond to requests for more information on the shirts, which are drawing fire in the conservative twitter- and blogosphere tonight. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. A person familiar with the event confirmed the university put the event together, and was responsible for t-shirts, tickets, fliers, etc.
"I'm having a physical reaction to the T-shirts," Amanda Carpenter, a speech writer for Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) tweeted tonight. "I'm tearing up. This feels wrong."
(The tweet has since been deleted.)
Other conservatives on Twitter shared in the sentiment. Some have already speculated the shirts were paid for with taxpayer dollars.
Michelle Malkin had earlier raised a rukus about the event's logo on her blog.
"Isn't the churning of the instant messaging machine a bit, well, unseemly?" she wrote. "Can't the Democrat political stage managers give it a break just once?"
Right-wing media star Tammy Bruce had some of the harshest attacks on the event and the crowd here in Tucson. She likened the event to the 2002 funeral for Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN), which conservatives at the time claimed was unfairly turned into a political rally by Wellstone's supporters.
"Massacre Rally Theatre is a complete abomination. Absolutely obscene," Bruce tweeted Wednesday. "Clinton should be happy, no longer will 'Wellstone' be the benchmark."
Additional reporting by Ryan J. Reilly.
This post has been updated since it was first published.
At least it doesn't have "Obama 2012" on it..........
The problem, Barry has never been our President..he is and remains the Campaigner in Chief.
He should have quietly attended services that were not a circus and then quietly talked to the American people from his office.
Instead, he campaigned at a political “pep rally” where he shook hands with a politically rancid Sheriff on national TV.
The speech would have worked if it hadn’t been for Barry and Barry alone. Fail again Mr. Present.
That was not a “memorial service”. It was a campaign pep rally at which they gave out free T-shirts.
I want one that says they bring a knife we bring a gun.
They misspelled “Jive” or “Contrive”...
I don’t care who paid for the shirts, it was a sign of the lack of dignity so prevalent around this president and his ‘advisers’.
“Hello, welcome to the funeral. Here’s your commemorative t-shirt.”
I had a conversation this morning on my way up the elevator with a co-worker I thought leaned conservative.
She was impressed with Obama’s speech last night, and couldn’t figure out why I thought the t-shirts were tacky.
What...no streamers or party hats?
I watched this last night. I noticed his entourage: Michele, Holder, Napolitano, Pelosi and Clyburn (with various other liberals). It didn’t take long to realize that the venue was a left-leaning university in a blue city and that the crowd was there not so much to mourn, but to rally around Obama and the leftists. I felt sorry for Governor Brewer. Obama mentioned that he was there for Arizona and would be back if they needed him. I thought of his abandonment of protecting their border and the other Arizonans who had died because of that.
This was definitely political theater and a 2012 campaign thrust. It is clear that Obama loves the limelight. There is no humility about him. His talk was good but I wonder if many noticed his two very quiet references to gun control and help for the mentally ill?
Overall, he will win back some approval points for this....until we all begin to face the very real results of his policies again.
P.S. They declared her opening her eyes right after Obama left as miraculous.
I'm inclined to believe that she has already opened them several times before...
Together We Thrive.... on the bodies and blood of the dead and wounded.
I feel so bad for the families and friends of the victims. What a horrible slogan.
Obamah! Obamah!
...oh yeah, and prayers for the victims.
Off the chart disrespectful & inappropriate.
The only thing missing were the huge pillars...
This kind of stuff (tee shirts) gives the simplistic thinking of yungin’s the idea they are attending a party.
This was troubling and just another sign of the lack of respect for this tragic event. If you think about it, in a way it explains the belief on the left that making political attacks on Conservs etc was acceptable.
No respect for the loss of human life.
I have had to stay off FR a lot in the last couple of days, when I saw the speech a couple of hours ago my first thought was that this crowd looks like it was bussed in from out of state.
It will definitely go down as the tackiest attempt of a campaign speech when the nation needed comfort, direction and hope.
Instead an usurper was turning it into a an act of “me”, its all about “me”. I won, get used to it.
'There must have been a lot of tailgating before this event.'
Did they play a ballgame before or after on the court in the arena?
Like Obama’s front people were not aware. FU MSM!!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.