Obama says polarised nation needs healing

TUCSON, Arizona – President Barack Obama implored a divided America to honour those attacked in the Arizona shooting rampage by becoming a better country at a Wednesday memorial service, and in a dramatic moment said that Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot point-blank in the head four days ago, had opened her eyes for the first time shortly after his hospital visit.

Obama electrified the crowd by revealing that following his Wednesday visit with Giffords, the target of an assassination, she ‘opened her eyes, so I can tell you: She knows we are here, she knows we love her, and she knows that we are rooting for her through what is undoubtedly going to be a difficult journey.’First lady Michelle Obama held hands with Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, as the news brought soaring cheers.Obama said that there is no way to know what set off Saturday’s shooting rampage that left six people dead, 13 others wounded and the nation shaken. He tried instead to leave indelible memories of the people who were gunned down and to rally the country to use the moment as a reflection on America’s behaviour and compassion.’I believe we can be better,’ Obama said to a capacity crowd at the University of Arizona basketball arena and to countless others watching across America. ‘Those who died here, those who saved lives here they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us.’Giffords is expected to survive, although her condition and the extent of her recovery remain in doubt.Obama spoke to a crowd of more than 13 000 in the arena and thousands more listened on from an overflow area in the football stadium. Not far away, at University Medical Centre, Giffords lay fighting for her life. Other victims also remained hospitalised there.Obama faced the expectation to do more than console, to encourage civility, all without getting overly political in a memorial service. He challenged Americans to engage in a debate that is worthy of those who died. He tapped into the raging debate about the role of incendiary political speech without dwelling on it.’Let’s remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy. It did not,’ the president said.After offering personal accounts of every person who died, Obama challenged anyone listening to think of how to honour their memories. He admonished against any instinct to point blame or to drift into political pettiness or to latch onto simple explanations that may have no merit.’At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarised at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds,’ the president said.The shooting happened Saturday as Giffords, a three-term Democrat who represents southern Arizona, was holding a community outreach event in a Tucson shopping centre parking lot. A gunman shot her in the head and worked his way down the line of people waiting to talk with her, law enforcement officials said. The attack ended when bystanders tackled the man, Jared Lee Loughner, 22, who is in custody. – Nampa-AP