'We may not be able to stop all evil,' but 'how we treat one another is entirely up to us' TUCSON, Ariz. — In an appeal for national unity and soul-searching after the Tucson shootings, President Barack Obama on Wednesday night urged Americans to "expand our moral imaginations" and "sharpen our instincts for empathy" — even with those who are political adversaries.
"What we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other," he declared in a speech that was frequently interrupted by applause and cheers from the audience.
He spoke at at a memorial service for those killed in a weekend massacre that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., gravely wounded. The shooting also killed six people and wounded 13.
In an electrifying moment, Obama revealed that Giffords, who was shot in the head, had opened her eyes for the first time. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama and visited the wounded lawmaker in her room, and he said that shortly after they left: "
Gabby 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...."
more Excerpt from the speech<...>
But what we can't do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.
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I believe we can be better. 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. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.
That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation's future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.
I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us - we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.
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