Anyone could attend. It was doomed to be a rally-type event when the president of the university cancelled classes. Today (wednesday) was supposed to be the first day of classes for the semester, and the students descended on Tucson on Sunday and Monday. They were bored. Of course, all of the students on campus did not attend. My daughter wanted to go to see the spectacle. My husband begged off. hah We went in the afternoon, but when I saw the line, I told her there was no way we could get in and that we could watch the motorcade drive by. I figured out where the motorcade would be traveling (not difficult—follow the yellow tape), and we positioned ourselves in a great place. People watching is what daughter likes to do more than anything else, so she got her fill today. There were all kinds of folks outside the rally. I’m assuming the ones who got in were a mix of dedicated Democrat-type students, select VIPs, and those who just wanted to see the POTUS regardless of who the actual POTUS is. There were people dragging along their children in a hurry to get to the line. There were dressed up people, including some students. There were casually dressed folks. The VIPs who attempted to get through the police tape were the most amusing. I could just hear them, “Don’t you know who I am?” as they huffed away from the cops and SS at the intersection where we were watching. Even funnier were the VIPs who got caught on the other side of the street the motorcade was to travel. They had to wait a long time to be allowed to cross. It was like watching a game of Red Rover after the last police/SS vehicle passed and those folks practically ran across the street. Then they tried to get through the SS/police at the other side of the intersection only to be told that they had to go around the baseball stadium like the other riff-raff. I recognized a few faces in the group. We followed them part of the way. I laughed at the women in heels as they rushed to get to the next barricade. I’m assuming these folks eventually found the VIP entrance. Obviously, they aren’t as important as they think. hah I asked daughter if she was ready to leave, and she said that was fine. She informed me that a Lady Gaga event would have drawn 10 times the people. At least.
I just read an article via the Tucson Citizen about the 9 year old girl’s family having their own private church ceremony tonight while this circus was happening. That was good to hear.
Somewhere tonight I read a post about one of the speakers calling Tucson a small town. There are over a million people in the greater Tucson area, but it has a small town feel to it. I wouldn’t have believed that if we had never lived here. It’s known as the largest small town in America.
BTW the T-Shirts and Programs were written and distributed by the college.
Thank you for your first hand account of the activities! I thought of you when I heard about the shootings, hoping you and yours were okay.
It’s very good to “see” you...;o)
Thank you for that detailed account. Wow..I could almost see the spectacle in my minds eye.
Our traditions have been falling and a memorial tribute is no exception now. Those college kids were never taught proper respect and for the marxist, he understands how to manipulate. I hope the families do find solace and hope they are able to have a proper tribute to their loved ones.
The girls father spoke the other day and it was really quite moving. Of course what he said made sense (this was the act of an insane person (paraphrasing) and was not politically motivated) so it’s no surprise to hear that they chose a much more proper venue to see their angel off.
Thanks again for that account. Extremely interesting.
Now it's known as a sewer...