>KUDOS to President Obama on a wonderful speech. Well done.
>
>I'll admit, it was a good speech. It was obvious that they arranged the service to give Obama the biggest opportunity to talk (sharing the news on Gabrielle Gifford opening her eyes, and talking in detail about each of the individuals who were killed).
>
>But there was something about the service in general that bothered me. It was just too much of a pep-rally and a bit artificial. I'll admit I'm biased, because one of the deceased was a 9 year old and I have a 20 month old, and that has stuck with me all week.
>
>Yes, I understand the need for some type of inspiration - I just thought the service (and I watched the entire replay of it late last night) was a bit over the top.

It appears that others shared that view:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110113/ap_on_re_us/us_congressman_shot_rally

and more:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20028447-503544.html?tag=pop

However, unless it can be shown that the crowd was spurred on by anyone, it was the crowd that behaved as it did, not the organizers or speakers. All of the speeches sounded appropriate to me - a mixture of solemnity for the tragic event and celebration of the life of each of the victims.