31 MILLION WATCH OBAMA AT TUCSON MEMORIAL

Nielsen Research said on Thursday that some 31 million people watched President Obama’s speech during the memorial service for victims of the Tucson shooting Wednesday night on NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. In his address, Obama cited scripture, praised the individuals who were killed in the shooting and those who tackled the gunman, and pointed no fingers of blame. Instead, he remarked, “At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -­ 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 happen to think differently than we do -­ it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.” Nevertheless, while some conservative pundits, including Fox’s Glenn Beck, praised the president’s remarks, others accused him of exploiting the memorial for political ends. They were promptly taken to task by Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, whose remarks ended up posted on numerous websites Thursday, including Mediaite’s (below).