Mark Kelly, Gabrielle Giffords' Husband, To Be Obama's State Of The Union Guest

WASHINGTON — The White House says President Barack Obama has invited Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' husband to attend Tuesday's State of the Union address.

White House spokesman Jay Carney says the president looks forward to having Mark Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut, as a guest in the first lady's box.

Carney says Obama and Kelly spoke Monday morning. He says the president thanked both Giffords and Kelly for their patriotism and dedication to the country.

Kelly's wife, the Arizona congresswoman, was shot in the head just over a year ago in an assassination attempt. She announced Sunday that she was resigning from Congress to focus on her recovery.

Giffords also plans to attend Tuesday's address.

Comments

[jingojango99]

08:11 PM on 01/24/2012

What is amazing to me is that to this point there are 334 people who have commented on this innoculous story. If anyone wants to know what's wrong with this country, read this trail of post. As a society, we would be unable to agree on the color of the sky and unfortuanately, people as dumb as I is get to add our useless opinion to the public discourse thereby accomplishing nothing. Shouldn't we all be eating dinner with our families about now. Glad Congresswoman Gifford's is recovering, Thank you Mr. Kelly for your service to our country and you appear to be a great husband.

[Steve Rockett]

06:54 PM on 01/24/2012

Would Ginger have boxes for the first, second, third and fourth ladies?

[Steve Rockett]

06:53 PM on 01/24/2012

Good to pay tribute.

[Useful Idiots]

02:43 PM on 01/24/2012

Rev. Wright or Bill Ayers would have not been PC, but much closer to his heart.

[luminafitness]

07:07 PM on 01/24/2012

Nope. That never crossed his mind or anyone elses mind who had any class. Just your classless mind ... it seems.

[nana-anne]

10:21 AM on 01/24/2012

Only someone who loves his wife the way President Obama loves his wife, can understand the love Mark Kelly has for his wife.

[towny]

01:20 PM on 01/24/2012

I agree Nana...truer words have not been spoken

[camelias and sweet tea]

09:51 AM on 01/24/2012

Another Great Choice..

[bernikitty]

08:54 AM on 01/24/2012

good choice.

[Jced]

08:01 AM on 01/24/2012

Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly are the best of what is American!!!

[Wildkitty]

09:27 AM on 01/24/2012

I'll second that thought! Fanned and faved! =.,.=

[Jced]

07:59 AM on 01/24/2012

Newt would have left Gabby to fend for herself!

[Wildkitty]

09:28 AM on 01/24/2012

And presented her with divorce papers! =^.,.^=

[Tquin]

09:57 AM on 01/24/2012

Bill Clinton would have taken advantage of her.

[kokobin]

07:52 AM on 01/24/2012

One good man stands by his vows and commitment
Another good man stands up to the re_pulsives and
the Party Of No to lead the nation out of its war-debt economy

[Bombastic1892]

09:00 AM on 01/24/2012

You ever going to acknowledge the fact that there are dozens of bills that have already passed the house waiting on Reid to allow them onto the floor of the Senate for a vote or are you just gonna keep repeating that "Party of No" lie like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz told you to?

[Wildkitty]

09:45 AM on 01/24/2012

Are YOU ever going to acknowledge that there are more than one-hundred nominations (judges and Department heads or assistants to Department heds) in the Senate which are being 'fillibustered' by the Party of NO? When will they be allowed to come up for a 'yes' or 'no' vote by the Party of NO!

Are you ever going to acknowledge that the Party of NO fillibustered more bills in the Senate in this Congress than during the first 200 years of this country's existence??

By the way, how does 'defunding' the EPA, the PBS, NOAA, AHCA, Planned Parenthood, NEA, HUD, CPSC, Science Foundation, etc. etc. help CREATE jobs. The fact is that all of these programs - if defunded - would create hundreds of thousands more unemplopyed, even while putting at risk the health and welfare of the entire population.

Oh, and Renaming Post Offices (even while considering the closure of 3700 of them) also DO NOT promote job growth!

[kokobin]

09:45 AM on 01/24/2012

You ever going to acknowledg­e the fact that there are dozens of bills that have already passed the house waiting on Reid
**
Pilgrim,
I have good information to suggest that the aforementioned
bills do not pass the smell test. The Party with Sanity are duty bound
not to allow chicanery with the interests of the people vis-a-vis
corporations and their re_puke acolytes

[19th Amendment]

07:25 AM on 01/24/2012

Perfect pick, Mr. President.

Guest of Honor: Mark Kelly, NASA Shuttle Commander, retired, attending with wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, retired.

Look, I tend to be a bit gushy... Park me in the back of the room and Someone around here better have a truckload of Kleenex...I'm probably going to need it.

If this couple isn't made up of two American heroes, I don't know the definition of "hero."

[OCerInTN]

08:36 AM on 01/24/2012

Apparently you don't know what the definition of hero is.

Someone who survives a criminal act by sheer luck is not a hero.

Someone who is paid to do an inherently dangerous job, and then does that job as defined in their job description is not a hero.

[Wildkitty]

10:06 AM on 01/24/2012

Remember the Appollo 1 fire which killed three astronauts in 1967?

Remember The Challenger loss in 1986 when seven astraunauts lost their lives?

Remember the Columbia in 2003 when another seven astronauts lost their lives?

According to you someone who show resiliancy and acts as an example of what hard work can accomplish IS NOT a hero/heroine!

Of course, NONE of those guys were heroes because they were being paid to do a job - and they did it!

Using your logic, the first responders who raced into the WTC on 9/11 were NOT heroes either because they were being paid to do a job - and they did it!

Using your logic our troops are not heroes either because they are being paid to do a job - and they do it!

PLEASE - give me YOUR definition of the word 'hero' because the American Heritage Dictionary describes the definition thus: "Any man noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose". Remember, your definition should include examples of your definition!

[Belle Starr]

11:46 AM on 01/24/2012

Sheer luck? That's not what I saw. If anything, I saw Giffords rise above the fray by not issuing a rebuttal to the "real victim of Tucson."

A little off topic here, Sugar, but you should really be made aware that you really aren't anyone's worst nightmare. The reality is that you should be afraid of armed liberals.

[modelaford]

02:56 AM on 01/24/2012

Great choice. He may be Gabby's husband, but he was the COMMANDER of the last Space flight of the Endeavor. He is an accomplished astronaut and may have selected because of his last commander assignment last summer.

[VOTER]

01:01 AM on 01/24/2012

No Surprise.

Appropriate Guests - looking forward to seeing them being honored  and hearing the
President's State of the Union Address.

[nana4g]

12:24 AM on 01/24/2012

What is so "interesting" about this? I am not surprised. It is appropriate on many levels, one being that his wife will be downstairs in chamber and he will be close by upstairs. That is minor, but, for many reasons, I am pleased he will be there as the President's guest.

[Lahonda]

11:50 PM on 01/23/2012

Mark Kelly, a stand by your woman kind of man. The president's statement on this can go many, many ways and likely will. The GOP is thin on family values, as usual.