Thursday, July 24, 2008

Obama Disses The Troops.....Again!

I recently wrote a blog detailing how Barack Obama was ignoring 44 million military voters. Well, if today's events didn't prove my point, I don't know what will.

After spending the morning working out in the hotel gym and preparing for his "historic" yawn of a speech, Barack Obama decided that visiting wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center was not a "priority".

His campaign initially stated that during long campaign trips sometimes you have to shift priorities. Really. Apparently our wounded soldiers are not a priority to him. Obviously, that didn't sit well with a lot of people. His campaign then stated that he did not feel it was appropriate to visit the servicemen and women during a campaign-funded event.

Unbelievable. He was able to visit the troops in Iraq. He was able to visit the troops in Afghanistan. Well not exactly. According to several soldiers at the base in Afghanistan, Obama met with a few top military personnel. He walked past a line of soldiers waiting to speak to him, but he did not take the time. He then went to the gym for his photo-op playing basketball and then left.

I have said it in several of my blogs, but this is scary. How can you be Commander-In-Chief if you do not listen to the advice of top generals and you don't have the time to meet with our troops?

Mr. Obama, you should be ashamed of yourself. These men and women are risking their lives to give you the opportunity to fly around the world. These men and women were successful during the surge in Iraq and yet you cannot admit that they, and they alone, were the ones to stabilize Iraq. It is truly apparent what kind of leader Barack Obama would make.

If you don't know Barack Obama's feelings and stance on our troops, do some research..........it's time to get smart.



UPDATE: Obama's campaign has a third statement regarding this issue. They now say that the Pentagon told them not to go. That is not exactly accurate according a Pentagon spokesman.

Chief Pentagon Spokesman Geogg Morrell stated the following:

"Sen. Obama is welcome to visit Landstuhl or any military
hospital in his official capacity as a United States senator," Morrell said in a
brief interview. "But there is a DOD policy which governs campaigning and
electioneering at military facilities that would have to be respected if he were
to visit. That distinction was relayed and made clear to campaign, and they made
a decision on their own based on that guidance."

He went on to say the following about the campaign's decision:


"We made it clear to him that campaign staff and press would not be permitted to
accompany him," Morrell said of Obama. "We relayed those ground
rules. They made a choice based upon the information we relayed to them.
It was their choice. We had nothing to do with it."

Apparently, when Obama could not take his campaign or the press with him, he decided it was not worth it. You can take the information as you see it, but no one told him not to go. He could have still gone to see our troops, he just couldn't make it a political issue. It was his decision.


Preview of Upcoming Blogs: Democrats Quietly Trying To Raise The Gas Tax

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, Obama didn't go there, because it was inappropriate and the DoD asked him not to.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hD3r_xLt86cw6tRS6_RxC-WpMJIAD924G2300

Stacy said...

I have updated my blog on this issue. When I write an article, I ensure that I have all of the information before posting it. Just because a campaign says it is so, doesn't make it true.

Anonymous said...

From factcheck.org:

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/snubbing_wounded_troops.html

Please draw your own conclusions.

Anonymous said...

hmmm Mike, read the factcheck article, and I'm thinking maybe we should factcheck your characterization of it. The article does not say DoD asked him not to go at all. It mentions Obama's excuse that he was afraid it would be perceived as political, but that's not really the same thing.

So what if someone perceives it as political? It was the right thing to do to visit with wounded troops and not ignore the ones who wanted to meet with him. Would that have been perceived as more political than his "photo op" he had with the troops before ducking out? More "political" than meeting with American commanders (after releasing in the NYT his "plan for Iraq") which goes against their advice?

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