Obama canceled visit to wounded US troops Germany

[bcp]

Obama could give them the slip.
he just has to get another black guy to stand in for him while he does it.
they all look alike.

[itsbob (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Bruzilla

Two things. First, one of my fellow HS classmates became one of the head doctors at Walter Reed. In fact he was the physician that oversaw the recovery of Jessica Lynch. He was telling us at our last reunion about how phony and transparent all the visits from "concerned" politicians at the hospital looked to him and the troops. He said regardless of the party affiliation, these visits were all very scipted, the pol would come in, talk to a few troops, talk to a few doctors, then split as soon as their aid said "time to go". He said that the troops really resented these visits as they were so phony. Speaking personally, I was based in Bermuda for three years, and we had every key Congress member come through our building during their "fact-finding" tours. We would usually give them a quick intel briefing, and you could see they weren't much interested in what we had to say. We were just one more stop on the trip to the Castle Harbor Golf Club, and they were always more interested in making their tee time than in anything we were doing. We would have preferred they just go play golf and not waste our time, and if I were wounded I would rather these politicians just stay out.

Second, let's be realistic. The media doesn't listen to Obama's staff. They're going to do whatever they want, and if Obama tried to give them the slip they would hammer him like they did when he snuck off to meet with Hillary. There's no way Obama could have had a "secret" meeting with the troops. And I know that the second a snippet of video of Obama leaning over the bed of a wounded vet was shown on the tube, the cries of "he's using that poor soldier as a prop!" would be everywhere.

So you're saying, yes, Obama does NOT care about the troops, and ANY visit would not have been sincere so he shouldn't have bothered... and I agree.

IF he truly cared, he could have gotten away, and could have spent some quality PRIVATE time with the troops.. But if he didn't care, than you are right, he did the right thing.

[Sonsie]

Originally Posted by itsbob

I think the point being is he COULD have visited the troops without the press, without the cameras, without the TV anchors just to show the troops his support.

Apparently he didn't want to make a 'secret' visit to the troops so he called it off.

He could have gone to Landstuhl or Ramstein, flown in, visited the troops and with a simple blurb to the press "Obama chose to spend a private personal day with the troops" No pictures, no press coverage, no speeches.. I would think as a Senator no less should be expected if you are in the "neighborhood".

*** UPDATE *** From NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube
A U.S. military official tells NBC News they were making preparations for Sen. Barack Obama to visit wounded troops at the Landstuhl Medical Center at Ramstein, Germany on Friday, but "for some reason the visit was called off."

One military official who was working on the Obama visit said because political candidates are prohibited from using military installations as campaign backdrops, Obama's representatives were told, "he could only bring two or three of his Senate staff member, no campaign officials or workers." In addition,
"Obama could not bring any media. Only military photographers would be permitted to record Obama's visit."

The official said "We didn't know why" the request to visit the wounded troops was withdrawn. "He (Obama) was more than welcome. We were all ready for him." LINK

Damage Control

From NBC's Jim Miklaszewski
Obama made phone calls to wounded soldiers at Landstuhl Germany this morning, in lieu of a personal visit to the forces that was canceled by the Obama campaign.

Obama was expected to speak to a number of soldiers individually. LINK

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

Originally Posted by wintersprings

here msnbc

Followed by a link to msnbc.

Wintersprings actually linked to something that was not disputable.

It is contrary to previous posts where wintersprings has quoted or copied sources that are rife with misinformation or equivocations.

It doesn't matter whether we agree or not as congratulations are in order because for the first time, wintersprings got one thing right.

[Lenny]

Originally Posted by Sonsie

The official said "We didn't know why" the request to visit the wounded troops was withdrawn. "He (Obama) was more than welcome. We were all ready for him." LINK[/indent]

Is this another instance in which the campaign team misquoted itself out of context. Damn, I bet they hate it when that happens.

[nhboy]

McCain's Double Standard on Campaign Visits to Military Bases

"Barack Obama canceled a pre-planned visit to the troops in Germany yesterday after being told by the Pentagon that the trip would violate a Pentagon policy prohibiting campaign stops on military installations. No problem there.

However, the McCain campaign is now blasting Obama:

The McCain camp has nonetheless been using Obama's canceled trip to insinuate that he's anti-troops. "Barack Obama is wrong," McCain spokesperson Brian Rogers said in a statement yesterday. "It is never 'inappropriate' to visit our men and women in the military."

The problem here is that the McCain campaign was denied a visit to a military base under the same policy back in April. Of course, there was no outcry or false outrage from Brian Rogers at that time.

I understand that the McCain campaign is disorganized and pathologically clueless when it comes to utilizing the media, but they're clearly being dishonest in this case. McCain is demonstrably criticizing Obama for following a Pentagon rule to which the McCain campaign itself has been subjected recently. That's a fact. So this seems to be a simple cheap shot at Obama, in the hopes that the media won't be internet savvy enough (i.e., able to use Google) to figure out the whole story.

"We follow the rules," Steve Schmidt from the McCain campaign said.

Exactly. And they have no problem attacking Obama for doing the same. That's the very definition of "double standard."

Regardless, the Pentagon will now be under more pressure to keep the playing field even--and to keep the policy consistent on both sides."

VetVoice:: McCain's Double Standard on Campaign Visits to Military Bases

VetVoice:: Did the Pentagon Help Smear Barack Obama Yesterday?

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

Originally Posted by Bruzilla

Second, let's be realistic. The media doesn't listen to Obama's staff. They're going to do whatever they want, and if Obama tried to give them the slip they would hammer him like they did when he snuck off to meet with Hillary. There's no way Obama could have had a "secret" meeting with the troops.

Wasn't CNN tipped off by someone?

Another useless waste of 2 minutes reading your drivel.

Let's put it out there wide open, Obama cares more about his campaign than he does our troops.

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

Originally Posted by nhboy

What is this you post?

Oh, a link to an online forum.

[chernmax]

If NObama really wanted to do the right thing he would have visited the wounded troops in Germany, in my opinion since he could not bring his media entourage for any money shots, it would be a waste of his precious time. Pathetic!!!

[Kerad]

Originally Posted by Bruzilla

Obama did the right thing. If he had visited the troops you'all would have been harping about how callous he was to use wounded troops as a campaign prop to push for a withdrawl from Iraq. Thankfully some folks at the DoD and the Obama campaign were smart enough to see a distinction between a fact-finding trip and a campaign stop.

Ya think???


God..these s are so envious of Obama's successful trip overseas they at every little piece of manufactured outrage the internets float their way. The blatant jealousy from the Right is hilarious, yet pathetic...all at once.


The Pentagon recommended Obama skip the visit...so he did.

Instead of tarding out over every bit of success Obama gets, they need to suss out why McCain is barely more popular than last week's cat vomit.