Snubbing The Troops At Landstuhl
Senator Obama made a serious misstep this past week while on his "Magical Mystery Tour" through Germany. He had a planned visit to Landstuhl and Rammstein to visit wounded soldiers that he cancelled at the last moment, apparently:
++ Visit to US Military Bases Cancelled ++
1:42 p.m.: SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that Obama has cancelled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The visits were planned for Friday. "Barack Obama will not be coming to us," a spokesperson for the US military hospital in Landstuhl announced. "I don't know why." Shortly before the same spokeswoman had announced a planned visit by Obama.
The reason why was quite simple. He could not use it as a PR stunt for his tour. His campaign complained that the Pentagon was changing the rules on them at the last moment, which was not true. Any photo-op with the troops would have been handled by military photographers, not his campaign staff. The Pentagon has always maintained this rule so as to not have the wounded troops treated like campaign props. It is respecting their dignity and service. It really does speak a great deal about his arrogance and his judgment.
See, he could have easily visited them, with the other congressman in his entourage, but he opted out because he could not use the visit as some sort of a campaign photo-op. This is all Senator Obama's fault for bad judgment, and no amount of whining from his campaign staff is going to change that.
Today, in an interview with George Stephanopolous, John McCain hammered Senator Obama on this misstep:
In Landstuhl, Germany, when I went through, I visited the hospital. But the important thing is that, if I had been told by the Pentagon that I couldn’t visit those troops, and I was there and wanted to be there, I guarantee you, there would have been a seismic event. And so, I believe he had the opportunity to go without the media. And I’ll let the facts speak for themselves.
And we would have expected nothing less from Senator McCain when it comes to him describing his reaction had he been told he could not visit the troops. The difference is that Senator McCain knows the rules when it comes to such visits. We sincerely doubt he would try to turn a visit with wounded soldiers into a campaign PR stunt.
Captain Ed Morrissey points out another person who feels much the same way we do, and as John McCain does. He is Lt. Col. Joe Repya, who went back into the military at age 50 to serve in Iraq:
The most solemn duty of a commander in chief is to fulfill his responsibility to the men and women who serve this country in uniform. Barack Obama had scheduled a visit with wounded American troops who have served with honor and distinction in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he broke that commitment, instead flitting from one European capital to the next. Several explanations were offered, none was convincing and each was at odds with the statements of American military leaders in Germany and Washington. For a young man so apt at playing president, Barack Obama badly misjudged the important demands of the office he seeks. Visits with world leaders and speeches to cheering Europeans shouldn’t be a substitute for comforting injured American heroes.
This goes directly to Senator Obama's maturity, and his integrity. He broke his word, and all because he could not get his way. This man wishes to be the president of the United States, and he shows a significant lack of judgment, a lack of humility, and he has an over-reaching ambition that is too dangerous to be in that particular office. His arrogance in believing he was the president on this tour is positively disgusting. He has yet to win the election (and we believe he will lose badly in November), but that is not stopping the man who thinks he is the second coming.
Marcie
++ Visit to US Military Bases Cancelled ++
1:42 p.m.: SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that Obama has cancelled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The visits were planned for Friday. "Barack Obama will not be coming to us," a spokesperson for the US military hospital in Landstuhl announced. "I don't know why." Shortly before the same spokeswoman had announced a planned visit by Obama.
The reason why was quite simple. He could not use it as a PR stunt for his tour. His campaign complained that the Pentagon was changing the rules on them at the last moment, which was not true. Any photo-op with the troops would have been handled by military photographers, not his campaign staff. The Pentagon has always maintained this rule so as to not have the wounded troops treated like campaign props. It is respecting their dignity and service. It really does speak a great deal about his arrogance and his judgment.
See, he could have easily visited them, with the other congressman in his entourage, but he opted out because he could not use the visit as some sort of a campaign photo-op. This is all Senator Obama's fault for bad judgment, and no amount of whining from his campaign staff is going to change that.
Today, in an interview with George Stephanopolous, John McCain hammered Senator Obama on this misstep:
In Landstuhl, Germany, when I went through, I visited the hospital. But the important thing is that, if I had been told by the Pentagon that I couldn’t visit those troops, and I was there and wanted to be there, I guarantee you, there would have been a seismic event. And so, I believe he had the opportunity to go without the media. And I’ll let the facts speak for themselves.
And we would have expected nothing less from Senator McCain when it comes to him describing his reaction had he been told he could not visit the troops. The difference is that Senator McCain knows the rules when it comes to such visits. We sincerely doubt he would try to turn a visit with wounded soldiers into a campaign PR stunt.
Captain Ed Morrissey points out another person who feels much the same way we do, and as John McCain does. He is Lt. Col. Joe Repya, who went back into the military at age 50 to serve in Iraq:
The most solemn duty of a commander in chief is to fulfill his responsibility to the men and women who serve this country in uniform. Barack Obama had scheduled a visit with wounded American troops who have served with honor and distinction in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he broke that commitment, instead flitting from one European capital to the next. Several explanations were offered, none was convincing and each was at odds with the statements of American military leaders in Germany and Washington. For a young man so apt at playing president, Barack Obama badly misjudged the important demands of the office he seeks. Visits with world leaders and speeches to cheering Europeans shouldn’t be a substitute for comforting injured American heroes.
This goes directly to Senator Obama's maturity, and his integrity. He broke his word, and all because he could not get his way. This man wishes to be the president of the United States, and he shows a significant lack of judgment, a lack of humility, and he has an over-reaching ambition that is too dangerous to be in that particular office. His arrogance in believing he was the president on this tour is positively disgusting. He has yet to win the election (and we believe he will lose badly in November), but that is not stopping the man who thinks he is the second coming.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 12:13 PM
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