Free Republic

President Barack Obama has declined to attend a dedication ceremony in October for a new memorial honoring American veterans who have been disabled fighting for their country in wars, according to sources close to the event. The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial (AVDLM), the first such memorial of its kind, is set to be dedicated during a ceremony on Oct. 5 near the National Mall in downtown Washington, D.C. However, Obama, who was first invited to attend the event in January, will not be among those in attendance, according to a veteran’s advocate familiar with the situation. This would...

On November 19, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, President Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address, arguably the most famous speech in history.On November 19, 2013, the first black President of the United States blew off the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. This from a President who has repeatedly claimed he had much in common with President Lincoln.The White House spin zone worked frantically on some kind of an acceptable excuse for the snub but the truth is pretty obvious, President Obama would be smart to avoid any side-by-side comparison to President Lincoln. These two men don’t have subtle differences; they...

The White House released a letter Tuesday handwritten by President Obama .....< snip > OBAMA'S LETTER COMMEMORATING LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG ADDRESS In the evening, when Michelle and the girls have gone to bed, I sometimes walk down the hall to a room Abraham Lincoln used as his office. It contains an original copy of the Gettysburg Address, written in Lincoln's own hand. I linger on these few words that have helped define our American experiment: "a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Through the lines of weariness etched in his face,...

Ship christenings at Newport News Shipbuilding are typically a who's who of political figures, and Saturday's event honoring the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford is no exception. Past aircraft carrier christenings have drawn presidents to the shipyard, but not this time. A shipyard spokeswoman said Ford administration figures — Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and chief of staff (and eventual veep) Dick Cheney — will be there. Democratic heavyweight Carl Levin, a senator from Ford's home state of Michigan, will also be on hand. President Barack Obama, who gave a major policy speech on sequestration at the shipyard in February,...

President Obama will not attend ceremonies at Gettysburg later this month marking the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's immortal address. Thank goodness! Mr. Obama has been getting few kudos of late. His Gallup approval rating has slipped into the thirties. But in this, we can applaud his action. It is entirely fitting and proper that he should do this. First of all, consider the expense. Mr. Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg in 1863 by rail. He took Ward Hill Lamon, a U.S. Marshal, with him. Mr. Obama would have to go by caravan with with hundreds of staffers. Just think of...

President Obama has declined an invitation to speak at next month’s ceremony marking the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. The event, slated for Nov. 19 at the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, instead will feature Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and renowned historian James McPherson as the keynote speakers, the Gettysburg National Military Park said in a press release. “President Obama will not attend and the Secretary of Interior will represent the administration,” the park pointed out in the first paragraph of its press release. It’s unclear why Mr. Obama, a noted admirer of President Lincoln, declined the...

Mitt Romney may be headed to New Orleans on Friday, but President Obama has no plans to make a similar stop to view damage from Hurricane Isaac.

On November 9, 2009, the world will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Naturally, in Germany, there will be commemorations of the event, and the collapse of Communism in Europe. "snip" And given all of this, it is safe to say that Barack Obama will attend the 20th anniversary celebration of the fall of the Wall, right? Wrong. While Candidate Barack Obama was perfectly willing to go to Germany during the 2008 Presidential campaign, President Barack Obama has chosen to skip the 20th anniversary celebrations altogether. Needless to say, this has not elicited much outrage...