White House turns back on local Gold Star mom (Ratz dirty trick alert!)

Beaver County Times Allegheny Times 2007 ^ | 06/30/2007 | By: J.D. Prose - Times Staff

[Al Gator]

As if the embattled White House didn't have enough problems, it's apparently decided to follow a policy that insults the families of Marines killed in Vietnam.

Christina Stacey, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-4, McCandless Township, called to tell us about the saga of Ellwood City resident Allys Boyer, 84, and her two daughters, Sandra Lee Boyer of Zelienople and Beverly Boyer of Arizona.

Allys Boyer's 22-year-old son, Cpl. Larry Boyer, was killed in May 1969 while on patrol.

The Boyer family wanted to visit the Vietnam Memorial to see Larry's name and tour the White House on Thursday, so they asked Altmire's office for help after they were told they needed to make tour arrangements months in advance, Stacey said.

Stacey said Altmire's office told the White House of Boyer's status as a Gold Star mother and got her in for a tour.

Incredibly, after finding out that Boyer's son was killed in Vietnam, the White House rescinded its permission, saying that the preferential treatment was only for families of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

An angry Altmire then pulled some rank to schedule his own tour of the White House, accompanied by the Boyers, of course.

"It seems outrageous to implement a policy that values one service member's family's sacrifices over others," Altmire wrote to President Bush. "At the very least, mothers such as Ms. Boyer deserve the opportunity to visit the White House, one of the symbols of the freedom and democracy which her son lost his life defending."

Considering that Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and several other administration chicken-hawks did everything short of marrying their dogs to get out of serving in Vietnam, does it really surprise anyone that their minions would have no respect for the families of those killed there?

Wait a minute. Could it be that they actually feel guilty about their service dodging and don't want any reminders so close to home?

Nahhh. Silly us. That would require having a conscience.

[penowa]

This is the same newspaper, Beaver County Times, that spent 4 solid years leading up to the '06 election printing every imaginable kind of dirt they and the AP could dream up to trash Rick Santorum. I wonder how many other little papers the Dems worked with in the state to do the same? I don't for one minute believe this was a one time occurrence or that Prose and this paper are not bought and paid for.

My guess is what Jason Altmire and 5 other Democrat congressman did in this case is just the same old plan that Rom Emanuel and the Democrat's war room have been using since at least '02, and it's been quite effective while running under the radar.

[RayBob]

Representative Altmire’s “healthcare administration” background is a bit of a misnomer. He was a lobbyist for UPMC Health System. So when he talks about how he has this healthcare background, and how he wants to look out for the working folks, he conveniently leaves out that he lobbied for the big, bad corporations to get them more money at the expense of the “working folks.”

[smoothsailing]

The Reader Comment section is fantastic! J.D.Prose get's b!tch-slapped! You better put some ice on that,J.D! LOL!