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Obama Visits to U.S. Military Bases Cancelled (Rammstein and Landstuhl)
Der Spiegel ^ | Thursday, July 24, 2008

Posted on 07/24/2008 7:13:30 AM PDT by kristinn

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To: kristinn
"Barack Obama will not be coming to us," a spokesperson for the US military hospital in Landstuhl announced. "I don't know why."

He doesn't want to see any more Fox News...

41 posted on 07/24/2008 8:59:35 AM PDT by Wil H
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To: fanpd

So a worker at the golf course harassed a guest of the course, and was fired.

Sounds about right. I imagine a golf course, especially a nice exclusive golf course, earns a reputation based on how well celebrities are kept from having to deal with well-wishers and celebrity hounds.

And it really isn’t a good idea to defy the secret service. While I would guess all the employees were “screened” in a cursory manner, I would also assume that the kitchen staff wasn’t patted down and searched for weapons, since they weren’t going to be near the former President.

In fact, if this story was real, I’m surprised it didn’t include the SS forcibly detaining the man when he stepped in front of the golf cart, to search him for weapons.


42 posted on 07/24/2008 9:01:00 AM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: Notasoccermom

AOL poll I saw today had Obama ahead in everything asked. Which candidate better on foreign policy and something else also can’t remember what it was.


43 posted on 07/24/2008 9:39:41 AM PDT by Irish Eyes
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To: kristinn

Misleading headline.

It should read that HE cancelled the visits.

What makes this even more disgusting is that Landshuhl is where wounded warriors first stop after leaving the sandbox.

I guess he just doesn’t have the time for them.


44 posted on 07/24/2008 9:43:44 AM PDT by PurpleMan
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To: kristinn

Well, hold on a second. There’s a simpler explanation. Here’s what his campaign said about it:

“During his trip as part of the CODEL to Afghanistan and Iraq, Senator Obama visited the combat support hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad and had a number of other visits with the troops,” Gibbs said. “For the second part of his trip, the senator wanted to visit the men and women at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to express his gratitude for their service and sacrifice. The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign.”

Now, he isn’t supposed to get “government assistance” on trips that aren’t “official business.” Secretary Rice reminded all the embassies of that fact before this trip, right?

It seems to me that people who aren’t on “official business” shouldn’t get visits to US military bases anyway, hospitals or not; in fact, the government folks assisting with such visits might be violating both the Hatch Act and the military’s regulations against partisan political activity.

If the campaign is paying for this part of the trip, he shouldn’t get the treatment he gets on an official Senatorial trip. The Iraq and Afghanistan legs of this trip were official business, but the rest of the trip is not. So, in order to avoid an ethics problem and honor the boundaries drawn around his trip by the government, he had to cancel this visit. Seems pretty clear-cut to me.


45 posted on 07/24/2008 11:29:04 AM PDT by wesmorgan1
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To: kristinn
What's the matter? No basketball courts at those bases?

Nope, wounded troops. He probably couldn't look 'em in the eyes. Plus such a visit would show a little too much support for the troops to make his base of anti-military moonbats very happy.

46 posted on 07/24/2008 2:24:34 PM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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To: wesmorgan1
If the campaign is paying for this part of the trip, he shouldn’t get the treatment he gets on an official Senatorial trip. The Iraq and Afghanistan legs of this trip were official business, but the rest of the trip is not. So, in order to avoid an ethics problem and honor the boundaries drawn around his trip by the government, he had to cancel this visit. Seems pretty clear-cut to me.

And of course they just discovered all this, *after* scheduling the stops at Landstuhl and Rammstein?

Riiight!


47 posted on 07/24/2008 2:36:59 PM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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To: wesmorgan1
When he visited the troops at Walter Reed on June 28th, wasn't it done as "Barack Obama, presidential candidate?"

According to that link above, his campaign used that visit to announce his 'Round the World Campaign Blitz, which included stops (albeit short ones) in Iraq and Afghanistan.

From that article:

While the Illinois senator was inside [Walter Reed, visiting the wounded troops], Obama's campaign simultaneously announced he would be making trips to both the Middle East and to Europe shortly this summer.

48 posted on 07/24/2008 3:17:35 PM PDT by onemiddleamerican
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