Posted on 10/29/2009 11:27:45 AM PDT by kristinn
Barack Obama was nearly denied the photo-op he traveled to Dover Air Force Base for early this morning as all but one of the military and civilian families of the fallen refused permission for the media to report on the return of their loved ones.
The sole family to allow media coverage was the family of Sgt. Dale R. Griffin.
According to media reports, Griffin's casket was the last to be brought off the C-17 cargo plane that carried the bodies of 15 soldiers and 3 DEA agents killed this week in Afghanistan.
That is a stark contrast to the reported 60% approval by families for media coverage since Obama lifted the ban on media coverage in April. Byron York reported a month ago that media interest has plummeted since April such that at most dignified transfers there is only an AP stringer there to take still photographs.
Obama met with the families of the fallen at a base chapel before the dignified return took place.
AP raw video of the military's dignified transfer of Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, featuring Barack Obama.
Obama's photo-op last night was the culmination of a long campaign by Obama's left wing allies like Code Pink to give aid to our enemies by highlighting the deaths of America's servicemen and women in the war on terror.
While not casting judgment on the decision by the family of Sgt. Griffin, the near unanimous decion of the families to deny Obama his photo-op, compared to the average 60%, is telling.
Yeah, he spent 6 weeks down there with that mess....he did another tour in Iraq after that too.....he's ready to leave especially with Bam as his CinC...it's the young guys like my son that I worry about...sigh
With family in the military, that could be me at Dover and I have no words to describe my contempt for this man!
The more I learn about Obama, the more I loathe him. Obama is twisted.
We all can relate to the Democrats the last eight years of hell they put up with (their thinking) now...it is funny to think that both parties have a President that is disliked intensely and either President could do anything right no matter what...lol.
Obama is personally signing the letters for sure. There is no way he is going to get the same bad press that Bush did when it was found out that his Defense Secretary (Rumsfeld) was using a signature stamp to sign the dead military’s letters.
I watched a video of the 1st Strykers who returned from Iraq last month, Sarah Palin’s son one of them.
Watched the return ceremony and the soldiers after gathering around Sarah, smiling, taking photos, and
her real support for them.
What a different setting when you see the few time the O is arond the Military. You can tell most are uneasy.
Thank you!! My prayers to you also!! Only a few months for my soldier son, thank goodness!!! I am proud as can be that he has served tho.
God bless our troops!!!
Seeing him saluting turned my stomach. I remember when he could not put his hand over his heart and say the Pledge of Allegiance.
What was the purpose of that photo-op? What did Rahm and Axelrod want the masses to take away from it?
I’m so sorry if you took me wrong. The media absolutely deserved being banned from DAFB. I went home and cried my eyes out after witnessing the utter craven behavior of the media. And that was AFTER having been ridiculed by other members of the media for being “unable to control my emotions” when I allowed tears to come to my eyes.
I have no family that could end up coming to Dover, and so can truly not say I understand what those who have that possibility go through, but I do have to say my contempt for this man may come close to yours.
God Bless you and the men you wait for.
This is what bothers me. If he was truly sincere and genuine, he would do it from the goodness of his heart and out of concern for the families. There would be no need for a photo op; and in fact, no need for the general public to ever know about it unless the families wanted to publicly talk about it.
They reported he did “personally sign” condolence letters. I doubt he wrote them.
“”I’ve never seen anything like it,” Gibbs said. “I think you get a real sense of gravity when you see the faces of those that are grieving loved ones.”
He added: “You can see the genuine anguish in their faces.”
Ya think? sheesh.
Bush and Cheney met privately with many families. They were very discreet as they understood it wasn’t about them.
good point....I’m just spit ballin’ ideas. I have a relative in Iraq, btw...not a close one, but nevertheless...if I did, I would adamantly oppose Hussein’s presence at their homecoming and burial.
thanks, k.
I appreciate your work in the belly of the beast.
" ...Honoring the fallen is his sacred duty as Commander in Chief, a job for which Obama is so monumentally unqualified it pains me to write it. On this issue however I was tempted to give him some credit, but then I realized while looking at a picture of him saluting a passing casket, there were for the first time in my memory, cameras at that solemn transfer. The Obama administration has reversed the 18-year ban on media coverage of the return of fallen soldiers to Dover. The ban always frustrated the left as it kept the powerful images of flag draped coffins out of their propaganda. For me the cameras make all the difference when assessing his sincerity.
"If the President had visited quietly and respectfully, away from the media I could appreciate and respect his gesture. His predecessor was careful to keep the notoriety of the president from reducing the dignity of our sacred fallen as they return to US soil, opting instead for the intimate and emotional meeting with the family of the deceased. No cameras, no media, no fanfare and no politics....
"The leftist political mob that surrounds Obama is expert in manipulating images and developing media messages. Power is their holy grail, above nation, above constitution, above the law and above common decency. Everything is politicized, from swine flu to sports to the food we eat, why would our fallen heroes be any different?
"The limits the left sets on itself are those that prevent negative publicity from undermining their message, a purely political calculation, not a matter of ethics. It is a question about what they can get away with. That exploitive images of solemn military ceremonies used for political purposes would dishonor the dead would never occur to them. The word "honor "is not in their lexicon.
"Whether it is a political surrogate, a fawning celebrity or a press ally that is the conduit for the Dover message depends on the direction the political wind is blowing at the time. Sooner or later the image of Obama saluting a flag draped casket will appear, at a time when it can do him the most political advantage, that is a given. Watch for it, it will come. The only question is when?"
It would have been nice for President Bush to visit Dover himself. If it were a Democrat in office, many FReepers would be claiming it wasn’t done because there were no cameras allowed. Well...
“meaning — how pathetic our nation has come to elect this guy as CIC)”
Obama is SIC (in the head.)
Obama pronounces Navy Corpsman... “Navy Corpse-men” during speech to Navy/Marines in Florida on Monday:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2371972/posts?page=19#19
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