If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
I don't know that I can adequately describe my revulsion at this blatant PR move by the president.
Disgusting. Disrespectful. Opportunist. I'm not sure if Roget's has enough crammed between its pages to help me out here. It's only made worse by how stupidly obvious this photo-op is. The AP wouldn't even release it for that very reason. Yet the White House publicity office does, against the wishes of the Pentagon and, most importantly, the bereaved families. I've had the honor of attending a dignified transfer and accepting custody of the remains of one of our fallen warriors, and it is heartbreaking. This stunt by the White House is a violation of the dead, of their families, and of the men honored to escort their brothers home for the last time.
Do we get an apology from our Commander-in-Chief? Not so much. This from Jay Carney:
The White House routinely releases photos taken by the White House photographers in specific circumstances where it would be inappropriate to include members of the media. In this case, the White House released the photo, in the interests of transparency, so that the American people could have as much insight as possible into this historic and sobering event.
I'm neither blind, nor innocent, nor stupid. Politicians use us all the time to showcase their patriotic bona fides. That's part of the game, and I've been around long enough to accept the reality of it, and to figure out how to avoid participating in it. Republicans have traditionally been the most egregious -- no shock there, "The Troops" are bread and butter for the GOP -- and modern Democrats typically struggle to hide their disdain for us, though they've been making gains in the pandering department these last four years. But this is so completely, awfully... stupid... hurtful and disrespectful that I don't think I can separate the man from the office any longer. It's just unforgivable.
- Comment (20)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
Comments :
May '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
I'm not shocked by politicians, but this is.
And I would add "tacky."
Jan '11
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
Such are acts of desperation. The sycophant and his sophomoric staff must go. That's all that there is to it.
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
"In this case, the White House released the photo, in the interests of transparency,..." Transparency wasn't so interesting during the closed door machinations that wrought the debt ceiling compromise, or that gave birth to the many thousands of pages of regulations, taxes, and freedom-suffocating imposition of Obama Care, Dodd Frank, etc. But "transparency" that violates the wishes of the families of warriors who gave their lives is an easy call for these people. Contemptible is the most polite word that springs immediately to mind.
May '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
Lucky for Obama soldiers' votes are the most likely to get lost in the mail.
Dec '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
Made worse by the fact that he doesn't even have the half a minute it would take to learn how to salute properly. It's all bad; that half [explitive]ed attempt at a salute is salt in the wound.
Edited on Aug 12, 2011 at 1:15amMay '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
He thinks we're all suckers who will forever swallow baloney like this. That just shows he's nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is, and for all his careful grooming and tailoring he simply ain't got no class. He's a pantomime president in a carnival administration.
Mar '11
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
The affront is disgraceful and the attempted explanation... I wish I could find a more accurate word than Mr. Carter's contemptible, but I have none that would meet our CoC.
May '11
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
Okay, I'll play devil's advocate. What's wrong with it? What is so disgraceful? I don't see body parts, I don't see anything terrible. I've been to dignified transfers before, it's a very solemn occasion. Why should the rest of the country not share in that solemnity? Do we assume that the American people are so immature that they can't share in this sorrowful event?
I'm no fan of the man's politics, but if you complain about everything the man does, no matter how innocuous, then you lose credibility on the important issues.
This is not being used like in the Vietnam War days to drive a defeatist agenda, at least not yet and not as shown in this photo.
Imagine if Bush had done this. Would many people now complaining not say that it showed that the commander in chief was caring for his troops?
Really, I don't think in the absence of any other indicators that this photo is such a big deal.
May '11
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
And there is nothing wrong with that salute. It is being performed drill field perfect, if you consider that his arm may still be in motion and not yet all the way up.
Jul '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
More than half the families objected to press. A White House press office spreading the picture far and wide is functionally no different from "press".
As for the question of "what if Bush had done this?" The point is, Bush didn't do it.
Dec '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
It's not that he was there, or that they took a picture, or even whether his salute sucks or not, but rather that they asked the families to consent to publicity photos and the request was declined.
Then they went ahead and did it anyway.
If you're going to do whatever you please anyhow, why even ask the families in the first place?
It is an act perfectly in step with the rest of this administration's actions.
"We do what we want, and don't you forget it."
Dec '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
What you really don't see in that picture is anything about the men who gave their lives for this country. Their solemn homecoming should be about them, not him. I wouldn't have believed he could stoup low enough to use the death of our servicemen to boost in own ego, but he did. A press release noting that he attended the solemn transfer would have sufficed for any other CinC.
May '11
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
", but rather that they asked the families to consent to publicity photos and the request was declined."
I didn't know that. Very tacky.
But I still don't see why the commander in chief should be excluded from a ceremony like that. A simple photo of the ceremony is not really out of line. Much ado about nothing.
I think this is an instance of people hating the man's policies (which are truly horrific) and then demonizing everything he says or does. On the scale of things that might be offensive, this doesn't even rate. If exposing yourself to school children is a ten and picking your nose in public is a one, this rates as a zero. It's just not something worth complaining about.
Aug '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
KP has it right. The photo of him and the press details about where the photo was taken make the photo op "about" him and not about those to whom he ought to be rendering honors.
That they released the photo over the objection of some of the families makes it even worse.
Jun '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
Skyler: ", but rather that they asked the families to consent to publicity photos and the request was declined."
I didn't know that. Very tacky.
But I still don't see why the commander in chief should be excluded from a ceremony like that. A simple photo of the ceremony is not really out of line...
It's not one photo, it's a series of them that the White House tried to shop around. Out of respect for the families, the one on the Fox page is the only one that's being shown in their news coverage.
It's right and proper that presidents should attend these things. If I had my druthers each sitting president would attend every ceremony as a reminder of who pays for executive decisions. His attendance isn't the issue; it's the blatant disregard for the bereaved in exploiting the occasion for political gain that is so terrible. And it is terrible.
May '11
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
Do you complain that Lincoln politicized the Gettysburg cemetary?
Jun '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
That's a pretty strained analogy and I'm not too sure how to respond. So I'll just go with this: The White House's behavior offends me more after several days' reflection than it did upon my first learning of it. If you disagree, that's fine, it's a wide world with room for the lot of us.
May '11
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
Why is the analogy strained? Because you like Lincoln and don't like our current president? Both involved ceremonies for war dead. Both were politicized appearances. Lincoln left a brief speech that had so little thought put to it that it was scribbled down on the train ride to the battle field. Obama provided a simple photo of himself honoring the dead with a final salute, very low key. You might say both were looking to get the people to support their view of the war.
Jun '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
It's strained because there's barely any tie between the two situations, other than the job connection and the fact of war. And no, I don't like Lincoln; I'm a Southerner, his name is anathema in my house. President Obama hasn't strayed as far as Lincoln in trashing the Constitution, but it's a coin toss as to which of the two wins Bronze in the Worst President Olympics. IMHO.
The latest scholarship shows that Lincoln went through several drafts of his speech in the weeks leading up to the cemetery dedication. In consultation with SoS Seward, who's diaries we have, he finished it at his lodgings the night prior after receiving the draft of Edward Everett's intended remarks. Given the nature of the invitation -- Gettysburg was funded privately, and Lincoln was there as an afterthought -- it's pretty surprising that the speech has come to take on meaning that no one saw at the time. Newspapers nationwide printed both speeches, and Lincoln's didn't leave too much of a mark except on sympathetic Republicans. It wasn't until after his death two years later that it was resurrected.
Jun '10
Re: If Nothing Else Makes the Military More Conservative, This Will Do It
My issue with this recent kerfuffle, as stated in prior remarks, is that this was a blatant political move in direct contravention of the bereaved family's wishes, for no other reason than to buff the administration's image. It's exploitative, crass, and offensive, and I don't like it. If I haven't explained myself well, I apologize, and I would invite you to read Hot Air's Ed Morrissey (linking to John Hayward at Human Events) to see if he can illuminate this a little better.