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Audacity of Truth
Controversy grows over Obama’s cancellation of troop hospital visit in Germany
Memeorandum is bursting with links this evening from lefties and righties discussing yesterday’s story about Obama’s cancellation of a scheduled visit to wounded US troops in Germany.  I briefly noted in a post this morning that it sound like the apparent reason the visit was cancelled was because Obama found out he couldn’t make a photo op out of it.
This story has, surprisingly, gained steam, with the Obama camp trying to claim that they didn’t know until the last minute that Obama would not be allowed to bring in campaign staff and media. I’ll take the Pentagon’s version of the story:
Chief Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell confirmed to Politico that Department of Defense officials cautioned Barack Obama’s campaign that his planned visit to wounded American troops in Germany could not be political in nature and that he would be barred from bringing along campaign staff and reporters.  He also said that Cindy McCain recently requested to visit sailors aboard the U.S.N.S. Comfort and was denied.
“Sen. Obama is welcome to visit Landstuhl or any military hospital in his official capacity as a United States senator,” Morrell said in a brief interview. “But there is a DOD policy which governs campaigning and electioneering at military facilities that would have to be respected if he were to visit. That distinction was relayed and made clear to campaign, and they made a decision on their own based on that guidance.”
Morrell, in a subsequent interview, added that military officials told Obama he could only visit the military facility with his Secret Service detail and Senate staff.
“We made it clear to him that campaign staff and press would not be permitted to accompany him,” Morrell said of Obama.  ”We relayed those ground rules. They made a choice based upon the information we relayed to them. It was their choice. We had nothing to do with it.”
Either way, either version of the story makes Obama look bad.  His own spokespeople are admitting he didn’t go because he couldn’t bring his campaign staffers with him. Read between the lines, that translates to because he couldn’t make a campaign event out of it, it was a no-go.  As Blackfive said here, campaign staff or no, he still could have visited the troops privately.   The man may be their Commander in Chief in a few months, for crying out loud.
Related to all this, Fox News’ Major Garrett delivered an (unintentional) verbal smackdown today in discussing a joke Obama made to him about seeing Fox News on wherever he went to visit troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and suggesting that perhaps Bush made it that way.  Click below to watch. The money quote is at the end (via Chickenhawk Express).
Relevant part of the transcript:
“Well, the implication was that somehow President Bush orders military bases around the world to show Fox News. That’s not the fact at all. If it’s on, it’s by choice, or more commonly it’s on by rotation. Most military bases rotate the cable networks, then throw in some ESPN and other viewing for the soldiers on the front lines. I think the most important point is not maybe throwing a jab at me, I mean it was all done in good fun, and I took no offense whatsoever. The point is this, David: Senator Obama has not spent much time on the frontlines in this war on terror. It’s his first trip ever to Afghanistan; only his second to Iraq. Perhaps had he been to the war theater more he’d know a little more about the viewing habits of the soldiers on the ground.”
Zing …
More: Hannity sez:
“And, by the way, you know, I know for a fact because I talked to these kids when I went to Walter Reed and Bethesda, that literally the president would sneak on over often to go see these, kids — you never heard about it, it was never reported. As a matter of fact, I remember I was out there with Ollie North and they said, yeah the president was just here, two days ago, whatever it was. And you know, same thing with Donald Rumsfeld. Donald Rumsfeld used to go over there all the time, but he didn’t turn it into a campaign event.
“Anyway, so Obama has it on the schedule. The Pentagon says, look, you can come but they’re going to impose their rule against turning a visit by a politician into a campaign event. Now this is what we finally are finding out here. All the Pentagon said is they advised Obama’s staff — yeah of course he can visit the hospital and injured personnel in Germany but only in his capacity as a Member of Congress, in other words without the trappings of a political campaign, which by the way, it’s unfair to use sick soldiers who risked their lives as a political prop.
“Obama apparently cancelled the visit and went to work out instead. He went to work out and then said it would be inappropriate as part of a trip financed by his campaign. Well, as John McCain said, it’s never inappropriate if you are a United States Senator to visit a sick soldier. It’s never inappropriate. There’s not one taxpayer in the country that would have any opposition to this nor is there any rules against this. The only difference is the only restriction that was placed is that they don’t want to have candidates, you know, using the appearance for some type of political benefit. That wasn’t enough. He had to bring along of course the entourage and the multiple 10,000 media press secretaries along with him.
“So if you want my take on this, if you want to remember one thing about this trip is that Barack Obama chose to work out rather than see the wounded troops because he couldn’t bring Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson, and Brian Williams with him.”
By the way, here’s a mushy story written by someone who actually got to work out with Obama at that gym. Warning: Reading it could cause your blood to boil, and make you want to do something stupid out of sheer frustration. Only read it if there are no sharp objects nearby that you could hurt yourself with.
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The headline practically writes itself: Pentagon Shows Senator The Audacity Of Nope.
Ahhhh it is so good to see Barry caring for the troops. This man is such a pathetic soul.
Ohhhh Yippiee!! /Swoon OMG My life is complete, I now will never shower again because it might wash BO off of me, plus I get to conserve water, always a plus!!!
Is this what women have fought so hard for over the years?? What is wrong with these women?? – Lorica
I realize you guys are probably sick of me here, but I was just going to add on that I am typically unsure of what Obama is doing. Just when you think he’s got everything wrapped up, he does something mind-numbingly stupid (especialy with these easy to avoid problems).
Of course, I’m having the same problems with McCain. Believe it or not, my vote is still up for grabs.
alchemist, I’m not sick of you. Having differing views here is not a bad thing. I just either don’t agree with you or understand you about 80% of the time. I’d suspect it’s about the same for you towards me.
I saw the breathless Obama workout story earlier, and still can’t accept that it wasn’t in The Onion. Do these people have any self awareness at all? Most normal people realize, even if it’s belated, that they’ve made a perfect ass of themselves when they do it.
Maybe years from now this reporter will reread this and feel the ground give way beneath her feet. But probably not – she’ll instead get all wistful about that magical perfect time when all the universe was in sync and she was at the nexus.
I recall the Harmonic Convergence sometime in the eighties. It came, nothing happened, and the world went on as it always had. Did any New Agers sit themselves down and ask themselves if maybe there were some weak spots in their worldview? I don’t think so.
In LA there used to be (probably still is) a “churh” called the Unarians. It was led by a woman known as the Archangel Urial, who every year gathered the faithful at her specially made spaceport to meet the 33 flying saucers from the 33 galactic civilizations that were going to bring us 33 new arts and sciences to usher in a new age of humanity, the next step in our evolution towards perfectly spiritual beings. Every year they gathered and…
Well, I’m sure you all know what happened every year. The same thing that used to happen every year at Halloween when Linus sat out in the pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin.
I think maybe the worst possible thing for Barack Obama and his cult would be for him to be elected. He’ll end up looking like King Canute, ordering the tides to turn back. The difference was that Canute knew he couldn’t do it and was proving a point to his syncophantic advisors. Obama’s already put down a marker on making the oceans recede.
Some of you people are exactly the type of folks that this new McCain ad is designed to appeal to.
People who have no understanding of geography (but then what can you say when McCain himself doesn’t seem to understand that Iraq doesn’t have a border with Pakistan). The McCain ad tries to sell the message that all Senator Obama had to do was drive down the block to visit the troops at Landstuhl. The reality is that Landstuhl RMC is over 400 miles from Berlin. Once the military took away his ability to land the campaign plane on a military base there was no close air field that could accomodate a 757. The worst part of this ad is that it smells of hypocrisy. When McCain visited Europe in March with Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Joseph Lieberman they all had ample opportunity to vist the troops at Landstuhl. Actually they were significantly closer to Landstuhl than Senator Obama was.
LINK
Perhaps Senator McCain decided the fund raiser in London was MORE important than visiting troops in Europe.
As for your comment about FOX on TV I need to explain to you that AFN TV News channel provides a wide variety of News programs from various network sources. For example Countdown is followed by the O’Reilly Factor which is followed by the Today Show etc etc. I have never bothered to calculate whether they show more Fox programs than CNN programs. I believe its pretty fairly divided. The only fulltime direct feeds of Fox CNN domestic and CNN headline news are on classified systems because they show domestic commercials (unlike AFN) and would violate licensing restrictions in various countries if they were available on unclassified sources.
As opposed to the close-minded and willfully ignorant that any Obama ad appeals to…
Riiiiight. But then what can you say when Obama himself doesn’t seem to understand that Illinois (the state he supposedly represents) shares a border with Kentucky and Arkansas doesn’t. Guess that slipped right past your brilliant mind, eh, mike?
So as far as I’m concerned, it’s a wash, even if Obama’s gaffe is less understandable.
Now that geography class is over, you wanna move down the hall to math class and peek inside to see which candidate gets a passing grade? Nah, I didn’t think so.
So what you’re saying is that when Obama landed in Paris, he could have made the trip to Landstuhl just as easily. But he didn’t, and suspiciously it was only after the Pentagon told him he was welcome to vist, but couldn’t stage a campaign media circus there.
Or, he could have tapped George Soros for a few bucks and hired a smaller plane, just for him and a few aides, if he really wanted to visit the troops. But bringing along fawning MSM talking heads was more important.
Let’s not forget: the Pentagon NEVER refused him permission to visit the troops. On the contrary, Obama’s campaign withdrew the request.
So Obama just couldn’t do it. Geez, whatever happened to “Yes we can”? Just words, maybe?
Besides, I think I need to point out to the slower among us that Obama, not McCain, is the one who paints himself as a new kind of politician and a totally different kind of campaigner. Again, just words?
Actually Rat you failed to read the link. McCain had several advantages.
1. He and the other Senators were flying in a Government aircraft so there would not have been the landing rights issue at Ramstein
2. He and the other Senators were on a taxpayer paid “official visit”
So did they decide to visit the troops at Landstuhl? No they went to London for a $2300 a plate fundraiser for Senator McCain hosted by a British Lord (which frankly may have been illegal since they were on an official trip and there are rules concerning foreign citizens contributing to campaigns).
The McCain ad is simply factually inaccurate both in its substance and its implications. He attempts to suggest that all Obama had to do was drive down the block from the Ritz to visit the troops when in reality Landstuhl was 400 miles away. Once the landing rights at Ramstein became unclear the closest commercial airport was Frankfurt (78 Miles away) which would have required driving over open highways without an advance security evaluation (not something the secret service would have been fond of).
The worst offense was the suggestion that he only wanted cameras present. Members of the press who were on TV today clearly stated that there was never any intention to allow them to accompany the Senator from Ramstein to Landstuhl.
No, I read your link. I’m unimpressed. I tend to take a huge discount on anyone who brags about his commentary on hate sites like DailyKos. I need to see a lot more evidence than that.
Totally aside from the point, but I notice he’s also been a functionary of the Democrat party in Seattle. Wonder how much of a role he played in the vote fraud that resolved the last gubernatorial election there?Not making accusations, just wondering, you know…
But back to the point –
So let me get this straight – you expect McCain to motor about 300 miles from Paris, but it’s too much of a strain on Obama to go 78 miles from Frankfurt. Don’t tell me he couldn’t arrange it. Presidential campaigns have been known to arrange and execute unscheduled visits and events all the time. Bottom line is, once he found out he couldn’t bring along his lickspittle media allies, he had no interest in visiting the troops. Period.
As for why it’s more important for him to do this than McCain, that’s simple. McCain has nothing to prove about his respect for the troops. He has a long history of supporting them and visiting them. Even during non-election years, which I’m sure will shock you. Obama has no such credentials; in fact his track record isn’t friendly to national defense at all.
Rat writes:
“So let me get this straight – you expect McCain to motor about 300 miles from Paris”
[Edited - watch it, mike. --ST]
No I didn’t expect him to motor from Paris. His trip to Europe was an OFFICIAL Congressional Visit which was clearly stated in the Link that you said you read). He, Senator Lindsey Graham and Sen. Joseph Lieberman were on the taxpayers dime flying on Government provided transportation. There would have been NO clearance problem taking that transportation to Ramstein from Paris (or from London for that matter). Both flights would have taken about an hour out of his busy day plus whatever time they spent visiting Landstuhl.
Instead he went to London for a fundraiser.
Look Senator McCain can do whatever he wants when he vists Europe. The point is that it’s incredibly dishonest of him or his campaign to criticize Obama in that ad when he and his fellow Senators couldn’t spend a couple of hours to make that same visit to the troops.
Its more dishonest when he tries to sell the notion that it was only because of lack of press access. Obama visited the troops and military hospitals when he was in Iraq (as was confirmed by Senators Hagel and Reed) without press and has visited Troops at Walter Reed in the US many times without press. The press that were on the flight in Europe with him have spoken out that there NEVER was any intention to take them along to Landstuhl (the military had originally made accomodation for them to stay at Ramstein when he was at Landstuhl). Amazingly enough the “Gym shot” in the McCain commercial was actually a shot of Obama with the troops while on this trip (note that they intentionally blurred out the background in that shot so people didnt notice where the shot was taken).
Basically the ad was dishonest from start to finish and the McCain Campaign should be ashamed for running it.
No basically the ad was spot on and the only reason people like you are upset about it is because it’s going to cause Obama some votes. You can go on and on, mike, about how difficult it would have been for Obama to visit the wounded troops. Difficult, however, does not mean impossible. He could have made it if he wanted to.
McCain has visited Iraq about 7-8 times and the only reason Obama went is because he was challenged by McCain. McCain has nothing to prove. Obama failed to hold ONE hearing on Afghanistan and has only visited Iraq twice.
With every passing day people are seeing Obama for what he truly is. Mr. “Change and Hope” has turned out to be the quintessential politician. Obama is the only one who should be ashamed.
Mike, the Pentagon disagrees with Obama’s excuse. Given the choice between believing them or Obama, I’ll take the one that doesn’t change positions on a daily (or even hourly) basis.
As for your repeated attempt to divert attention from Obama’s action by screaming about McCain, I will repeat what NC Cop and I have both said: McCain has nothing to prove. His record of support for our military men and women is long, honorable, and indisputable, and not visiting a military hospital every time he gets within 400 miles of one does not change that, no matter how the left rants. McCain is not the issue here.
The issue is Obama. In contrast, to the extent that this neophyte has ANY kind of record, it is one of hostility to the people who defend us. His visit to the troops clearly was planned to be nothing more than a photo-op to fool voters back home, and the minute he was told there would be no media spectacle he reverted to form. Maybe his new campaign slogan should be “No We Can’t – not without cameras”.