Comments on: Obama Honors the Fallen as a President Should

By: NARNC60AC

NARNC60AC — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:16:36 +0000

all of us here KNOW what the cost of war is/was
i agree with those that say it was just a photo up 4 the cic…..anythin 2 get his face on tv & n the papers!

most of the families here n wa state ask…..err…..TELL the media 2 stay away-a few families have allowed the media 2 photograph the return of their fallen heroes [& i must say, the local news here does broadcast the return with sensitivity]

i wish BO would STOP ditherin around & actually b the COMMANDER IN CHIEF & make the decision bout what 2 do n afghanistan b4 the enemy makes it 4 him!

By: Sean A

Sean A — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:49:21 +0000

#17: “Obama allowed the cameras because he wants us to see the true cost of war and he wants us to see the last return home for some of most courageous and admirable people.”

Cram it, DavyJG. Two years ago, Obama cavalierly criticized these “courageous and admirable people” for “just air raiding villages and killing civilians” in Afghanistan. And the idea that Obama needs to enlighten us that the “true cost of war” includes the deaths of American soldiers is repugnant and obscene.

By: JP

JP — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:41:30 +0000

Rosalie,
It was done “in secret”, but he then brought the press corp to watch. I doubt we would have heard a word of it if no one would have allowed him to get a photo.
I wonder what the other 17 families told him.

Bush did this with far more class, and preferred to meet the families in private, in a setting to make them as comfortable as possible for the situation. One of the bits that made Casey’s mom such a farce was her demands for Bush to meet her(to explain himself supposedly). . . he had already(I think twice, but once for sure), and even she admitted he seemed genuinely affected by the losses. That all changed once she was being pimpped as the anti-bush war hater mom.

By: DavyJG

DavyJG — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:30:16 +0000

Bush disallowed the media because he didn’t want these kind of images exposing the human cost of the war. Obama allowed the cameras because he wants us to see the true cost of war and he wants us to see the last return home for some of most courageous and admirable people.

By: ThatGayConservative

ThatGayConservative — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:44:04 +0000

As I understood it, only one of the 18 families involved approved of the whole spectacle. Would the photo op have gone forward if all 18 had said no?

By: Rosalie

Rosalie — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:16:14 +0000

Would he have done it without a photographer there? I doubt it.

By: pst314

pst314 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:25:38 +0000

Uncle Jimbo at milblog Blackfive (Oct 29) is very critical of Obama’s visit to Dover.

By: John

John — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:59:12 +0000

I’m still not a “fan”, but he did the proper thing as CiC.

By: heliotrope

heliotrope — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:52:44 +0000

EVERYTHING is about HIM in some form or fashion. It’s an insult to suggest that there was no narcissism here at all.

Yes, but this was somber, melancholy, funereal narcissism. Call it nuanced narcissism. The One is showing us how gods distract as they dither.

By: ThatGayConservative

ThatGayConservative — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:21:23 +0000

EVERYTHING is about HIM in some form or fashion. It’s an insult to suggest that there was no narcissism here at all.

By: jeaneeinabottle

jeaneeinabottle — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:51:19 +0000

This guy just can’t not be in a photo! And what is this supposed to mean when he dithers around and puts off sending help for these poor guys under these flags and he has the gonads to rub their faces in it all the way to the end! THIS IS OBSCENE!!! He is disgusting. Just another moment about him, it’s all about him, we aren’t even talking about these brave souls and their families. WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES???!!!!

By: John W

John W — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:26:04 +0000

In WW2 we didn’t have that problem. No bodies were brought home.

By: ThatGayConservative

ThatGayConservative — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:01:47 +0000

I am being parsimonious

I think there’s an ointment for that. ;P

By: American Elephant

American Elephant — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:09:06 +0000

Kudos to President Obama for showing up for work!!! Woo hoo!

By: Neptune

Neptune — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:30:28 +0000

If I am not mistaken, I believe the family members are allowed to grant journalist access to the return of their fallen. (This is how it was reported on NPR this morning anyway.) If that is indeed true, it’s a better policy than just blanket access by the media.

By: TrulyScrumptious

TrulyScrumptious — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:47:41 +0000

This is the most patriotic thing Obama has done or will do.

By: mcswan

mcswan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:17:18 +0000

As a veteran of the US Navy, and having lost friends in the Vietnam War, I have always been opposed to media coverage of returning fallen warriors. It seems to me that the entire handling of these returns should be done with great respect for the family. And most families I’ve known have wanted to honor their family members and grieve in private.

It is far too tempting for the media to turn these things into public statements for their agenda, and media coverage inevitably becomes a political tool for someone.

By: heliotrope

heliotrope — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:06:03 +0000

I hope the man-child President is finally growing up and taking an adult view of his role as Commander-in-Chief. I am not at all ready to send him kudos for fulfilling his obligation as President to put politics and campaigning aside in matters so fundamental as being decent by nature instead of by choice. I am not damning him with faint praise. I am being parsimonious with my admiration since what he did is what any decent President would do.

By: Julie Kelleher

Julie Kelleher — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:01:59 +0000

I’d have given him some credit is his actions weren’t accompanied by a substantial print and television media contingent — but that’s just me.

Now we know what prompted the “reversal.”

By: ThatGayConservative

ThatGayConservative — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:43:18 +0000

I’m not sure how I feel about President Obama’s reversal of George W. Bush’s policy of disallowing media coverage of the return of fallen military members to Dover AFB.

It’s playing politics pure & simple. They won’t show the bodies falling from the WTC, but they piss and moan about this and not being able to show bodies after Katrina. Wonder why that is?

There used to be a journalistic ethic against showing any bodies of any sort, but I don’t get the impression that matters much anymore.