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THE REASON WHY Obama Didn’t Visit Wounded Troops

By: AndrewHyman (Diary)  |  July 26th, 2008 at 11:54 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Unfortunately, this pretty much speaks for itself:

Military Says It Set Rules For Obama Hospital Visit

The Pentagon told the Democrat that no media or campaign aides could come along, its spokesman says. Obama canceled plans to see wounded troops in Germany.

By Peter Spiegel and Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

July 26, 2008

U.S. military authorities told advisors to Barack Obama this week that he could not bring press or campaign staff on a visit to wounded troops from Iraq and Afghanistan at a hospital in Germany, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday.

After advisors learned of the restriction, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee canceled his scheduled visit Friday to the military’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in southern Germany.

UPDATE (July 26, 5:34 PM EST): Good for the McCain campaign:

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COMMENTS

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  • chuckB

    Dont forget virtually every person on the plane was part of the no entry list from the Republigon (Pentagon). Did anyone ask john McCain if he visited troops that day? Did he today? Does anyone know? Did the writer of this post visit wounded troops? I think if your going to be criticle of someone…you should have at least completed what your hammering Obama on!

    • Achance

      here. We also don’t take people seriously who can’t spell. Time for you to go back to Kos.

      • Wanttoknow

        Do you need the press to be right? Or should you do it because it is right?

        • chuckB

          I cant spell that good…I can tell the truth.

          • Vegas_Rick

            of mindless illiterate that Obama is counting on bamboozling into voting him into the White House. Lucky for the rest of America, you are definitely in the smallest of minorities. Sanity will prevail and the empty suit will be banished back to his socialist Chicago neighborhoods. See you in November.

          • chuckB

            If you think McCain will win?you?re in the minority!

          • Moe_Lane

            NT

          • Achance

            to torture before you kill and eat them.

          • janis

            or mbecker have this one to themselves for a while. (Grinning evilly here)

          • janis

            eating, Achance? After all, God only knows what it’s been fed. Obviously it consumes the same diet as mushrooms, no?

          • Moe_Lane

            NT

          • Vegas_Rick

            n/t

          • mbecker908

            Troll is quite tender and tasty when properly prepared.

            1. Soften it up, waterboarding works, but beating with sticks is faster.
            2. Sensory deprivation. Deconstruct it’s arguments – if it makes one – point out stupidity of thought train when it doesn’t.
            3. Skin it.
            4. Boil it.
            5. Mix it with spinach and clams.
            6. Feed it to in-laws with a good vintage “wine-in-a-box”.
          • janis

            come through loud and clear.

          • janis

            It called to mind the wonderful times last summer when we hunted Paultards in packs. Makes me teary-eyed to think of it. Well done–your comment, not the troll meat.

  • Flagstaff

    and off the troll.

    As the news has come to show, the Pentagon didn’t tell Obama he couldn’t go to the hospital, but they said he couldn’t bring in a gang of reporters and photographer with him. Somebody must also have mentioned to him that it would look like he was using the wounded soldiers as a campaign prop if it were publicized too much. Taking all that into account, he decided it wasn’t worth the effort.

    After all, why be nice to servicemen if nobody gets to see it happening on the news?

    • Republican92010

      Pass this along to your fellow Republicans, Independents, and why not the left wingners too. And let’s see what they have to say.

       FYI--for what freedom is  worth.

      Tiffany and Jeff Porter are our friends who live in Virginia.

      (Below is from Tiffany)

      I don’t know each of your personal political convictions, and
      apologize if anyone finds this offensive. I thought it was important enough to share. (My hubby is a soldier in Afghanistan)

      This is Jeff’s FIRST HAND of Senator Obama.

      Tiffany

      ———- Forwarded Message ———-
      Hello everyone, as you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to ‘The War Zone’. I wanted to share with you what happened.

      He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area
      to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram.

      As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn’t say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service.

      So really he was just here to make a showing for the American’s back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you.

      I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheer leaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be thePresident of the United States. I just don’t understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.

      If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.

      In service,
      CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
      Battle Captain
      TF Wasatch
      American Soldier

      • David_Hinz

        Go read Blackfive At least he redacted names

        • Mord

          None of them can vote anyway. Obama has to prioritize…no “grip and grins” with people who can’t vote….wait…Hello people of Germany!!

          Honestly…I am glad he didn’t go to see them. The last thing a guy in the hospital wants to do is be bothered by some smarmy politician while blasted on Morphine. Believe me, it’s awkward. A troop can decline to see anyone, so thats no excuse.

          It’s still lame that he called it off and offered several different excuses for doing so, none of which are believeable.

          • Flagstaff

            “It’s still lame that he called it off and offered several different excuses for doing so, none of which are believeable.”

          • Whitehorse

            Obama could have visited with his Secret Service detail. He chose not to. Then his campaign chose to obfuscate.

          • Whitehorse

            Bad choice 1 was to not visit the wounded troops. His adoring media tagalongs would have reported that story in as fawning a way as Obama would have wanted. It could have helped him with the blue-collar & military affiliated voters with whom he so desparately needs to connect.

            Bad choice 2 was to first say it would be “disrespectful” to visit the wounded troops. No mention or indication that he was not “allowed” to visit the troops. That excuse was so preposterous that Obama made…

            Bad choice 3. Blaming pentagon officials for not “allowing” him to visit. The pentagon officials quickly corrected this untruth. Obama could (& should) have visited the wounded troops in his official capacity as US Senator.

            Bad choice to not visit, bad choice to come first with a bogus BS excuse, & bad choice to lie. Now, he can only hope this goes away & is not brought up again – I don’t think that will happen.

          • Achance

            not as gamey as Bald Eagle (you wouldn’t believe the things an eagle will eat). Needs a dry Chardonnay or just the right Pinot Gris.

  • itrytobenice

    That some military guy would give him a piece of his mind or a one finger salute and that it would get to the wrong media outlet.

    As near as I can tell from Andrea Mitchell reporting, when he was in Iraq and Afghanistan all events were screened off from reporters and the clips that they showed were released to them from the campaign. She said that none of them knew what all was going on behind the scenes.

  • ThreeNineNine

    Why visit the troops if the press can’t record it? This actually makes it worse in my eyes.

  • AndrewHyman

    I agree.