MyDD :: No entourage' allowed= Cancel Wounded Soldiers Visit ?

No entourage' allowed= Cancel Wounded Soldiers Visit ?

by chancecoke, Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 05:22:59 AM EST

From NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube A U.S. military official tells NBC News they were making preparations for Sen. Barack Obama to visit wounded troops at the Landstuhl Medical Center at Ramstein, Germany on Friday, but "for some reason the visit was called off."

One military official who was working on the Obama visit said because political candidates are prohibited from using military installations as campaign backdrops, Obama's representatives were told, "he could only bring two or three of his Senate staff member, no campaign officials or workers." In addition, "Obama could not bring any media. Only military photographers would be permitted to record Obama's visit."

The official said "We didn't know why" the request to visit the wounded troops was withdrawn. "He (Obama) was more than welcome. We were all ready for him."

Tags: Obama, Gun shy in Germany (all tags)

Permalink :: 24 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: No entourage' allowed= Cancel Wounded Soldiers (2.00 / 3)

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/07/ pentagon-tells-obama-not-to-vi.html

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/ dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-ob amatroops_25pol.ART.State.Edition1.4e02c 39.html

Sexism is real.

by grassrootsorganizer on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 06:41:26 AM EST

Facts? (2.00 / 2)

Don't confuse them with facts, it upsets the whole narrative!

by skohayes on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 07:13:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Facts? (2.00 / 2)

Oops! My bad...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news /2050523/posts

Sexism is real.

by grassrootsorganizer on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 07:22:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Facts? (none / 0)

When Free Republic is the source, that tells you a lot. They have zero commitment to giving the full story.

We care about politics because we know politics matters for people's lives and opportunities.

by politicsmatters on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 08:03:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No entourage' allowed (2.00 / 2)

Well, his campaign said that Obama thought it was inappropriate to visit the hospital while on a campaign trip, since some people would probably accuse him of using the soldiers for political props.
Considering this diary, I can see he was right.

And of course, no one mentions Obama's trip to Walter Reed just last month.

by skohayes on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 07:05:18 AM EST

yawn. (2.00 / 3)

Yeah, they're going nuts about this over at Alegre's McCain Apologists.

I'll just repeat grassrootsorganizer:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/07/ pentagon-tells-obama-not-to-vi.html

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/ dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-ob amatroops_25pol.ART.State.Edition1.4e02c 39.html

We should be able to deliver bottled hot water to dehydrated babies.

by Jess81 on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 07:22:43 AM EST

Re: yawn. (2.00 / 2)

Hey Jess...

Going nuts? I think they passed nuts about 8 weeks ago, certifiably bat-shit loony is their constant mental state at the moment.

"Either you're the butcher Or the lamb but even so, Everybody pays as they go-Jakob Dylan"

by WashStateBlue on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 10:02:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

This guy HATES Obama (2.00 / 3)

From a pretty decent (if ultra-hawkish) military blog:

I'm pretty sure my Obama-opposing credentials are solid, but I have to cover him for one supposed misstep.

Barry is being bashed for skipping a stop at Landstuhl to visit wounded troops. His reason was that his campaign was paying for the Germany trip and it would be inappropriate to use wounded warriors for a campaign stop. Guess what? He was right. He wasted tax-payer money to pose in A-stan etc, but he can't claim we are warring in Germany so his campaign had to pick up the tab.

I will continue to knee the Obama in the neck for his many transgressions; this wasn't one of them.

If you're being chased by an angry bull and then you notice you're also being chased by a swarm of bees, it doesn't really change things. Just keep on running.

by vcalzone on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 08:02:18 AM EST

Re: This guy HATES Obama (2.00 / 5)

I read a survey recently that among people who support McCain, the Democrats who do are more likely to also believe things like "blacks are getting too many advantages" and "civil rights has gone too far". The Republicans surveyed didn't necessarily believe that but the Democrats almost universally did.

I'd add another thing - if you're looking at McCain supporters, you can tell the Republicans because they're the honest ones.

We should be able to deliver bottled hot water to dehydrated babies.

by Jess81 on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 08:11:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This guy HATES Obama (2.00 / 2)

Let them leave. McCain's embrace of those voters (and I'm sure they'll be at the RNC convention just like at the DNC convention) will push away some of the more moderate Republicans already on the fence.

If you're being chased by an angry bull and then you notice you're also being chased by a swarm of bees, it doesn't really change things. Just keep on running.

by vcalzone on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 08:22:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This guy HATES Obama (2.00 / 2)

I couldn't agree more.

We should be able to deliver bottled hot water to dehydrated babies.

by Jess81 on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 08:28:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Andrea Mitchell - military stopped it (2.00 / 2)

Andrea Mitchell explained this morning that the military said that they couldn't go because the visit was staffed by campaign people, not congressional staff. And there's suggestions that McCain's folks connected with people in the Pentagon to stop the visit.

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-fi nkelstein/2008/07/25/mitchell-scuttlebut t-says-mccain-sabotaged-obama-military-h ospital

We care about politics because we know politics matters for people's lives and opportunities.

by politicsmatters on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 08:20:31 AM EST

Where'd he go? (2.00 / 1)

Chance? Chance?

HEY CHANCE!!!!!!

Must have gone back to his Hillary Clinton Alter, maybe the votive candles caught the montage pictures of Hillary on fire....

"Either you're the butcher Or the lamb but even so, Everybody pays as they go-Jakob Dylan"

by WashStateBlue on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 09:01:33 AM EST

Just to be complete (2.00 / 2)

If McCain DID have anything to do with the Pentagon's refusal to let Obama see the troops, it's an incredible rope-a-dope, because he was blasting Obama for it:

Barack Obama is wrong. It is never inappropriate to visit our men and women in the military.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 09:35:44 AM EST

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