Oh, and another thing?

[kyburg]

Find a picture like this that included George W. Bush. I dare you.

Taken in the middle of the night -



Yeah, he got up in the middle of the night just to see them home.

I absolutely love this guy.

Comments

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

wow. that's a great photo.
i'm glad these lives are being honored at last.

[tomlemos.livejournal.com]

and they say he isn't a Commander In Chief.

bullstick.

[trillsie.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see it.

I'm also glad that he is really considering all the options of sending more troops.

Yes. He's a Commander in Chief. Not just because he is President, but his actions show it.

It's good to see him honoring these fallen soldiers.

[washuotaku.livejournal.com]

W. had respect not to turn dead soldiers into photo opportunities. He has however contacted family members and spoke at a couple of funerals.

not quite.

[reannon.livejournal.com]

Obama lifted W's unconstitutional ban on photos of soldiers' coffins but insisted that families have the option to refuse press coverage. Of the 18 or so soldiers that arrived on the night pictured, one family allowed press coverage and that is the only one that was photographed. Obama's staff also kept the midnight Dover trip a secret from most of the press run and only allowed a handful of guys to follow them, and they were kept away. Obama went privately into the plane each time with a chaplain before each coffin went out.

W also has never attended military funerals or the arrival of coffins. He did visit with some of the families.

Re: not quite.

[blindgeoff.livejournal.com]

Actually, the ban came from Bush 41. It seems he took quite a bit of flak from appearing at a fund raiser and telling jokes, while CNN had a split screen coverage showing bodies from Iraq arriving at Dover...

[blindgeoff.livejournal.com]

Error - Bush 43 NEVER attended a soldier's funeral - but he DID meet with next of kin in private, and good on him for it. If I'm wrong, please provide the link to the news source reporting his presence at one... with 5000 military funerals on his watch I'm sure there's at least one with local reporter present...

Since the DoD didn't permit any photos at the 'solemn transfer,' why did he never go there? The 'not making it a photo-op' argument is total BS as there was no way it could ever have been one... but it did tell the folks in uniform that he didn't really give a damn about the casualties (that's the message it sends, not necessarily his actual feelings)

[djdig.livejournal.com]

Eh.

Obama's much better than our alternative, but I'm getting quite a bit pissed at his promise to repeal don't ask don't tell but not doing it yet.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

I'm not entirely thrilled either, but I'd like it to be done away once, and for good - so if there's a bit of effort being expended that way, I can be patient a while longer.

[drlaurac.livejournal.com]

Wow.

[makeitepic.livejournal.com]

Great photo!

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

oh jeez, thank you!

I saw a brief news blurb about this on an airport TV but have been away from the internet all week, and would likely have missed this. Thank you.

[dandelion-diva.livejournal.com]

*nod* Me too. He impresses me often. And not just in a "He doesn't really have a lot to live up to, does he?" sort of way.

[nsingman.livejournal.com]

Aw, that's just special.

Who cares about the innocent civilians his Predator drones have been killing since his third day in office? Who cares about the additional soldiers he's planning on sending into the Afghanistan meat grinder? Who cares about the nearly unchanged number of American soldiers still ruling, and occasionally raping and murdering, the Iraqi people they conquered? Who cares about the prisoners still rotting in Guantanamo Bay?

Forget that trivial stuff. Obama saluted some poor suckers' coffins! How could anyone not just love the guy? Especially coffin, body bag and flag manufacturers.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Uh.

I really have no objections towards more troops being sent into Afghanistan, as that was where the people who actually attacked us on 9/11 got their training. Now - is that a bit of too much, too late? Very likely.

And as far as innocent anythings are concerned - let's not start the clock on the day THIS guy took office, but on the day the REAL instigator began hostilities.

That guy killed more of his own citizens than anyone on 9/11 could manage with four airplanes.

At least it's not a crime to protest such things anymore at least.

[nsingman.livejournal.com]

I don't particularly care where they got their training. Training terrorists doesn't bother me in the slightest. Actual acts of terrorism bother me. The men who committed the atrocities of 9/11 died doing them, voluntarily. That was no justification for overthrowing the government of Afghanistan. And I'm sure we agree that there was no excuse for the invasion and conquest of Iraq.

And of course the clock hasn't just started on these sorts of atrocities; I never said it did. They began long before Obama was born, and yes, his predecessor is the one who launched our two current, unnecessary and unconstitutional wars. But Dubya's gone to the lecture circuit, and Obama won't pursue his war crimes. Instead, he's committing more of his own.

Obama is a war criminal with innocent blood on his hands, and no photo ops can excuse that, nor can tu quoque arguments that others were worse. He's not nearly as bad as Bush - yet. But his tenure in office is still young. The American military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan will continue long after he leaves office, and he may well kill more American soldiers than Dubya before he's done.