The War President!

[SuperScout]

If I could search out there in ether land, I could find that picture somebody posted showing Senator Leahy, D-VT in his flight suit, standing beside a jet, on a carrier, smiling like the proverbial excrement-eating skunk. There was no press ballyhoo or bellyha, nobody wringing their hands or any of that. So it was a great photo opportunity for the President to show up the way he did. And I could tell that those waiting on deck were really pissed to be there. And who did he spend the bulk of his time with? Not the admiral or the officers, but the workerbees that inhabit the flight deck, probably the most dangerous piece of Naval acreage in the world. I think the only folks with whom he carries a negative image are Democrats who have this visceral hatred because they are no longer in power, and they simply can't deal with it.

Back when the President visited Ft. Hood several months ago, there were not enough tickets available for all the people who wanted to be in the stadium or the gymhouse; units were scrabbling for more, as there were thousands of people that were turned away, simply because there was not enough room. Whether you can or will admit it, he's truly beloved by the men, enlisted and officer alike, and the reciprocity of his genuine appreciation for them is evident. At least that's what I surmised when I was invited to talk to him, or witnessed in the crowds around him.

[BLUEHAWK]

"Although Charlene (Sgt. Cain's mom) took all her sick leave and vacation days and her co-workers donated a hundred hours of theirs, she and Kenneth (his dad) eventually had to return to Wisconsin (from Walter Reed). After they left, Cain's warrior spirit drained away. One day, he refused to go to physical therapy, and when he was wheeled there against his will he was sullen and uncooperative. Frequent phone calls from his men in Tikrit - another amenity unknown to casualties of earlier wars - would cheer him up for a few minutes, but then he'd start to miss them, and sink lower in spirits. Captain Blain (his 88 Mike CO in Iraq) sent his father and wife, both of whom live in the Washington area, to visit. Celebrities passed through, too - Cain met the actor Gary Sinise, who played a Vietnam War amputee in 'Forrest Gump,' and the country singer Shania Twain. One day, President Bush sat on the edge of his bed and asked him if he wanted anything. Cain told the President that his men needed water. When Cain spoke to them by phone two days later, they told him that they suddenly had more water than they could possibly use."

THE NEW YORKER magazine
March 8, 2004
Page 69

:cl:

[skeeter]

I bring back this old original post on the subject of not allowing pictures, news reports of the dead returning from Irag..
It seems this all started in 1991 when the State Department under the Presidency of George H.W. Bush, and non other than Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense at the time who was in charge of the Pentagon would not allow any pictures, news reports from the dead returning from Desert Storm.

From all that, it seems we have the same person.. Dick Cheney as V/P and in my terms the real President giving all the "general" orders here, and pushing GWB on the stump to except the credit or criticism.

Now I hear of the "Dover Test" and here is a web site that may give some light on the matter.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/...opinion.dover/

I don't know where, when, and how this will end. But we should give those returning in the coffins the respect they are due.

[SuperScout]

Let's give our returning dead the respect they rightfully deserve, but allowing photographers or gaggling reporters hardly seems like a fitting tribute to a fallen warrior. What honor do they bring to the scene? What tribute of gratitude to provide to the surviving family members? What decency to they convey by their very presence? None, None, and duh, None.

And according to my history books, Dick Cheney was not the Secretary of State during the George H.W. Bush administration, and at last report, the Secretary of State never worked out of the Pentagon. I think you missed the third wire, there, skeeter. Wave off, go around, and see if you can find the carrier again.

[BLUEHAWK]

I believe that the honor brought to the scene is to have allowed the free flow of visual information.

It is good for people to see how our fallen are honored, in any numbers as may come to pass. Seeing helps the non-combatant, patriot and family member to grieve. War is not for the politician, the wounded and fallen alone, if we intend to be victorious.

Visual information, as any warrior knows, has a tendency to focus the mind and heart. If the mind and heart are focused, then the vote or the action/inaction tends to get focused, more efficaciously.

Here are the possible kinds of human information:

Spiritual
Audio
Tactile
Visual

That is what we have to work with, so as to make informed decisions.

p.s. The issue of "gaggling reporters" is worthy of an entire separate discussion.

For ANY photographer or journalist to EVER presume that they have some special right to invade private personal or public space under Constitutional protection represents, to me, a failure of our law enforcement or law making capability.... and their own individual moral codes.

Damn them

They need to keep a respectful distance... get the money, get the picture, get the story, but get the hell OUT of a personal space, at far remove... and have the decency to teach this simple concept in your academies... for the love of sacredness.

[skeeter]

superscout:

I meant to say Richard B. Cheney was the Secretary of Defense, which works from the Pentagon. Term of Office .. March 21, 1989-January 20, 1993.

Mr. Cheney, might have had the idea to be Sec. of State also.