Because his vacation is too important. Stay classy Obama.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/27/AR2010052702696.html


Now libs, you may begin to explain why this is not a big deal.

5/28/2010 1:08:47 PM

Quote :

"But other veterans say they're not disturbed by Obama's decision. "We don't really see the big deal, so long as he's taking the time to honor our fallen war heroes throughout Memorial Day weekend," said Ryan Gallucci, spokesman for AMVETS. " . . . Arlington is certainly not the only place our fallen heroes are buried, so why not pay your respects to veterans around the country?" "

and

Quote :

"Obama is not the first president to miss the Arlington ceremony. Ronald Reagan spoke at West Point one year, and went to his California ranch another year. George H.W. Bush, a war veteran, did not go at all."

[Edited on May 28, 2010 at 1:14 PM. Reason : second quote, it's like you didn't read your own article...]

5/28/2010 1:13:42 PM

Quote :

"Instead of speaking at Arlington, as he did last year and as most presidents have done, Obama will appear at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery outside Chicago, the White House said."

5/28/2010 1:14:22 PM

If I were him, I probably would've not made this decision

but I'm not bent out of shape about it or anything.

5/28/2010 1:16:56 PM

I expect there to be outrage on Fox News, which will be hilarious since there will be no mention of GWB or the ALMIGHTY LORD AND SAVIOUR Reagan missing the same event.

Whelp, I was right:

http://www.thefoxnation.com/president-obama/2010/05/25/obama-skipping-arlington-memorial-day-ceremony-weekend-chicago

[Edited on May 28, 2010 at 1:22 PM. Reason : ]

5/28/2010 1:20:11 PM

or GHWB never attending a single one


OH COME ON YOU LIBS, EXPLAIN WHY THIS MAN ISNT OBVIOUSLY THE FUCKING DEVIL

5/28/2010 1:21:10 PM

Given that he already has the reputation of not giving two shits about the military, and is considered to have disdain for the military.....this does not make him look good and only adds to this reputation.

5/28/2010 1:21:43 PM

^How so?

5/28/2010 1:22:56 PM

What reputation? This is the first times I've heard the "Obama doesn't care about military people" line being represented as his reputation.

If we're going by the Fox News representation, he's also got a reputation for eating small children and a long and storied history of hating whites.

5/28/2010 1:26:51 PM

it was a bad decision to skip

it'll get blown out of proportion by everyone

/thread

5/28/2010 1:30:09 PM

this is a good thread

5/28/2010 1:30:17 PM

red baron 22's TSB strat:

(1) make thread
(2) look like pecker

5/28/2010 2:21:50 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/27/stressed-tone-deaf-obama-chicago-vacation-raises-eyebrows/?test=latestnews

Quote :

"The Arlington visit is a fairly recent tradition. Former President Ronald Reagan attended four of them in his eight years in office, while former President George H.W. Bush sent Vice President Dan Quayle to every one. Former President Bill Clinton, though, attended every year and George W. Bush missed only one, in 2002, when he was in Normandy, France, visiting the American cemetery."

Lovin' that spin lmao

5/28/2010 2:27:54 PM

^hahahahaha

Quote :

"former President George H.W. Bush sent Vice President Dan Quayle to every one."

Word play like a fucking master over there.

5/28/2010 2:38:07 PM

Quote :

"it was a bad decision to skip it'll get blown out of proportion by everyone"

concur.

5/28/2010 5:15:30 PM

I heard he was going to send Biden, but with the Memorial Day weekend traffic, he'll end up commuting for the entire 3-day weekend

5/28/2010 5:17:48 PM

its not a big deal in a vacuum but its not exactly the smartest move politically either because it reinforces stereotypes about liberals and democrats

5/28/2010 5:26:21 PM

Quote :

""The Arlington visit is a fairly recent tradition. Former President Ronald Reagan attended four of them in his eight years in office, while former President George H.W. Bush sent Vice President Dan Quayle to every one. Former President Bill Clinton, though, attended every year and George W. Bush missed only one, in 2002, when he was in Normandy, France, visiting the American cemetery.""

Look, here's the thing. Reagan and Bush Sr not going does not look nearly as bad as Obama not going. Both Reagan and Bush Sr did not have a credibility issue with the military. Both of them served in WWII, and both of them were loved and respected by the military. I can tell you from first hand experience that Obama is hated by most of the military, and he is percieved as being anti-military and that he lacks respect for it. By skipping this, it is having a much more adverse affect than when Reagan and Bush Sr did it.

5/28/2010 5:39:41 PM

Obama to skip Arlington....

....and visit Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.


I'm outraged.

5/28/2010 6:02:13 PM

^^ I don't really see any significant perception of Obama being anti-military. not from within the military, anyway.

[Edited on May 28, 2010 at 6:17 PM. Reason : other than killing a few programs that we want/arguably need and generally making budgets tighter]

[Edited on May 28, 2010 at 6:17 PM. Reason : ]

5/28/2010 6:16:44 PM

WOW! people in the military don't like democrats?!?!?! who knew???

seriously dude - give it up. people bitched about Clinton all the time when i served, ignoring all the while he gave enlisted massive pay raises and quality of life increases and officers got raises well above inflation rates.

before 9/11, the bush administration hadn't done anything different, but everyone loved him more. why? because most people that serve are ignorant as hell about politics

way to force outrage about him going to speak at another national cemetery thou

[Edited on May 28, 2010 at 6:26 PM. Reason : .]

5/28/2010 6:22:02 PM

Quote :

"Look, here's the thing. Reagan and Bush Sr not going does not look nearly as bad as Obama not going. Both Reagan and Bush Sr did not have a credibility issue with the military."

So we're dfebating perception, now, and not reality?

Quote :

"Both of them served in WWII,"

Lawlz. Reagan? He served in the 1st Motion Picture Unit. No, really.

5/28/2010 8:16:06 PM

Quote :

"I can tell you from first hand experience that Obama is hated by most of the military"

Tough shit. He is still their daddy so I guess they'll have to suck it up.

5/28/2010 10:07:40 PM

Quote :

"Lawlz. Reagan? He served in the 1st Motion Picture Unit. No, really."

I was waiting for someone to joke about Reagan's service. Yes he made films during the war and he served stateside in administration jobs, however he was still an officer in the military. I personally believe that whether you serve in front line combat or in the rear with the gear, you still served. If you write your name on the line, and give yourself to the country in service, it counts no matter what your job was. And in all fairness, Reagan had some medical issues that kept him from seeing combat, so its really shitty to say his service was somehow less. And in all honesty, Id say that about any person who served no matter what political party they are with. Any honorable service is respected in my opinion.

5/29/2010 12:46:38 AM

This is a worthless thread about a worthless news story.

5/29/2010 12:52:25 AM

Quote :

"Reagan had some medical issues that kept him from seeing combat"

Uh yeah he had a severe case of "rich good ol' boy-itis"

5/29/2010 2:18:59 AM

5/29/2010 3:29:31 AM

Quote :

"This is a worthless thread about a worthless news story. "

and from a worthless human being.

5/29/2010 11:00:14 AM

ad hominem attacks, very nice

5/29/2010 12:07:27 PM

It's not news, it's The Soap Box!

5/29/2010 12:45:41 PM

^^not an ad hominem. an " argumentum ad hominem" is a logical fallacy. no argument was being refuted. he was simply insulting you.

5/29/2010 3:19:48 PM

whoopty.
fuckin.
do.

how dare he go to one military cemetery as opposed to another. that evil bastard!

5/29/2010 3:56:49 PM

aaronburro bein pretty fair lately

5/29/2010 3:59:40 PM

I'm always fair. liberal douchebags don't often give me a chance to be fair, though

5/29/2010 4:01:57 PM

He used up his whole Weekly Address (its not uncommon for it to address 2 to 3 issues) on honoring the fallen on Memorial Day:

5/30/2010 12:03:43 PM

^ It sounded to me like he was saying he wants to disband our military, because he hates each and every last American soldier.

5/30/2010 12:29:01 PM

I don't think he wants to disband them as much as he wants to turn them into his own personal Secret Muslim Army to enact jihad and bring about the new world order.

5/30/2010 1:40:25 PM

but first he's going to go blow up a few more oil wells

5/30/2010 2:40:30 PM

was my Biden joke COMPLETELY without humor, or just hastily worded

5/31/2010 12:22:36 AM

Quote :

"was my Biden joke COMPLETELY without humor"

Yes.

5/31/2010 12:40:42 AM

i forgot he commuted by Amtrak and not automobile

5/31/2010 2:14:10 AM

Haha yeah I was like "doesn't he take the train?"

5/31/2010 11:16:22 AM

VP Biden was just in section 60. Some rather mixed emotions there.

5/31/2010 1:16:58 PM

why would you have mixed emotions about the VP paying his respects to the men and women who have given their lives in the recent conflicts?

5/31/2010 2:16:39 PM

obviously b/c biden and democrats hate the troops. therefore any attempt at paying respect to the dead is clearly just a ruse and nothing more than a photo-op (since he hates the troops, as mentioned before). this is common knowledge.

5/31/2010 2:56:36 PM

Isn't biden the one with the son in the military?

5/31/2010 3:11:07 PM

only a clever con to obfuscate his real hatred of the armed forces.

5/31/2010 3:13:52 PM

^^^^ To a grieving family member, a politician (of any sort) swooping in on Memorial Day, "caring" (maybe they do, maybe they don't) and being . . . well . . . a politician, can strike some people as patronizing and asinine.


Joe Biden may really care, I don't know the man's mind but there are plenty of politicians whose emotions towards the military are merely utilitarian (the last administration was chock full of that crowd) and whose shallow lip-service to service members can seem a slap in the face.


^^ Yup.

5/31/2010 4:14:08 PM

^ Kinda unfair to paint Biden with the broad-stroke brush if you don't know, though.

Here's his speech. Seems pretty good to me:

5/31/2010 6:56:17 PM

I wasn't painting him in any brush, I was just relaying what I saw and the reaction of some of the people on the ground there.


Now I have little tolerance for any politician, Joe Biden included, but I at least appreciate the fact that Joe Biden had a son at risk when he cast votes as a US Senator.

5/31/2010 8:59:24 PM