Karl mentions the reported snubbing by Obama of US soldiers at Landstuhl Medical Center at Ramstein, Germany … as reported here, a statement from Camp Barry on the Rhine said:
“During his trip as part of the CODEL to Afghanistan and Iraq, Senator Obama visited the combat support hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad and had a number of other visits with the troops,” Obama strategist Robert Gibbs said in a statement. “For the second part of his trip, the senator wanted to visit the men and women at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to express his gratitude for their service and sacrifice. The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign.”
Yet we get this update:
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.â€ÂOne 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.â€Â
The official said “We didn’t know why†the request to visit the wounded troops was withdrawn.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.â€Â
Barry was heard saying “We are not amused.” (joke)
(h/t WLS at Patterico)
Comment by maggie katzen on 7/24 @ 9:42 pm #
that’s all you need to know. OF COURSE the military would say that. nothing to see here.
Comment by Good Lt. on 7/24 @ 9:58 pm #
This is all a distraction.
Comment by jeff.younger on 7/24 @ 10:01 pm #
He calls it “respect” when he chooses his campaign over his wounded countrymen? I’m starting to get Jeff G.’s persistent defense of intentionalism.
How can the Obamamaniacs be this stupid? Stupid!
Comment by Challeron on 7/24 @ 10:05 pm #
Nah, Jeff Younger, it’s just that O! couldn’t deal with his Visitation To The Wounded Troops, Which He Could Heal With A Laying On Of Hands not being a part of the Media Circus that his entire World Tour was carefully crafted to be….
Comment by PMain on 7/24 @ 10:24 pm #
Surprisingly enough this is MSNBC.
Comment by Spiny Norman on 7/24 @ 10:28 pm #
Ok, never mind then.
/O!
Comment by David R. Block on 7/24 @ 10:30 pm #
PMSNBC?? They’re slipping. As soon as they realize their mistake, they will ask for atonement from the Obamessiah.
Comment by Freedoms Truth on 7/24 @ 10:36 pm #
How cruel and mean-spirited you all are, going after a man who is tired from his world-wind(bag) tour. Dont you see the BURDEN he has?
The rock star Oba-messiah simply CANNOT go anywhere without his Obamedia entourage. That’s like asking an emperor to go around without his clothes. That’s like asking the wizard of oz to step out from behind the curtain. The absurd restrictions that prevent a visit to soldiers from becoming a photo op are simply unthinkable in a campaign. You might as well be asking him to keep filling sandbags in flood-risk-areas after the cameras are turned off. Why, thats … unthinkable!
Don’t you know how hard it is being the savior of the world, who will stop those mean killer atoms, who will tear down the walls of division between Episcopalian and vegetarian, who will heal oceans from having divisive tides and make the lame see and the blind walk?!?
Leave Baracky Obama alone!
PS. I’m warning you – if you keep this up, no re-education camp soup for you!
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 7/24 @ 10:53 pm #
I thought this trip “wasn’t political”?
Comment by Sdferr on 7/24 @ 11:04 pm #
Snot, SBP, in view of the nose out of joint.
Comment by Scrapiron on 7/24 @ 11:14 pm #
It’s only ‘non political’ when the bill comes due and he foist it off on the taxpayers.
I think the Hitler backdrop for his speach in Berlin fits well with his proposal for a civilian SS force, commanded by the Messiah in the U.S., that will match the U.S. military in armament and funding.
Comment by Scrapiron on 7/24 @ 11:16 pm #
“The only thing standing between you and lower fuel prices is a democrat”.
Comment by Zelda on 7/24 @ 11:25 pm #
Good point, SBP. I, too, was under the impression he did not want this trip politicized. I think he’s a douche generally speaking, but this makes me kind of hate him.
Comment by Dickboy on 7/24 @ 11:54 pm #
Excuse me. I think you have it wrong
.
I am the saviour of he world, and it costs me a lot of money to take all the pretenders to court. I just have trouble understanding why the proggs think that they are the Messiah’s acolytes, while at the same time, not realizing that I am the true Messiah. It’s just that they don’t believe me.
If they actually were seeking the “ONE”, they would be kissing my butt, instead of O!’s.
Inflated ego can be fun. Especially if your name is “Barry”.
It upsets me that Barry has stolen my thunder. I promise that if I am elected president, I will do nothing to change my Marxist (fuck you who actually work) take on the world.
Anyone who votes for me is in like Flint. Please bring documentation.
Thank you.
Someone posing as Thor.
Comment by thor on 7/24 @ 11:58 pm #
Another impostor collapsing at my feet.
That’s why I love this place.
Comment by Roland THTG on 7/25 @ 12:42 am #
The senator decided
out of respect for these servicemen and womenthat it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facilityas part of a trip funded by the campaign.â€ÂYet we get this update:
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.â€Â
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.â€ÂFixed that.
Comment by Roland THTG on 7/25 @ 12:44 am #
sort of.
Comment by banned in colorado on 7/25 @ 3:57 am #
just more right wing twaddle.
Obama’s a smart guy. Saw the trap and escaped it.
Comment by Sean M. on 7/25 @ 4:03 am #
Are you suggesting that Barack [middle name redacted] Obama might have canceled this visit because he couldn’t take the Fourth Estate with Him?
That’s got to be RACIST!!!1!!one!11!!!eleven1!!!
Somehow. Rightwing thugs. And FauxNews. So there.
Comment by B Moe on 7/25 @ 4:08 am #
Obama’s a smart guy. Saw the trap and escaped it.
To clever to be tricked by the enemy?
Comment by royf on 7/25 @ 4:57 am #
To clever to be tricked by the enemy?
Of course you have got to know those military photographers are out to get Obama, hey everyone knows that.
Comment by BJTexs on 7/25 @ 5:12 am #
What, Banned from Data? Was there a plot to waterboard him or something?
Persistant delusions are not a substitute for either exercise or real human interaction.
Comment by Terrye on 7/25 @ 5:26 am #
I thought that Obama was visiting as a citizen and not a candidate. But if indeed this whole dog and pony show was just another campaign rally didn’t Mr. Wonderful break some finance rules here?
And besides, shocking as it maybe for Obama he does not have to have a camera up his butt for him to shake hands with a soldier. Not if he wants to be Commander in Chief. Disgraceful.
Comment by Mikey NTH on 7/25 @ 5:55 am #
Obama’s a smart guy. Saw the trap and escaped it.
The US military is Sen. Obama’s enemy? I did not know that.
Comment by JD on 7/25 @ 6:22 am #
The whole military-industrial complex trap thingy like the one that screwed Dukakis in the tank.
Comment by Salt Lick on 7/25 @ 6:29 am #
Actually, the military is datadave’s enemy. His type sees no connection between their freedom and military strength. My wish — turn them lose in the Hood without police protection and let them deal.
Comment by Dan Collins on 7/25 @ 6:29 am #
The nose is out of joint. O cursed spite!
That ever One was born to set it right.
Comment by Mr. Pink on 7/25 @ 6:37 am #
He probably doesn’t want pics of any soldiers giving him the one finger salute, like the one major that posed with his middle finger up with Hillary.
Comment by Pablo on 7/25 @ 6:39 am #
The only trap in Landstuhl is Gasthof Zum Geißberg. I once got stuck there for about a year and a half. It was a blast. But a big shiny halo would ruin the ambiance, so perhaps it’s all for the best.
Comment by bergerbilder on 7/25 @ 6:45 am #
Maybe, just maybe, none of the recuperating soldiers volunteered to meet with the senator?
Comment by Rob Crawford on 7/25 @ 6:51 am #
Ah, the invidious trap of having your visit with wounded soldiers documented by military photographers!
Comment by royf on 7/25 @ 7:03 am #
Ah, the invidious trap of having your visit with wounded soldiers documented by military photographers!
Yep none of that “without pre-conditions” when it comes to visiting our wounded soldiers, No Sir.
Comment by Obstreperous Infidel on 7/25 @ 7:32 am #
#9 and #13 are exactly correct. Wasn’t this supposed to be a non-political event, while giving a political speech? Anybody, especially you alleged conservatives, covering for O! on this one are chumps. Plain and simple. He’s a douche, but then again, he’s a national level politician so I expect him to be a douche. The followers/disciples/brown shirts following him around are just fucked in the head.
Anyhow, this would have been a great chance for O! to show his true healing powers. Aragorn had nothing on O! and in the houses of healing he worked his mojo and healed many wounded in battle. O! could have done even better. This is the information age, baby. The savior missed an opportunity.
Comment by MayBee on 7/25 @ 8:08 am #
Whoa!
Andrea Mitchell just reported on TODAY that the pentagon told Obama he could not go to the hospitals on the political leg of his tour.
That’s a different thing completely.
Comment by Pablo on 7/25 @ 8:45 am #
Joe Sestak was just on the tube defending O!’s decision to blow off Landstuhl. Apparently, the fact that others might have talked about a trip there in terms of it being a cynical photo op, despite the fact that there would be no photo op allowed, is why it was out of O!’s deep concern and respect for our wounded troops that he decided to avoid them.
But if that’s the case, why was the trip scheduled to begin with? And why was it scrapped after the Army explained there would be no photo op? Why was it OK to visit the troops in harm’s way in Iraq when exactly the same rules were in place?
Comment by Pablo on 7/25 @ 8:52 am #
You stupid chattering neocons just cost our wounded at Landstuhl the best hope they’ll ever have for healing and salvation with your nefarious plan to trash talk
ChristO! for caring enough to visit them. You know he saw that coming like 5 years ago, don’t you?I hope you’re proud of yourselves. The cost of your evil knows no bounds. Doing the right thing no longer outweighs the horror of your criticism.
Comment by Sdferr on 7/25 @ 8:56 am #
Pablo, aren’t you as tired as I am of the implicit smear people like Sestak make and get away with nearly every day now. The press seems never to ask whether there is any evidence anyone has made the charges the likes of Sestak assert WILL come, because, according to Sestak and the readers of the DNC morning memo, we all know how bigoted the conservatives are.
Comment by MayBee on 7/25 @ 9:03 am #
I’m just bothered because Andrea is saying that Obama was told he could not go. Not that he couldn’t go without cameras, just that he couldn’t go at all.
Sounds like she’s covering for him more than Sestak.
Comment by Sdferr on 7/25 @ 9:08 am #
I’m disinclined to believe Andrea Mitchell on this one. I haven’t seen her report but cannot believe the DoD would be that stupid. That they might have ground rules they’d be unwilling to compromise, ok, but outright banishment?
Comment by takeshi kovacs on 7/25 @ 9:11 am #
International rock star, with a global following; mysterious origins,
incredible charisma; is this a Presidential candidate or the Vampire
Lestat?
Comment by Pablo on 7/25 @ 9:18 am #
Sdferr, the thing that kills me is that the predicted criticism would be idiotic. No one with any credibility is going to go after the guy for visiting the troops abroad, and anyone who would do so would find themselves rightfully dismissed. If this is any indication of how tough a guy he is, I’ll bet Maliki does want him elected. As do Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas, et al. Would you rather deal with someone you can push around or someone you can’t?
Comment by MayBee on 7/25 @ 9:19 am #
Sdferr- I don’t believe her either, because it sounds like she’s twisted around what the Pentagon reporters said.
But it is irksome covering for the Obama campaign, and something Mitchell shouldn’t be doing. I’m really bothered by it.
I’m with you that I can’t believe the Pentagon would actually stop him from visiting. That makes no sense.
Comment by Pablo on 7/25 @ 9:21 am #
He was told his campaign could not go, no doubt. Those are the rules. But he, a citizen and Senator, was not barred from Landstuhl. I guarantee that.
Comment by Obstreperous Infidel on 7/25 @ 9:24 am #
Pablo is 100% correct. He’s a freaking senator, of course he could go, accompanied by some aides, to visit wounded soldiers. His circus just couldn’t go with him.
Comment by Sdferr on 7/25 @ 9:30 am #
He does come off as something of a pushover under that hypothesis, you’re right Pablo. And an opponent’s ideal adversary.
Where are the adults covering the Obama campaign willing to challenge the nonsense being spouted daily? It doesn’t take much, just a well placed question is all. Wherein we circle back to the sensitive hothouse plant metaphor I’ve used on occasion. Such careful handling ought to be making the press terribly suspicious by now.
Comment by Mikey NTH on 7/25 @ 9:37 am #
Sdferr – in a business that is all about narcissism (the media – whether it was pure entertainment or news) – you aren’t going to find many adults. what you are going to find are arrested adolescents that are physically adults. Otherwise they are all in high school with their vanity, nastiness, insecurity, ego, lack of forethought, inconsiderateness, and wild emotional swings (crushes, etc.).
The more I see the more it is confirmed – the entire business, especially the television side, is composed of perpetual teenagers.
Comment by MayBee on 7/25 @ 9:41 am #
He was told his campaign could not go, no doubt. Those are the rules. But he, a citizen and Senator, was not barred from Landstuhl. I guarantee that.
I hope someone at the Pentagon was watching Mitchell’s report, then, and asks her to correct it. As reported, it was an absolute gift to the Obama campaign.
Comment by Sdferr on 7/25 @ 9:41 am #
I don’t think we should separate the TV and print people so easily, Mikey. The print people after all, ask their questions in the presence of the TV people who get it all on video and can use it if they want to.
Sure there are going to be twisted ego issues, but come on.
Comment by cynn on 7/25 @ 10:23 am #
This trip was paid for with campaign funds, so isn’t it a de facto political event? Maybe that made a visit awkward. Either way, I think he should go alone.
Comment by Pablo on 7/25 @ 10:33 am #
Oh, fer fuck’s sake. John McCain sabotaged O!’s Landstuhl visit.
Comment by Pablo on 7/25 @ 10:36 am #
A quiet visit without fanfare, media or campaign staff is not a political event. His campaign pays for places where sleeps and takes shits. Those are not political events either. He could have gone alone, or with a few staffers. He didn’t.
Comment by Pablo on 7/25 @ 10:38 am #
If the Pentagon scotched the event (which it didn’t, but while we’re pretending that it did…) doesn’t that mean that the military doesn’t want Obama elected?
Comment by B Moe on 7/25 @ 10:41 am #
So, you know, the anger here in the campaign is pretty intense at the Pentagon.
Obama’s campaign staff doesn’t like the Pentagon? Get out of here!
Comment by thor on 7/25 @ 10:52 am #
Looks like the little girls at PW are having an emotional explosion over another “whitey” tape.
Obama is a purse snatcher! Is too! I heard he robbed a meatwagon in Chicago! Did too!
Comment by Sdferr on 7/25 @ 10:54 am #
Obama will destroy himself. He cannot help it. He is his own undoing.
Comment by MayBee on 7/25 @ 10:55 am #
Now we know that Mitchell and Lynn Sweet will report whatever the Obama campaign tells them to report.
Comment by thor on 7/25 @ 11:00 am #
Pentagon tells Obama not to visit U.S. troops at German base because it would be too political
By
Lynn Sweet
on July 25, 2008 4:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
BERLIN–A scheduled visit by presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) with U.S. troops Friday at a military base in Rammstein, Germany was cancelled because the Pentagon told the campaign it would look too political.
Obama and his campaign entrourage–press, staff and security–was to have flown to Rammstein this morning before heading to Paris to meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace. After the afternoon meeting and press conference, it is wheels up to London.
Though the Rammstein visit had been planned for days, Obama senior strategist David Axelrod said that that Pentagon notified Obama military advisor Scott Gration only yesterday or the day before that he should not come.
The Pentagon “viewed this as a campaign event and therefore they said he should not come,” Axelrod said. Obama has been at the base in previous overseas trips. He visited with troops–even played basketball–when he touched down in Kuwait during the Iraq and Afghanistan leg of his swing.
Comment by MayBee on 7/25 @ 11:04 am #
Yeah, that’s why I mentioned Lynn Sweet. She’s reporting what Axelrod said as fact. Nice for Axelbama, I suppose.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/25 @ 11:05 am #
This looks like poor commander-in-chief skills. All those picture with the soldiers fawning all over Baracky seem at odds with reality now. He should try being more respectful to our soldiers I think. This could pay dividends later if he needs them to do international Baracky things.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/25 @ 11:06 am #
oh. *pictures* … the ones in Iraq where he looked like the cat’s meow with all the soldiers loving him up
Comment by happyfeet on 7/25 @ 11:08 am #
They were nice pictures.
Comment by Mr. Pink on 7/25 @ 11:08 am #
He visited with troops–EVEN PLAYED BASKETBALL–when he touched down in Kuwait during the Iraq and Afghanistan leg of his swing.
OMG THE ONE CAN PLAY BASKETBALL!!!11!!!!! HE IS TRULY A WONDER.
Comment by royf on 7/25 @ 11:10 am #
July 25, 2008
Categories: Obama
DoD spokesman says Obama camp was reminded of political rules
[UPDATED]
Chief Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell confirmed to Politico that Department of Defense officials cautioned Barack Obama’s campaign that his planned visit to wounded American troops in Germany could not be political in nature and that he would be barred from bringing along campaign staff and reporters. He also said that Cindy McCain recently requested to visit sailors aboard the U.S.N.S. Comfort and was denied.
“Sen. Obama is welcome to visit Landstuhl or any military hospital in his official capacity as a United States senator,” Morrell said in a brief interview. “But there is a DoD policy which governs campaigning and electioneering at military facilities that would have to be respected if he were to visit. That distinction was relayed and made clear to campaign, and they made a decision on their own based on that guidance.”
Morrell, in a subsequent interview, added that military officials told Obama he could only visit the military facility with his Secret Service detail and Senate staff.
“We made it clear to him that campaign staff and press would not be permitted to accompany him,” Morrell said of Obama. ”We relayed those ground rules. They made a choice based upon the information we relayed to them. It was their choice. We had nothing to do with it.” (snip)
Politico article here Looks like Mitchell is full of it.
Comment by MayBee on 7/25 @ 11:10 am #
The problem with the guys at the hospital is that they wouldn’t just get out of bed and shoot some hoop with Obama. Obama could have tried to heal them, but no.
Comment by MayBee on 7/25 @ 11:12 am #
What is hilarious is that Mitchell was so outraged earlier this week that the real reporters weren’t allowed in Iraq, so we had no way of knowing what was really going on.
*Now* we know what she meant was there was nobody there to be Axelbama’s mouthpiece. The military was kind of a filter.
Comment by Mikey NTH on 7/25 @ 11:20 am #
Sdferr, I think it is the over-hype that is going to be bad for Sen. Obama. Too much hype, far too much hype. The emotions, everything are being keyed up and the let-down is going to be inevitable.
The crash is going to make the pale by comparison.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/25 @ 11:20 am #
Ohhhhh. This makes sense now to me.
There you go, wingnuts. If Baracky wants to break faith with wounded troops it’s completely ok. It’s pretty consequence-free. So it looks like Baracky made an informed choice about his priorities on his trip. It’s a lot savvier than it looks.
Comment by Jhoward on 7/25 @ 12:05 pm #
Tuff Luv, feets. It’s for their own good.
Comment by baldilocks on 7/25 @ 1:22 pm #
The MSM can’t even spell ‘Ramstein’ correctly.
Comment by Obstreperous Infidel on 7/25 @ 1:42 pm #
They support the troops, just not the ones that aren’t going to vote for O!.
Comment by irongrampa on 7/25 @ 1:57 pm #
There was absolutely NO reason Obama couldn’t have visited those troops at Landstuhl–as a private citizen, if he really needed THAT excuse. I guess the lqack of a photo-op was too large an obstacle for his patriotism to overcome.
Comment by Skip Trace on 7/25 @ 2:29 pm #
“BERLIN–A scheduled visit by presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) with U.S. troops Friday at a military base in Rammstein, Germany was cancelled because the Pentagon told the campaign it would look too political.”
“Thor” – you really believe a reporter who can’t even spell Ramstein correctly ? Do you think someone that inept and/or stupid might have gotten other things wrong – like the rest of the alleged facts ?
“Though the Rammstein [sic] visit had been planned for days, Obama senior strategist David Axelrod said that that Pentagon notified Obama military advisor Scott Gration only yesterday or the day before…”
Or maybe last St. Swithins day, or a fortnight ago, or when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Or maybe Obama’s planners are inept dolts and are looking to shift blame ?
Yeah. Some damn fine accuracy with your whole account there, “Thor”.
Comment by The_Real_JeffS on 7/25 @ 2:31 pm #
A snub or a Royal nose out of joint?
Both.
Comment by PCachu on 7/25 @ 3:35 pm #
On the other hand, the spelling error shows that the J=school grads of choice are die-hard metalheads. So, you know, that’s a point in their favor.
Comment by Dan Collins on 7/25 @ 3:48 pm #
That’s what’s called a snub nose.
Comment by Ernie G on 7/25 @ 3:49 pm #
I’m afraid that Andrea Mitchell’s spin will become the received truth. Like the plastic turkey, it will live forever.
Comment by Dan Collins on 7/25 @ 3:52 pm #
Endures, Ernie. The plastic turkey endures forever. The idea of the plastic turkey, that lives forever.