Obama and "The Audacity of Vanity", or - Who IS this guy?

[bz2010]

<p>

He was not happy

</p>

<p>Source please. :)</p>

[cronie]

<p>^^^ lol. Correction. It appeared that he was not happy.</p>

<p>or better yet -It appeared TO ME that he was not happy after I read what his staff later said about the change. I’ll alude to Andrea Mitchell’s comments, which are available online if anyone cares to look them up.</p>

[mini]

<p>“Or maybe he didn’t want to answer questions from the wounded troops about why he voted against funding them?”</p>

<p>You mean funding them to send them back, or funding them as in providing needed veterans benefits (unlike you-know-who). Or is it that the wounded soldiers in Germany would ask him different questions than the wounded soldiers in Baghdad? :rolleyes:</p>

[kluge]

<p>P2N, I apologize for posting a link to a story about Bush’s golf lie, instead of the primary sources. Here you go:

Q Mr. President, you haven’t been golfing in recent years. Is that related to Iraq?</p>

<p>THE PRESIDENT: Yes, it really is. I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the Commander-in-Chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be as – to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.</p>

<p>Q Mr. President, was there a particular moment or incident that brought you to that decision, or how did you come to that?</p>

<p>THE PRESIDENT: No, I remember when de Mello, who was at the U.N., got killed in Baghdad as a result of these murderers taking this good man’s life. And I was playing golf – I think I was in central Texas – and they pulled me off the golf course and I said, it’s just not worth it anymore to do.

[Bush</a> warns of Iraq disaster - Mike Allen - Politico.com](<a href=“http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10314.html]Bush”>Bush warns of Iraq disaster - POLITICO)</p>

<p>

Bush’s story doesn’t hold water. While he dates his decision to abjure golf to Aug. 19, 2003 – the day a truck bomb in Baghdad killed U.N. special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and more than a dozen others – the Associated Press reported on Oct. 13, 2003, that he’d spent a “cool, breezy Columbus Day” playing "a round of golf with three long-time buddies.

[Bush’s</a> Idea of Sacrifice](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/05/14/BL2008051401929_pf.html]Bush’s”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/05/14/BL2008051401929_pf.html)</p>

<p>And no, I don’t view it as “pandering” per se - it’s just plain lying. He had a bad knee in 2003, and gave up golf. But when given an opportunity to cloak it in some spurious form of “honoring our soldiers” he went for it. So it was a lie. A stupid, clumsy lie, pointless and ineffectual - military folks were non-plussed to say the least - but still a lie.</p>

<p>Imagine the firestorm that would erupt if Obama tried something that sleazy. McCain would get a pass, though.</p>

[bz2010]

<p>Well, I’m not really a Bush fan, but in fairness, he said “No” to the question about any one particular moment or incident that brought him to that decision. It is possible that it was a cumulative effect which included - or began with - the de Mello incident.</p>

<p>Also, about his so-called bad knee - seems I saw him running a marathon recently, so his knee must be healed, thus he could play golf if he wanted to do so.</p>

<p>So kluge, I hate to disappoint you, but the possibility does exist that Bush wasn’t lying.</p>

[calmom]

<p>Maybe Bush decided to give up golf after being embarrassed by the famous scene from Fahrenheit 9/11, which I believe was broadcast widely in previews for the movie as well as the film itself:

[quote]
George W. Bush: I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you.
[George W. Bush brandishes a golf club]
George W. Bush: Now, watch this drive. <a href=“You%20can%20find%20the%20video%20clip%20by%20Googling” title=“Now Watch this Drive”>/quote</a></p>

[calmom]

<p>Re votes to fund troops, from FactCheck.org:</p>

<p>

The Truth on Troop Support?
July 22, 2008
A McCain TV ad says Obama “voted against funding our troops.” He did, once. Every other time he voted in favor.</p>

<p>Summary</p>

<p>The McCain campaign is running a TV ad attacking Obama with statements that are literally true but paint an incomplete picture.</p>

<p>It says he “voted against funding our troops.” He did – exactly once. Obama cast at least 10 votes for war-funding bills before voting against one last year, after Bush vetoed a version that contained a date for withdrawal from Iraq.</p>

<p>It says he “hasn’t been to Iraq for years.” He was headed there at the time the ad was released, however, and had been there in 2006.</p>

<p>It says he “never held a single hearing on Afghanistan.” It was the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee, not Obama’s subcommittee, that had the hearings on this global hot spot, and Obama attended one of those. Over the same time period, McCain himself attended none of the Afghanistan hearings held by the Armed Services Committee on which he serves.

</p>

<p>For detail analysis, go to [FactCheck.org:</a> The Truth on Troop Support?](<a href=“http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_truth_on_troop_support.html]FactCheck.org:”>http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_truth_on_troop_support.html)</p>

[BedHead]

<p>

Also, about his so-called bad knee - seems I saw him running a marathon recently, so his knee must be healed, thus he could play golf if he wanted to do so.</p>

<p>So kluge, I hate to disappoint you, but the possibility does exist that Bush wasn’t lying.

</p>

<p>More embarrassing for him, in my opinion, than the fact that he may have been lying is the knuckleheadedness and general obliviousness suggested in the notion that this would be a fitting and necessary tribute to have solidarity with soldiers’ families.That is what I find utterly bizarre and callow. Bush is really a bubble boy, living in a parallel universe.</p>

[bz2010]

<p>This just came across my email from a friend (not random). I haven’t verified the identity of the writer yet, but in the meantime - for your perusal:</p>

<p>

Date: Friday, July 25, 2008, 4:46 PM
Hello Everyone,</p>

<p>As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to ‘The War Zone’. I wanted to share with you what happened.
He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram. As the Soldiers were lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn’t say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General.
As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service. So really he was just here to make a showing for the American’s back home that he is their candidate for President. </p>

<p>I think that if you were going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you. I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheer leaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States. I just don’t understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-in-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country. </p>

<p>If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake. </p>

<p>In service,
CPT Jeffrey S. PorterBattle
CaptainTF
WasatchAmerican Soldier

</p>

[BCEagle91]

<p>I was on a phone call from a friend in Germany today and he provided his perspective of the visit. Suffice it to say that it was far different from what has been presented here from his perspective.</p>

[Newjack88]

<p>BZ:</p>

<p>Fact check:</p>

<p>

Comments: The above comments are not only “factually incorrect,” but also “inappropriate” for uniformed Army personnel, according to a statement by Bagram Airfield spokesman Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green. </p>

<p>Barack Obama paid a visit to the Bagram air base on July 20, 2008, but neither went to the “Clamshell” nor played basketball, Nielson-Green told NY Daily News reporter James Meek in a story published July 24. He said Obama took time out to greet home-state troops, shaking hands with them and posing for pictures </p>

<p>News photos of the candidate’s visits to Iraq and Afghanistan show that he interacted with rank-and-file American troops while in both countries.

</p>

<p>[Obama</a> Snubs Troops on Visit to Afghanistan - Netlore Archive](<a href=“http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/afghanistan.htm]Obama”>http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/afghanistan.htm)</p>

<p>Obama-bashing G.I. retracts claim senator ‘blew off’ Afghanistan troops:
[Mouth</a> Of The Potomac - NY Daily News](<a href=“http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2008/07/obamabashing-gi-retracts-claim.html]Mouth”>http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2008/07/obamabashing-gi-retracts-claim.html)</p>

<p>P.S.</p>

<p>Take his name off your post.</p>

[calmom]

<p>bz2010, the post that you listed has been debunked entirely in factcheck.org – I would suggest that you check there before posting anything you receive in email. See [FactCheck.org:</a> That Chain E-mail Your Friend Sent to You Is (Likely) Bogus. Seriously.](<a href=“http://www.factcheck.org/specialreports/that_chain_e-mail_your_friend_sent_to.html]FactCheck.org:”>http://www.factcheck.org/specialreports/that_chain_e-mail_your_friend_sent_to.html)</p>

<p>I’d note that factcheck.org already had information last night when I checked it – and since I posted something else from factcheck.org I’d say that the site should be known to anyone here. In other words, you could have easily checked the veracity before you posted. </p>

<p>The statement is absolutely false and has also been disavowed by the individual whose name is attached to it. Here is the truth:

This is another viral e-mail falsehood. The author now says it’s not true; the Army says it’s not true; and video and photos show Obama shaking hands with troops and eating breakfast with them as well.</p>

<p>We received nearly 30 requests from readers within 48 hours asking us to either corroborate or debunk this e-mail. The claims it makes aren’t true. As reported by New York’s Daily News reporter James Gordon Meek, an Army spokeswoman at Bagram said the claims are “factually incorrect” and that Obama “took time to shake hands, speak to troops and pose for photographs” during his July 20 visit. Meek also reported that the author of the e-mail, an Army National Guard captain at Bagram, later messaged the newspaper to say: “After checking my sources, information that was put out in my email was wrong.”</p>

<p>No news organizations were allowed to accompany Obama on his visit to Afghanistan, which he took as part of an official congressional delegation. However, video released by the Department of Defense, included in this Associated Press report (below), show Obama eating breakfast with U.S. troops at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan, just before his visit to Bagram.</p>

<p>A number of still photos also released by the Pentagon serve as further evidence that Obama schmoozed with troops while in Afghanistan. The photos (a few of which can be seen here, here and here) were provided to reporters by the Combined Security Transition Command responsible for working with the Afghan government and security forces to secure Afghanistan. They show Obama speaking to uniformed U.S. troops at Camp Eggers.</p>

<p>Shooting Hoops</p>

<p>The message also mentions that Obama shunned the troops “so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball.” However, the video to which the author refers, of Obama sinking a now-famous three-pointer, was taken a day earlier in Kuwait, not in Afghanistan. And Obama was hardly avoiding American troops at the time, as seen here:</p>

<p>Some photo captions in media reports had originally and erroneously reported that Obama played basketball in Afghanistan, but those captions have since been corrected.</p>

<p>“My email was wrong”</p>

<p>In some cases, the e-mail message is signed by a “CPT Jeffrey S. Porter,” who claims to be with “TF Wasatch” or “Task Force Wasatch.” According to the Daily News report, Porter is a Utah Army National Guard intelligence officer in a linguist unit at Bagram Airfield. But the official spokeswoman for Bagram, Army Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, told the News that the e-mail comments are “inappropriate and factually incorrect.” The News quotes her as saying Obama “took time to shake hands, speak to troops and pose for photographs” and didn’t play basketball or even visit the Clamshell.</p>

<p>Later, News reporter Meek filed this on the newspaper’s Washington bureau blog, “Mouth of the Potomac”:</p>

<pre><code>NY Daily News: Now the Bagram captain is dialing back, having signed the viral e-mail with his name, rank and unit - a possible violation of military regulations barring political statements. This morning, he sent The Mouth a new statement (punctuation corrected):

“I am writing this to ask that you delete my email and not forward it. After checking my sources, information that was put out in my email was wrong. This email was meant only for my family. Please respect my wishes and delete the email and if there are any blogs you have my email portrayed on I would ask if you would take it down too. Thanks for your understanding.”

An Army officer familiar with the incident told The Mouth today that the writer is “devastated that the letter was made public. It was never his intention that it go beyond members of his family.”

</code></pre>

<p>[FactCheck.org:</a> Did Obama snub U.S. troops in Afghanistan to shoot baskets for publicity pictures?](<a href=“http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_obama_snub_us_troops_in_afghanistan.html]FactCheck.org:”>http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_obama_snub_us_troops_in_afghanistan.html)</p>

[marite]

<p>bz: I can’t believe you’ve paid attention to Obama and not seen pictures of him interacting with the troops. Andrea Mitchell was griping that the regular (i.e. non-military) press was not allowed in. All the photos were from the military. Is the military press also biased for Obama?</p>

<p>It’s easy to post something derogatory about a candidate and deny responsibility by saying “I haven’t checked the identity of the author.” That’s how false rumors circulate.</p>

[bz2010]

<p>NJ - I knew I shoulda researched it a bit more before posting.</p>

<p>But what I’m finding is that the writer has just requested that the letter not continue to be circulated as it was not intended to go past his family.</p>

<p>

The News reported it wasn’t actually a hoax letter - though the military officially disputes the e-mail’s factual accuracy. The original poster attributed the message to an anonymous Air Force officer in the hope it would give the author, a Utah Army National Guard intelligence officer, some cover. But the Army captain’s wife had already forwarded it to others who posted the e-mail in full with the couple’s names.

</p>

[Newjack88]

<p>BZ:</p>

<p>It doesn’t matter if it’s a hoax or not. The author of the letter is flat out lying. Are you going to send your friends the Fact Check link?</p>

[calmom]

<p>But whatever the intent, it is clearly false – simply from the statement about Obama playing basketball in the “clamshell”. It probably was a rumor started at Bagram based on misinterpretation of news reports – some soldier seeing pictures of Obama playing basketball and assuming that somehow he must have been whisked past troops into the clamshell when in fact those pictures were taken in Kuwait. </p>

<p>It doesn’t matter in any case how it started – the problem is when people keep on spreading the false statement, after there is information posted on objective web sites clearly stating that it is false. </p>

<p>In other words… I am wondering why you don’t bother to check veracity of stuff you find in your in-box before posting here (or sending it on to your friends). </p>

<p>I’ve given you one link -now I’m giving you 3 – check before you post:</p>

<p>[FactCheck.org[/url</a>]
[url=<a href=“http://politifact.org/truth-o-meter/]PolitiFact”>http://politifact.org/truth-o-meter/]PolitiFact</a> | A service of the St. Petersburg Times and CQ](<a href=“http://www.factcheck.org%5DFactCheck.org%5B/url”>http://www.factcheck.org)
[Urban</a> Legends Reference Pages](<a href=“http://www.snopes.com%5DUrban”>http://www.snopes.com) </p>

<p>All 3 of these sites are nonpartisan.</p>

[calmom]

<p>Here’s a link to the Snopes.com response to the same rumor;
[snopes.com:</a> Barack Obama in Afghanistan](<a href=“http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/afghanistan.asp]snopes.com:”>Barack Obama in Afghanistan | Snopes.com)</p>

<p>Snopes also includes several comments from troops who were there, met Obama, and shared their experiences.</p>

[bz2010]

<p>Well, I won’t be forwarding the email (& didn’t).</p>

<p>I admit I jumped the gun by posting here (I always go to snopes first). At least I’ve educated y’all about some of the stuff that’s circulating! :)</p>

<p>Appreciate the links.</p>

[momof2inca]

<p>bz2010, you’ve actually educated me about the type of people who circulate “the stuff.” Sheesh. I’ve always wondered about that.</p>

[bz2010]

<p>mo2 - It’s pretty lightweight compared to comparing Bush to Hitler & all that - or suggesting that 9/11 was some kind of “government plot”.</p>

<p>So some people in the military aren’t supporting Obama - “big surprize!”.</p>