Obama Supports Troops…
…if they’re anti war. You won’t find this kind of in depth reporting anywhere else.
A lot of mainstream press was given to Presidential hopeful Barack Obama when he spoke to veterans in Colorado earlier this month. On July 2nd, Obama spoke in Colorado Springs before a group of veterans. The context of his speech was to contrast his military experience and agenda with that of his main opponent, John McCain.
At the rally, Obama said he hopes the military community will see him as “a guy looking out for us and not someone trying to score cheap political points.” Really? Is that why Barack stocked the audience behind with members of “Colorado Veterans”, an anti-war group based in the area?
“Colorado Veterans” is another one of those kook organizations calling for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney and also prominently display the death totals on their website, highlighting a supposed toll of poor, Iraqi children killed “in cold blood” by the murderous United States troops.
In an interview with Military Times, Barack admitted that due to his lack of military experience he would have to work twice as hard to earn our respect and trust. “Precisely because I have not served in uniform, I am somebody who strongly believes I have to earn the trust of men and women in uniform.” Since Obama’s event was an invitation only event and the only ones on stage with him were anti-war veterans, how exactly is that going to earn the trust of men and women who are fighting and support their efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan?
The answer is that Obama just wanted to LOOK like he supported the troops by having a bunch of “veterans” behind him that made him look good. He was even introduced by the wife of an Army Sergeant at the event who got all veclempt at the opportunity. I guess when you’re thinking about all the innocent children our Soldiers are “terrorizing” in the “dead of night”, but the tears sure wowed the press and those in attendance. The Military Times writer said that “Corinne Gadzia’s voice choked as she looked out over the audience.”
But, in all the press about this event, did anyone explain who these “Colorado Veterans” are? No. All we get is this:
As Obama spoke, a handful of men with “Colorado Veterans” on their shirts were seated behind the stage. And after the event, an Air Force captain wearing a flight suit worked his way through the crowd to shake Obama’s hand.
“Thank you for your service,” Obama told the captain. As people filed out of the gymnasium, the captain covered his name tag with his hand.
He probably didn’t want to be outed by me!! When it comes to military issues, Obama is the candidate of change. He will change (read: repeal) the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. He will change whether people are bound to contracts they legally sign by getting rid of the stop loss policy (he better get to work on the enlistment contract). Basically, he’ll change the whole concept of accountability. He will change how the Commander in Chief listens to the troops on the ground. His policy can be summed up in his “I’m a pretty persuasive guy” philosophy. ie: They’ll do what I tell them to do, right or wrong!!
The media may not care that Obama is the consummate illusionist when it comes to military issues, but I’m not letting him off the hook. It would be one thing if he admitted that the veterans behind him were there to support an agenda, but his intent was to make us believe that he had the support of the military. I don’t think either candidate can proclaim that victory yet!!
Here’s the video of the event from Obama’s own YouTube page:
Je Raley
September 18th, 2008 at 6:24 pmAs it turns out, you can be a veteran, be against a war, even be a Democrat, and still be an American.
As for the USAF captain covering his name tape, I can only speculate that he remembered too late that the Uniformed Code of Military Justice bars Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines from attending political events in uniform.