Lawrence can be a little over the top sometimes but the substance of his remarks remain.

More interesting to me is how Republicans went from being isolationists before WWII to the party of never ending foreign entanglements in the Middle East, South America, et al.

The more recent “chicken-hawk” phenomenon of former draft dodging frat boys becoming warrior he-men, adept at missing no opportunity to bang the war drums and smite their political opponents with barely concealed scurrilous innuendo of treason and being unpatriotic for those not so predisposed, merely builds upon the Republican history of foreign meddling and corporate subservience that is ultimately served.

History will show clearly five-deferment Cheney responsible for an illegal war, war crimes, and constitutional subversion; no matter the laudable, if misguided, efforts of of his daughter.

O’Donnel has no idea if Bush/Cheney ever went to Dover or not — what a real clymer O’Donnel is. Bush met with families all the time, as did Cheney. What they didn’t do was bring the WH photogs with them. All were private meetings; there is plenty written on it.

O’Donnel, like all of MSNBC just has a vile hatred for all things Bush/Cheney.

History will vindicate Bush/Cheney for liberating 50M Muslims and carrying out the policies of the administration before him as well as following through on the numerous UN resolutions regarding Iraq.

The NYTimes edited their original article about Obama’s trip to Dover, removing the sentence that identified the trip as a photo-op. The question is … did the NYTimes do that editing at the direction of the WH?

O’Donnell is shrill.

When I first saw the story about Obama at Dover, I thought – good for him, that can’t be easy – especially with the decision he has to make, whether to send more troops. It can’t be an easy thing to do, to stand there, and experience first hand the consequences of your decisions.

But then I read the disgusting attacks on sites like Firedog Lake, and how they used the opportunity to just bash Bush.

Bush met the families in private, away from the cameras and publicity. And I have NO doubt now that had he gone to Dover he would have been attacked for a photo-op.

Had Obama gone, sans his entourage and paparazzi it would have meant something.

But, throw in the nasty attacks, and the revised story in the NYT and this feels like nothing but a dirty photo-op. No doubt Obama blames their deaths on Bush anyway.

(And wow – I can’t believe O’Donnell trotted out the *cousin* story….way to sacrifice there, Larry.)

war mongering… wow. It’s funny how people like to forget that 75% of the country supported the US going to Iraq.

I suggest that Larry does a little reading:

EXCLUSIVE: Bush, Cheney comforted troops privately

For much of the past seven years, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have waged a clandestine operation inside the White House. It has involved thousands of military personnel, private presidential letters and meetings that were kept off their public calendars or sometimes left the news media in the dark.

Their mission: to comfort the families of soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and to lift the spirits of those wounded in the service of their country.

On Monday, the president is set to make a more common public trip – with reporters in tow – to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, home to many of the wounded and a symbol of controversy earlier in his presidency over the quality of care the veterans were receiving.

But the size and scope of Mr. Bush’s and Mr. Cheney’s private endeavors to meet with wounded soliders and families of the fallen far exceed anything that has been witnessed publicly, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials familiar with the effort.

“People say, ‘Why would you do that?’” the president said in an Oval Office interview with The Washington Times on Friday. “And the answer is: This is my duty. The president is commander in chief, but the president is often comforter in chief, as well. It is my duty to be – to try to comfort as best as I humanly can a loved one who is in anguish.”

Mr. Bush, for instance, has sent personal letters to the families of every one of the more than 4,000 troops who have died in the two wars, an enormous personal effort that consumed hours of his time and escaped public notice. The task, along with meeting family members of troops killed in action, has been so wrenching – balancing the anger, grief and pride of families coping with the loss symbolized by a flag-draped coffin – that the president often leaned on his wife, Laura, for emotional support.

“I lean on the Almighty and Laura,” Mr. Bush said in the interview. “She has been very reassuring, very calming.”

Mr. Bush also has met privately with more than 500 families of troops killed in action and with more than 950 wounded veterans, according to White House spokesman Carlton Carroll. Many of those meetings were outside the presence of the news media at the White House or at private sessions during official travel stops, officials said.

More: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/22/bush-cheney-comforted-troops-privately/print/

Considering how Lawrence feels about Bush and Cheney, he really expects us to believe that he wished they went to Dover to receive his cousin?

Funny how Zeke mentions Plamegate in the article but fails to mention the name Armitage, who we all know was the leaker. You know the one who got a complete free pass from the media because it didn’t fit the meme that Rove/Libby were the leakers. Dick Armitage, Dick Armitage, Dick Armitage — please reference his name whenever you use the term Plamegate, they go hand-in-hand.

Bush’s biggest, most memorable photo op of his entire presidency. Posing as a serviceman.
Nothing on earth could be more insulting to those who have served than to see the royal draft-dodger in a regulation flight-suit.

Lest we forget…

http://dvmx.com/Bush_codpiece.jpg

Our troops loved seeing Bush on that ship.
Our troops loved the support that they received from their Commander and VP Cheney.
Obama has a long way to go to prove that he is the man they should admire and respect.
My nephew is a Marine serving in Shitholeistan at this moment. He knows what he is doing and why he is doing it. If something had happened to Bush, he was confident in Cheney to lead.
Barack Obama has yet to earn that respect. I hope he earns it soon. Not sure he has the stones to earn the respect of a US Marine. We will see.

Really hornie, get your news from other than MSNBC and Dan Rather. The troops loved Bush/Cheney and that landing on the aircraft carrier, flight suit and all, was wonderful for them.

I appreciate that Obama went to Dover, I don’t appreciate that he took photogs with him. He could have and should have made it a private moment. That he didn’t sends the wrong message. Indeed, the original NYTimes article was right: “The images and the sentiment of the president’s five-hour trip to Delaware were intended by the White House to convey to the nation that Mr. Obama was not making his Afghanistan decision lightly or in haste.”

The visit was meant to be a photo op, as originally reported in the NYTimes. For some reason that sentence was subsequently removed from the NYTimes article without an ounce of reasoning. Hmmmmmmm, was it done at the direction of the White House? Inquiring minds want to know.

Regardless of politics or pundits, using our fallen heroes for any type of political gamesmanship is reprehensible. This applies to both Bush and Obama. Those flag draped coffins represent the best, bravest and finest our nation has. And they represent the unfathomable pain and pride of the families. They should be honored and loved, not used or ignored.

The Bush prohibition on media was unacceptable. It was as if they were embarrassed by the fallen. Bush chose to hide them from the public for whatever reason, not even giving the families the option. Those are HEROES! They deserve some public notice of their sacrifice. Hiding them was wrong and an insult.

The Obama photo-op was just as bad. At least he allows America to see the real price we pay for freedom every day. The NYTimes’ conclusion to the purpose of his visit is wrong, wrong, wrong. If they got that from the WH, then whoever said it needs to be fired. If they came up with that idiocy on their own at the Times, then bankruptcy cannot come fast enough.

I have no doubt that both presidents genuinely feel the pain and anguish over having put the troops in harm’s way. Nor do I doubt that every casualty weighs on them.

When all the stupid political dust settles, the hard truth remains – we are blessed to have these men and women in uniform fighting on our behalf. We should honor them. I prefer to keep their service and sacrifice out of the realm of political debate. It is inappropriate and dishonors them.

I thank God every day for our military. Without their bravery and sacrifice, we might not have the luxury of playing on the internet, or the freedom to comment as we wish.

Rest in Peace brave soldiers. A nation thanks and loves you.

Hey Zeke?

First thing a great reporter would do is to check to see if Larry actually had a cousin Johnny, who went to West Point…and who was actually killed in the war. I would like to read all about Johnny. Seriously, I would.

I don’t know if he ever existed….and I have learned to take anything O’Donnell says with more than a grain of salt. His exaggerated “newspeak”, aimed at anything with which he disagrees is well known.

So, I would check out the story….if I were a reporter…but, Zeke…you are the reporter…

Liz Cheney is a idiot. I’m as sick and tired of seeing her on TV as I am about reading reports (since I absolutely never watch Fox “News”) about Glenn Beck. It would be a blessing to us all if both if them woluld just evaporate.

You know what this egotisticle man has to be ashamed of? He will tell anyone that he thinks that BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA is the SAVIOR he has lived for. Well, see what his savior will end up doing TO OUR COUNTRY, then come back and face us. PLEASE get off the past admininstrations back and tell YOUR SAVIOR to get on with the job he was given to do and has NOT done any of it! My name is unknown to you, but there are millions that have the same idea that BHO went to that place JUST to have his picture made in the dark hours of the morning, by TRYING TO CONVINCE the citizens that he is the ONLY ONE THAT CAN RULE OUR COUNTRY. I and millions of others believehe was and still is the biggest liar on the face of the earth. What will he pick out next to criticize of OTHER administrations, just any of them will do, because he still thinks he is the only person who should be the Dictator of the World!! JUST ONE other thing, WHY DID BHO NOT JOIN IN AND HELP OUR MILLITARY. Answer: HE was and is too big a coward!

hadashito :

You are a disgrace to humanity to say such a thing. You must be a HUGE DEMORAT!

Poor Mr. O’Donnell. The night of Obama’s inauguration, he was probably swigging champagne and looking forward to four years of ‘raining candy’ governmental bliss. Instead, he and many of the other Leftist media hacks are perpetually ‘enraged’ about some sort of ‘lack of civility’ that they themselves threw overboard during the Bush years. I’m quite happy to see O’Donnell and all the others apoplectic on a daily basis. They deserve as good as they gave for the past eight years. And to think it will only get worse for them. Oh, gee.

hadashito: Beck is replaying as we speak….the revealing of the blackboards….the revolutionaries. It is a very honest, yet entertaining show. How can you post about Glen Beck if you never watch him? Seems kind of silly to me.

ChrisNH: I agree — these people want civility? MSNBC is the worst, O’Donnell is still stalking Michelle Bachman, along with Chrissy and the rest of the gang at MSNBC. Olbermann who called Cheney “worse than the terrorists” and told a sitting President to “shut the hell up” is worried about civil discourse? It is beyond funny to watch them blow a gasket or two over the current events.

I’m still waiting for Glynnis or someone on this board to comment on the NYTimes story being changed without any reason. I would have thought a board about the media would have followed up on that one. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps not.

Dover a photo-op for “Teh One?” Well duh! Barry doesn’t go to the bathroom without a film crew.

Like her father, she should have been aborted. Yet the ordinary people/cretins here are in full support. Figures. The arrogance of gross ignorance & inferiority. Fellow-malcontents. Solipsistic slugs all.

Bush and Cheney were wannabe soldiers – support the troops, dress like soldiers, go to war but don’t serve or carry a weapon. I think both were just trying to make up for dodging the draft (Cheney) and missing Guard meetings (Bush) with their war hawk sentiments.

Let’s face it, they totally blew the whole Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan/Iran mess. Thye lied repeatedly to push their ideology – and attacked the wrong country in the process.

As for Obama – so far he’s been a piss poor commander in chief.

O’Donnell was right to rip Cheney and his Doberman front girl Liz.

Bush and Cheney and their motley crew of ideologs should be brought up on war crimes charges and let the chips fall where they may.

Keeva says:
October 31, 2009 at 2:28 pm

The Bush prohibition on media was unacceptable.

I don’t think it was a Bush prohibition… but I could be wrong. It was my understanding that this was in effect for years before Bush was in office.

However, I don’t think it was because they were “embarrassed” or anything like that, it was because they didn’t want the dead to be used to political tools. Seeing flag draped coffins makes for a heck of a picture, and can be used to sway an audience one way or another (ie: “look at how many of died” for the anti-war folks, versus “look at how many they’ve killed” for the pro-war folks, versus “look at how many we’ve killed” for the enemy). I saw this as lessons learned from Vietnam… the American public doesn’t have a strong stomach for such realities. I think the appropriate compromise was allowing families to make the decision afterwards, or a soldier to make that decision prior to deployment.

hadashito says:
October 31, 2009 at 3:34 pm

Yes… yes… we all know you have no tolerance, acceptance, or respect for people who don’t agree with you. Your ego is massive, and thusly so only allows for other to be lockstep behind you.

Too bad… this is the real world… get over yourself. Or go hold hands with Nachi… the two of you could spend time telling each other how great you are, and reading Nachi’s new thesaurus.

stephen rhymer says:
November 1, 2009 at 1:09 pm

Man… you don’t like anyone! Oh well.

But I’ve thought about your comments (and the other comments around here), that Bush and Cheney’s non-military service have some relevance. I wondered what that means for Obama, who as you know, still has service men and women in harm’s way… and is currently “debating” the advice of his commanders… seems arrogant for a non-service person, I think you’d agree.

But then again… I thought of apply that kind of logic to reality. Then I thought, “Perhaps I’ll watch the football game,” but realized since I never played football… who am I to participate now? Then I thought, “Maybe I’ll go food shopping,” but I’ve never been a farmer, so can’t do that either. Then I thought, “Perhaps you’re starting to get the point,” but I remain unconvinced.

If you want to make a rule that says Presidents must have had active military service as a Constitutional requirement… go for it. Otherwise, realize that a President can’t have done EVERYTHING before their election, and sometimes they have to make decisions based on the advice and recommendations of those experts around them. To suggest that Bush or Cheney or even Obama’s lack of military service is consequential, is simply foolish and false logic.

Don’t agree? Fine. Then tell me about how Obama’s non-career as a Doctor, makes him qualified to redefine healthcare. Then apply that to the military.

hadashito: Maybe you wish their kidneys would fail, too.

Blue, as I remember it the rule against filming fallen soldier’s return to Dover started with Bush Sr. and continued through Clinton and GWB.

The reason you cited and two others came into the decision. CNN was doing a live fluff piece with GWHB and others laughing when they went to a split screen of the arrival ceremony at Dover. Needless to say, it was upsetting to family members and many others. Additionally, I believe at that time many families were upset b/c they had no veto power over the media intruding on what they felt should have been private.

Taken together it became official policy with nary a whimper for ten to twelve years until war opponents chose to make it an issue for their own propoganda purposes.

Nothing is too “low” for the Cheneys, McShames, Repugs, et al. Truly the disgrace of a nation.

The simplistic arrogance of ignorance dwells here.

One family gave their permission to allow the photogs to be present, and Team Obama jumped on it.

Still, no media has requested a statement from the NYTimes as to why the removed the sentence from the original article claiming that Obama went for the photo op. Not one.

I am hoping (against hope?) that this site will pursue the NYTimes for an explanation. I think Glynnis is obligated to follow-up with the NYTimes given her mention of them in a previous article.

No one’s pointing out that Liz Cheney lied in her original charge? She said that Bush went to Dover without the cameras. Bush didn’t go to Dover at all, with or without cameras.

A Cheney lied? Quelle surprise.

Actually, it was already shown that Bush went to visit with the families. Whether or not he went to Dover specifically… eh… less than earth shattering as the point of Cheney’s comment was true.

Liz Cheney, PLEASE run for a Senate seat! We need to dump more than a few RINO’s and replace them with good solid conservatives who will do what is best for our country, instead of filling their own pockets and cutting deals with Lobbyists and Liberal Democrats.