Obama noted that in a break from his whirlwind schedule, “we’ve got some down time tonight. What are you guys gonna do in Berlin? Huh? Huh? You guys got any big. plans? …I’ve never been to Berlin, so…I would love to tour around a little bit.”
Obama canceled a previously-planned stop to visit thousands of American service personnel, including troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan being treated at Landstuhl, so he could hold a political rally for Germans and go shopping in Berlin. Now that’s a nice set of priorities for a man who wants to become Commander in Chief.
Read More of Not All Media Cheering Sen. Obama Trip off-site...Harry Dave says:
Why, yeah -- that's nearly as bad as a Commander in Chief who won't attend funerals of his own troops, or even allow the press to take pictures of their caskets.
Zda says:
Sorry ACS, you arguement doesn't hold water. Obama is a Senator of the United States. He can visit troops in Berlin just like any other senator. The fact that he visited troops in Afghanistan and Iraq proves that he can visit troops anywhere. He chose not to go. The pentagon, nor President Bush had anything to do with his decision not to go. Like many other decisions in his short public service, he and his staff are spinning the truth.
ACS says:
It's cute that you reused my language against me, but the fact is that the Pentagon contacted the Obama campaign and scuttled the planned visit. They did not do that in Iraq or Afghanistan.
John Powers says:
Just read the Post piece. In fact the Pentagon did not ban an Obama visit, it only asked that he not use it as a campaign rally.
I suppose in the crafted campaign that Axelrod runs, no campaign means no compassion.
One might think that Sen. Obama has a degree of humanity not related to running a PR operation, but I don't see much evidence of it.
JBP
ACS says:
That's twisting the event a little. They didn't "ask that he not use it as a campaign rally;" they informed him that they WOULD view it as a campaign rally. Everyone agrees that would be improper. What was he supposed to do, defy the Pentagon? Of course he had that right, but I think what Obama has demonstrated here is a sense of propriety.
John Powers says:
Well ACS,
What you type is directly contradictory to the story you linked in the Washington Post.
"The Pentagon today said that, while political and campaign activity at military installations is restricted, it welcomes all nonpolitical visits by U.S. senators and did not barr an Obama visit."
Though the Post seems to have a typo ("barr" rather than "bar"), the Pentagon Statement is pretty clear, Obama was welcome at the base, and chose not to come, to go shopping per Ed Morissey.
JBP
ACS says:
Perhaps your criticism would hold water if it wasn't George Bush's Pentagon that refused to allow Obama to visit the troops consistent with regulations.