Tearful Bush presents Medal of Honor to family of fallen Marine from WNY

[sabra]

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070112/1012697.asp

Tearful Bush presents Medal of Honor to family of fallen Marine from WNY

WASHINGTON - A tearful President Bush on Thursday presented the nation's highest military honor to the late Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham of Allegany County, who died in Iraq in 2004 after diving on a grenade to save the lives of two of his comrades.

A little more than 12 hours after announcing plans to send another 21,500 troops to Iraq, the somber-faced president went to the podium in the East Room of the White House which was jam-packed with Washington luminaries and Marines in full dress uniforms to give the Medal of Honor to Dunham's family.

"With this medal we pay tribute to the courage and leadership of a man who represents the best of young Americans," Bush said. "With this medal we ask the God who commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves to wrap his arms around the family of Cpl. Jason Dunham, a Marine who is not here today because he lived that commandment to the fullest."

...

It was a moving ceremony for all of those involved, most notably the president.

"I have never been in his presence where I've seen him actually cry," said Rep. Randy Kuhl, R-Hammondsport. "And there were tears running down his face."

[aquaman]

1. He should cry!!!!

He is responsible for this man's death.

[maxsolomon]

2. when he realizes what he's done, he'll cry more

but the meds, and the damage his mommy did, prevent looking inward.

edit: and this is photo op weeping intended to generate sympathy for the malignant narcissist.

[Ilsa]

3. I was crying too. IT was soo, so sad. Very tragic. And theWH

turned it into a photo-op for this bastard.

I think he's losing control. I think he is starting to feel the weight of all the dead Americans and to some degree, the dead Iraqis whose deaths he caused with his ill-conceived ideas.

[mountainvue]

16. Nixon talked to the White House paintings. I wonder

if George is receiving nightly visits from the ghosts of those who have perished in his foolish war.

[fujiyama]

47. He's not feeling a Goddamn thing

Those are crocodile tears.

[JuniperLea]

4. As pointed out by another DUer...

Don't tears fall from the inside corner of the eye?

His eyes don't look like they have much moisture in them at all... glycerin?

[Bjornsdotter]

6. Well....

...mine do, but I'm a human.

Not really sure what * is.

Cheers

[JuniperLea]

7. Didn't know lizards had tears...

Great name! We have some Peotirsdotters in the family.

[Bjornsdotter]

32. Thanks! n/t

[coffeenap]

12. (Are you sure you are???) I demand proof!!

;) :hi:

[Bjornsdotter]

31. I think so

...let me check.

:hug:

[BklnDem75]

5. Crying cuz he had to attend...

I wonder how many times he yawned to get that teary.

[Bhaisahab]

41. hahaha! yeah.

that would be true to his nature. welcome to DU!

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Remove the shiny trail of a tear and you see the face of defiance. n/t

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Wxactly. No remorse, no humility, no shame, no compassion. I see none

of those things, do you?

[lumpy]

14. The first picture of Bush actually revealing

his skewed complexities: insecurity, regret, self pity, defeat, failure and defiance. No indication of bouyant spirit in that picture. No monkey face, jokes and lame humor to cover up his true feelings.

[MGKrebs]

9. A very somber moment, but it is so hard to

view anything about him as sincere. He has been so obtuse, so deceptive, so cynical, and so unfeeling throughout his tenure that it is just very hard to believe that he is now sympathetic and caring.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Looks like crocodile tears to me.

[jamesinca]

13. two things come to mind

this is just another Jessica Lynch, rally the country moment, no sincerity behind the medal given. The second thing coming to mind is the crying happened because his bullshit is coming to an end. Like Poppy cried at Jebs retirement because the Bush bullshit dynasty is over. If he ever does anything to honestly back up those tears, I will believe it. Until then, I and the world have been lied to for 6 years by the bastard. He makes a mockery of the CMH.

[rusty_parts2001]

18. very aptly put.

[mountainvue]

15. He cried? That's shocking to me.

I didn't know he had it in him. I wonder what the tears were really for?

[quiet.american]

20. Forgive my cynicism, but this is Standard Operating Procedure for Shrub --

A few tears "closes the deal" with the families of the fallen in persuading them he's really, truly sorry about it all. (Oh, and by the way, he's so sorry, he's going to make up for it by sending more off to die!)

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. Turned that ceremony into a photo op. Totally inappropriate.

If I was that Marines family I would be super pissed. Imagine all those flashes, camera clicks & crowds milling around, what an embarrassment.

Give him something to cry about, impeach the son of a bitch & send him to jail.

[VegasWolf]

19. Bush is breaking down emotionally. He knows that he has lost. Worse, he now has to live and

adjust to the fact that his god was fallible and non-existent. God was Bush's emotional crutch and now god has disappointed Bush.

[bunkerbuster1]

21. As parents used to say to their kids, but don't any more

(and for good reason, I guess)

I'll give you something to cry about!

[tanyev]

22. Those are lacerates.

Bush did not get off to an auspicious start when he arrived as at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., as a sophomore or "lower middler" in the school's vernacular. His first English grade – for an essay on emotions – was zero.

"As I remember, the impression of the red marker was so intense that it stuck out of the back side of the blue book," recalls Bush. With the help of a thesaurus his mother had given him, Bush had erroneously written about "lacerates" running down his cheek – instead of tears.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush072799.htm

[arewenotdemo]

40. This might explain the tears.

He was reminded of his own "grenade rule"...and wishing he had more troops to send to Iraq.

George W. would also anoint himself keeper of his father's honor in politics – or as he put it, his "loyalty enforcer." During the 1988 and 1992 presidential campaigns, "Junior" – as he was sometimes called, inaccurately – made sure that everyone understood what he referred to as his "grenade" rule: If there was a grenade heading toward his father, their job was to jump on it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush072799.htm

[TheCowsCameHome]

23. My toilet tank sweats now and then. I don't consider it crying, though.

[Egnever]

26. ROFL best response ever!

Thanks !

[thecrow]

24. "..God who commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves.."

HE IS NOT ALLOWED TO USE THESE WORDS PERIOD

A fine example of his contradiction.

They must have peeled onions in front of him before he took the STAGE

[hippiechick]

25. Was I right in reading this is only the 2nd SOLDIER who's

... recieved it, yet how many of his war-profiteering cronies has he given it to??

:mad:

[tchunter]

27. the MoH is only available to those serving in the armed forces

the one that has lost all meaning is the presidential medal of freedom which was the highest civilian honor.

[hippiechick]

29. aaah, thanks for the clarification.

:hi:

[lady lib]

28. What do you make of this photo...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/nyregion/12medal.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

[eowyn_of_rohan]

45. In spite of his ineptitude

...and in spite of the cheating, stealing, lying, corruption, etc, it is clear his tears are very real, and this shows he actually has a conscience, and the potential to feel remorse, compassion, and even possibly, humility. Now, let's impeach him. He can go off and think about the terrible things he has done and caused for the rest of his life.

[daleo]

30. Was he carrying an onion in his pocket?

Or is the pressure starting to make him unhinged?

[brentspeak]

33. Has a President ever cried before while bestowing a posthumous MoH?

This is probably a first.

[VegasWolf]

34. Give the man a break, he was crying!! It's just that he was

crying because the price of a barrel of oil has fallen so much and his stock holdings are sinking like a rock.

[RiverStone]

35. Shrub could cry us a river....

And yet it would never make up for the tears of both American and Iraq families that grieve the deaths of their loved ones - in an immoral oil-for-profit war based on lies. I don't believe his words anymore than I do his tears.

The real tears from Shrub's actions will flow for several generations.

And at this point, I think most peoples reaction to this man crying is - who cares!!

[kskiska]

36. Steve Bell cartoon

[piesRsquare]

37. Yikes!

Bush looks evil in that photo (in the original post)! I mean REALLY evil...sent chills up my spine and gave me a really creepy feeling...!

:scared:

[krispos42]

38. Bush likes farting. And he cried.

Coincidence? Probably not.

What did he have for lunch?

[superconnected]

39. Probably so happy he's crying. His record has always carried

so much death, it must be an important thing to him.

[pinniped]

42. BS! Devil spawn don't cry.

.

[jamesinca]

43. What does CMH really mean to Bush

Coffin with Metal Handles. That is why he is crying, the war profiteers are loosing money on the handles.

[progressivebydesign]

44. That is one evil looking face. He doesn't look sad he looks evil.

I'm not saying that the way the freepers always attack everything Clinton or Gore or Kerry does, but I'm saying that as a person who can read faces with alarming accuracy. I never got into that thing of demonizing and scrutinizing everything Bush or Cheney does... trying say 'oh, he looks drunk', etc. But I tell ya.. that is NOT a face of sadness at that moment. Whatever he is thinking is not grief. It's frightening really.

[ckramer]

46. Only if he can cry like his old man

I would love to see that.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

48. This boy died doing the job that AWOL didn't have he guts to face

And in the last seconds of his life, his thoughts were focused on his fellow soldiers.

The tear and the sideways glance on Dumbyass' face make me think that he KNOWS what a coward he is, and that he's ashamed of it.

Either that, or he's wondering whether anyone will notice the tear-inducing agent he snorted before the ceremony.