When President Obama Saluted the Dead at Dover

[tekisui]

When President Obama Saluted the Dead at Dover he was there representing the American People. 5,000+ families have gone through that pain of seeing their loved one come home in a flag-draped coffin. We cannot understand that suffering until we have lived it.

President Obama took the American people there with him. You cannot imagine what those families are going through. You can be with them and not be moved to grief. President Obama recognized and honored the families for their sacrifice. It is not something that should be done in hiding, but for all Americans to see. We are carrying the wounds of war and will for, at least, another generation. As more come home in coffins and many more come home changed. We will all carry the burden of war.

I cannot imagine President Obama doesn't understand that burden. I cannot fathom that someone could spend that painful time with a broken family and not have that weigh on their decision.


It is not going to be an easy decision for President Obama. But, I hope he makes the best one.

[firedupdem]

1. It's not an easy job for sure. This country is in such a mess.

The horrible decisions of the past 8yrs+ have really screwed us up. I'm confident he will make the best decision. One thing I know...this president has a heart, and a functioning brain. That makes me feel better about our future.

[YvonneCa]

22. Same here...

...firedupdem. :patriot:

[Jennicut]

2. I want there to be a deescalation in Afghanistan.

I feel real strongly about that and I am a big Obama supporter here. But what really pleases me is seeing him actually think things over thoroughly and actually empathize with the soldiers that have died. It is a huge responsibility, to send someone off to war. Bush didn't seem to carry that burden, just thee burden of failure. Obama seems to understand the gravity of the situation.

[Cha]

3. bush's infamous words were

"I sleep like a baby"..that's what sociopaths do.

President Obama is dealing in reality and that's 180 degree from bush.

[Jennicut]

7. True, and that disturbs me immensely.

Even LBJ was having nightmares during Vietnam. He wrestled with his conscience, sociopaths don't do that.

[thunder rising]

4. The President has taken coaching on military customs and courtesy. A perfect ceremonial salute.

The slow rise of the arm is to show extreme respect. The normal salute looks the same it's just much quicker (don't have all day ya'know).

Bush couldn't be bothered with proper courtesy. A bad salute is an insult; really. A quick almost raised, bent hand salute is used to show contempt and can only be done by the superior ranked officer; otherwise, the transgressor gets a very quick reminder of the proper form.

Also, note that all other non-military members of the squad raised their hands to their hearts. Salutes are reserved for the military only.

I was waiting to see how this "civilian" took on the role of CIC. Yeah, he passed the test.

[ProleNoMore]

13. Agreed - Perfect Salute Form - He Took The Time To Learn

eom

[TomCADem]

5. Lynne Cheney Thinks It More Patriotic To Avoid Paying Respects To The Dead

Indeed, the right wing is celebrating the fact that President Bush never made a similar visit. Apparently, it is okay to have a photo-op glorifying war, but honoring the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice is exploitive.

[Bitwit1234]

11. Correct

I truly think bush was afraid to visit Dover when they were bringing home the fallen. I think he didn't want people to associate him with his hiding during Viet Nam. HE IS, HE WAS AND HE ALWAYS WILL BE A COWARD.

[jenmito]

16. No-she just LIED-claiming Bush went to see the return of the dead troops without cameras

when the truth is he never did.

[YvonneCa]

6. "President Obama took the American people there with him." Your words...

...are exactly right. HIS being there will shine a light on the reality of war...and that can help the American people to see it more clearly. :patriot:

[glowing]

14. The American people want out of it all. They were brainwashed into

the wars in the first place by media fear tactics after 9/11. Some of us saw the writing on the wall a long time ago... yet, enough people were idiotically brought to believe we needed war. A better and bigger man would recognize that war is not the answer to the hornets nest that is the ME.. and that the CIA needs to be dismantled.

[YvonneCa]

15. Are you complaining about Bush or...

...Obama? I'm right there with you on the point that some of us didn't want to handle 9/11 the way GWB did.

[glowing]

17. Both. I'm hoping that Obama is the bigger, better, brighter man in the room.

War is not the answer. Especially to this mess. I wonder if 9/11 would have even happened on Al Gore's watch? Would he have ignored the brief on his desk? Taken a month off in texas? AND if it had happened, would he have started a war? He def. wouldn't have diverted to Iraq, a place where there was no Al Queada operating. Would have, could have, should have... Now, we are 8yrs past in the wrong direction. Its time to put away the big guns and come on home.

[YvonneCa]

21. I'm a big fan of...

...Al Gore. And my answer to your questions are no, no, no, and NO. :)

I have much confidence in Obama...he is NOT GWB. Not even close. Obama is much brighter and has surrounded himself with people (Gore and Kerry, for example) who get what needs to be done. I know it's not easy to place trust in politicians sometimes...but these men have earned our trust. :patriot:

[Orsino]

18. This is all about sunshine, I think.

I don't demand that a president pretend to feel each and every death--but it's so refreshing that our war dead are being treated a little less like a filthy secret, and a little more like a problem to be dealt with by an informed citizenry.

[YvonneCa]

20. Sunshine...

...for sure. :patriot:

[Hekate]

8. Lovely post, and so far a lovely thread to read.

Thanks.

Hekate

[SIMPLYB1980]

9. k&r.

[calimary]

10. Indeed.

I think he's far more likely to make a good decision than his God-forsaken predecessor. For many reasons. And I'm glad he went to Dover. I think it's called the Dover Test. I read about something along those lines once, in the context of the bush era when his selected lordship refused to take time out from his busy day to greet the returning soldiers' remains. Something about a leader who has the grace and courage to go to Dover AFB to meet those returning body cases personally, up close and first-hand. Something about how - if you're in a position of that kind of power, in which you can wage war - you need to come face-to-face with the immediate, most personal, and most intimate consequences of war waging. And in this country, it behooves you as leader to go to Dover AFB, because that's where the bodies arrive. Find the cost of freedom - directly there on the tarmac of their return. And that's what Obama did. That's what Clinton did, too. That's what selfish, arrogant, cowardly, excuse-making weasels like bush and cheney didn't do.

[Solomon]

12. Think about it. To not go to Dover, either President or

President, for seven years, shows a guilty conscience.

[lunatica]

19. The reason the Bush administration refused to show the dead at all

was because they knew that the public would turn against the war if we saw either our soldiers or Iraqi civilians dead. That's the only reason they wouldn't show the photos.

President Obama reversed that and I know that he knows we will turn against the wars.

[bemildred]

23. Well, it is definitely a "change" from not allowing pictures of the dead coming home. nt