The Trail: A Daily Diary of Campaign 2008

Why are Republicans afraid of being seen with President Bush? McCain allows the President to raise millions of Dollars in Campaign funds for him, however he complains & disparges him at every turn. If he disagreed with so much of the Bush's policies and doctrine, How come he is not appalled to take Bush's funds. Lack of ethics, I guess. There are a substantial number of Republicans Politicians stating that the will not attend the GOP convention. As reported by many sources, McCain does not have the temperament or judgement to be POTUS.
Years of expierience, maybe. It's like the woman with 4 ex-husbands. Lots of expierience but no Judgement.

Re: need4truth

Keep it up, A vote based upon lies & distortions is definitely a right wasted.

Keep it coming

A day after his Berlin speech before an adulating crowd last week, Mr. Obama said more NATO troops in Afghanistan would allow the U.S. to cut its presence there. The "billions of dollars" saved, he told CNN Friday, could "finance lower taxes for middle-class families." Does he really think he is in control of NATO ?
On Sunday the Secretary General of the opposition German Free Democrats, Dieter Niebel, shot back, telling the Bild am Sonntag that "Under no circumstances will the German taxpayer pay with more money and more troops for Afghanistan for tax cuts in the U.S." In Berlin last week, many Germans felt the thrill of new romance. Now they're beginning to find out that Mr. Obama is not the man of their dreams.
Hello, did the little black god stump his toe on this one ? He certainly does have diarrhea of the mouth, doesn't he ? And this is presidential material ! I never saw this on CNN, wonder why ? It was in the newspaper. May God help us.

Long diarrhea of the mouth democratic excuses are mindless. Bottom line Obama is a senator. No VISIT.

McCain Camp exploits a LIE....TYPICAL REBUSHAGAIN PARTY BULL----....

Here's the true account from FACTCHECK.ORG

A new McCain ad says Obama "made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras."

McCain's facts are literally true, but his insinuation - that the visit was canceled because of the press ban or the desire for gym time - is false. In fact, Obama visited wounded troops earlier - without cameras or press - both in the U.S. and Iraq. And his gym workouts are a daily routine.

The Obama campaign canceled the visit with wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, Obama says, when he learned that the Pentagon would not allow him to bring along a retired Air Force major general who is serving as a foreign policy adviser to the campaign. Obama says that "triggered then a concern that maybe our visit was going to be perceived as political."

Analysis
Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign released this ad July 26 and said it would run in "key states."

John McCain 2008 Ad: "Troops"

Announcer: Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan. He hadn't been to Iraq in years. He voted against funding our troops.

And now, he made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras.

John McCain is always there for our troops. McCain. Country first.

John McCain: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.Trading the Troops for the Gym?

The ad says Obama "made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops." The announcer then goes on to say that it "seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras," implying that's the reason Obama canceled the visit.

It's a fact that Obama canceled a visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center at the last minute after planning it for weeks. And it's a fact that reporters and their cameras would not have been allowed to accompany him. Furthermore, Obama probably did go to the gym that day, as he does practically every day. So the bare facts stated in the ad are true, but they don't support McCain's insinuation.

We can't read minds and so are in no position to know Obama's motives, or McCain's for that matter. It's unlikely, however, that the absence of press coverage would have been a factor in Obama's decision, as the ad implies. Obama says he never planned to take reporters on the Landstuhl visit, and Department of Defense rules prohibited him from taking reporters on previous visits he made with wounded troops.

Reporters were not allowed to accompany him when he visited wounded troops at Walter Reed Medical Center on June 28. The small "protective pool" of reporters that routinely accompanies him was told by Obama's staff to remain outside, in the van, according to a reporter covering the campaign. Similarly, Obama visited wounded troops in Baghdad earlier in his overseas trip, but he did so without reporters and "without a lot of fanfare, just to say 'Thanks'," according to Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who accompanied Obama.

It's true Obama made time for at least one workout while he was in Germany. And he has been known to dedicate more than a few minutes to his exercise regimen. Two reporters who cover Obama, and who were on this trip, tell us that the candidate works out every day, and sometimes twice a day. However, the video of Obama playing basketball featured in McCain's ad is from his time in Kuwait, not Germany.

What Happened and When?

The military's stated policy is to avoid "[a]ny activity that may be reasonably viewed as directly or indirectly associating the [Department of Defense] with a partisan political activity." Members of Congress are allowed to be photographed with the troops and appear with them while serving as public officials, but not as political candidates. When Obama was in Kuwait and Iraq, he was traveling without reporters or campaign staff and visited military installations as part of a congressional delegation that included Sen. Reed and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. Hagel said afterward, on CBS' "Face the Nation" July 27: "We saw troops everywhere we went on the congressional delegation. We went out of our way to see those troops."

But Hagel and Reed dropped off after the delegation visited the Middle East, and the European leg of Obama's trip was a campaign trip, not an official one. Even so, Obama planned to leave reporters behind for a visit to Landstuhl, according to a press briefing by campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs. Gibbs said reporters would have been left behind, though there "may have been" a pool report afterward. Since reporters would not be allowed inside the hospital, any pool reports would have noted only the fact of Obama's coming and going, with no photographs, as was the case with Obama's June 28 visit to Walter Reed. Here's part of the transcript of Gibbs' briefing:

Q: Did it not occur to anybody that this might be viewed as a political stop?

Gibbs: We had taken some of that into consideration, but we believed that it could be done in a way that would not create, it would not be created or seen as a campaign stop.

Q: The schedule was for this plane, with us in it, to fly to Ramstein. By the way we were expected to pay for the flight, what were you suppose to do with the entourage then?

Gibbs: You would have stayed on the plane.

Q: We would have stayed on the plane, would there have been any pool report?

Gibbs: There may have been, I don't know if we ever came to a decision on that.

Obama "More than Welcome"

At first, it seemed the Obama camp was blaming the Pentagon for the cancellation. Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Jonathan Scott Gration, an Obama adviser who had planned to accompany him to Landstuhl, issued a statement saying, "We learned from the Pentagon last night that the visit would be viewed instead as ... a campaign event." That prompted a response from Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell, who said, "Sen. Obama is more than welcome to visit Landstuhl or any other military hospital around the world. ... But he has to do so, just as any other senator has to do so, in his official capacity. It is not acceptable to do so as a candidate." Los Angeles Times reporters Michael Finnegan and Peter Spiegel went on to quote Morrell as saying, "In an election year ... I don't believe that any candidate is allowed to visit a DOD facility with press."

Gibbs, and later Obama himself, then confirmed that it was the Obama campaign and not the Pentagon that decided to scrub the visit. Obama told the press that he had never planned to take reporters inside: "We were treating it the same way we treat a visit to Walter Reed ... without any fanfare whatsoever." And he said the discovery that Gration would not be allowed to come prompted the cancellation.

Obama: And we got notice that [Gration] would be treated as a campaign person, and it would therefore be perceived as political because he had endorsed my candidacy but he wasn't on the Senate staff. That triggered then a concern that maybe our visit was going to be perceived as political.

We note here that Obama might still have gone on the visit, leaving Gration behind and accompanied only by Secret Service security. But with or without Gration, there would have been no news reporters or news photographers to record the visit.

An Ad Re-Run

The McCain ad repeats the claim that Obama has not held "a single hearing on Afghanistan." As we've already noted, both candidates have less-than-stellar records when it comes to attending Senate hearings on Afghanistan. The ad also repeats the misleading statement that Obama "voted against funding our troops." As we've noted before, Obama voted in favor of funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan all but once since he was sworn in.

Footnote: McCain's campaign repeated its allegation again today, issuing a statement in the name of retired Army helicopter pilot and McCain campaign surrogate Michael J. Durant, saying Obama's visit "was canceled after it became clear that campaign staff, and the traveling press corps, would not be allowed to accompany Senator Obama." (Emphasis added.) As we've already noted, no cameras or press were planned.

-by Emi Kolawole and Brooks Jackson

Sources
"Today on the presidential campaign trail." The Associated Press, 29 June 2008.

Department of Defense. Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces. Washington: GPO, 2008.

Finnegan, Michael and Peter Spiegel. Obama's cancellation of a military hospital visit leaves unanswered questions. 25 July 2008. The Los Angeles Times: Top of the Ticket, 28 July 2008.

Miklaszewski, Jim. Gration and the Landstuhl Controversy. 25 July 2008. MSNBC First Read Blog, 28 July 2008.

Related Articles
The Truth on Troop Support?
A McCain TV ad says Obama "voted against funding our troops." He did, once. Every other time he voted in favor.

John McCain in this ad says he's always been there for the troops......

REALLY??????

Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition
By a vote of 75-22, the Senate approved an expanded version of the GI bill today. Proposed by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., it's the biggest expansion of the bill in the past quarter-century, according to the New York Times. But it has also been opposed by, among others, President Bush and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Bush, McCain and the others who've opposed Webb's bill argue that the expanded provisions -- the government would pay tuition and expenses at a four-year public university for anyone who spent three years in the military after 9/11 -- will hurt the military's efforts to retain its troops. Bush has threatened to veto Webb's bill, and McCain introduced one of his own. He did not vote today.

The vote provoked some heated rhetoric between McCain and Barack Obama. Speaking from the floor of the Senate, Obama said, "I respect Sen. John McCain's service to our country ... But I can't understand why he would line up behind the President in his opposition to this GI Bill. I can't believe why he believes it is too generous to our veterans."

In response, McCain released a harsh -- and lengthy -- statement. "It is typical, but no less offensive, that Senator Obama uses the Senate floor to take cheap shots at an opponent and easy advantage of an issue he has less than zero understanding of," McCain said. "Unlike Senator Obama, my admiration, respect and deep gratitude for America's veterans is something more than a convenient campaign pledge."

The Senate also approved funding for the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a domestic spending package that will be included in the war funding bill. An amendment that included language about troop withdrawal was rejected, 34-63.

― Alex Koppelman

WAIT....JUST ONE MORE TID-BIT MCCAIN ACTUALLY SKIPPED THE VOTE.....

Senate Republicans have broken with President Bush to help Democrats add support for veterans and the unemployed to a bill paying for another year of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The 75-22 vote also added billions of dollars in other domestic funds such as heating subsidies for the poor and money for fighting wildfires to the $165 billion for the military operations overseas.

...The huge tally in the Senate was driven by $15.6 billion over two years to extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks and more than $50 billion over the upcoming decade to provide returning Iraq war veterans with sharply increased college aid.

Both Sens. Obama and Clinton voted in favor of the bill. Sen. McCain skipped the vote (as did Sens. Tom Coburn and Ted Kennedy).

Howard Dean released a statement criticizing McCain for skipping the vote:

"America's veterans and military families deserve better than a candidate who is willing to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years, but refuses to take care of them when they come home. The men and women in who volunteer to put on the uniform of the United States of America risk their lives to defend our freedoms, and we should do everything we can to help them be successful when they come home. While Senator McCain talks about supporting our troops and veterans on the campaign trail, his real record tells a much different story. While we honor his service to our country, Senator McCain's double talk on veterans' benefits is one more reason he is the wrong choice for America's future."
Obama also responded to McCain's absence:

I respect sen. John McCain's service to our country. He is one of those heroes of which I speak. But I can't understand why he would line up behind the President in his opposition to this GI bill.

I can't believe why he believes it is too generous to our veterans. I could not disagree with him and the President more on this issue. There are many issues that lend themselves to partisan posturing but giving our veterans the chance to go to college should not be one of them.

And McCain hammered back in a particularly harsh response:

"Perhaps, if Senator Obama would take the time and trouble to understand this issue he would learn to debate an honest disagreement respectfully. But, as he always does, he prefers impugning the motives of his opponent, and exploiting a thoughtful difference of opinion to advance his own ambitions. If that is how he would behave as President, the country would regret his election."...

"It is typical, but no less offensive that Senator Obama uses the Senate floor to take cheap shots at an opponent and easy advantage of an issue he has less than zero understanding of. Let me say first in response to Senator Obama, running for President is different than serving as President. The office comes with responsibilities so serious that the occupant can't always take the politically easy route without hurting the country he is sworn to defend. Unlike Senator Obama, my admiration, respect and deep gratitude for America's veterans is something more than a convenient campaign pledge. I think I have earned the right to make that claim."

UPDATE: Obama has responded to McCain, calling him out for making 'schoolyard taunts':

I am proud to stand with Senator Webb and a bipartisan coalition to give our veterans the support and opportunity they deserve. It's disappointing that Senator McCain and his campaign used this issue to launch yet another lengthy personal, political attack instead of debating an honest policy difference. He should know that this is not about John McCain or Barack Obama - it's about giving our veterans a real chance to afford four years of college without harming retention. Senator Webb's bipartisan bill will do this, and the bill that John McCain supports would not. These endless diatribes and schoolyard taunts from the McCain campaign do nothing to advance the debate about what matters to the American people.

See our view on Obama's failure to visit wounded troops in Germany at www.NotFallingInLine.org.

Obama says, "We did it really well."

We say, "No, Senator. You didn't."

Don't validate the selectee who is sleazing off with a nomination that he did not earn and does not deserve.

See our view on Obama's failure to visit wounded troops in Germany at www.NotFallingInLine.org.

Obama says, "We did it really well."

We say, "No, Senator. You didn't."

Don't validate the selectee who is sleazing off with a nomination that he did not earn and does not deserve.

OWHDinWV, I like your writing, but your conclusions seem shaped by media, not fact.

Obama should have stopped to see the troops, even if it meant leaving the reporters behind. Then he could have rented space in the Landstull Town Hall or nearby Ramstein Village for a press conference. Apparently he just didn't want to tell the wounded he thought they fought for nothing.

Going into IRAQ was the right thing to do. Reports continue to come out from non-US sources of WMD casings, source materials, and plans, indicating Sadaam had intentions our continual monitoring (Norther/Southern Watch) wouldn't let him try. And when Bush said "Mission Accomplished" he was right. Trouble is, the Army and State Dept mucked up the operation and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Back on mission, I'm sure a real military strategist (McCain) operating without a crazed SecDef (Rumsfeld) could end this war in a matter of months, with a lasting peace. Obama will only cut and run, causing regional turmoil for decades.

McCain is trying to whip-saw his opponent for Obama's decision to respect the Pentagon ruling that visiting troops in Germany would be political instead of violating the Pentagon's ruling by visiting these troops, including the wounded. Either path would have drawn fire from the Bush Hugger.

McCain's comments would be more seriously taken if he supported the needs of veterans of all our wars.

I have read almost every post on this article and I have been totally amazed at the amount of venom that has been spewed out. Sure there are always some posts that are actually trying to introduce a reasoned, sane argument for believing whatever they believe but most of this stuff on here just reveals how much mindless hatred motivates the politics of too many people.

Does anyone really believe that the hate spewed on on these posts is what those troops are over there fighting and dying for? I just don't think so. If any of them are able to keep up with just what has been on this site I think they would probably lose heart. When we see the hate between different people in Iraq, Darfur, Israel and the Palestinians it probably started like this with words flung out of hearts filled with so much hate that after while words weren't enough and they had to start killing each other.

1999 wasn't that long ago ... I still remember the MSM poodles, to the person, give Bush a complete pass on issues they're just ripping Obama to shreds over now.
Bush had been out of the country two times as I recall, once to China to visit his cosseting parents, I doubt if he went even to visit the Great Wall of China on his own and ... a visit to Israel as a guest of Ariel Sharon and his monumental and feisty, ignorant flub to a reporter about who the President of Pakistan was. No one in the media made an issue out of it and certainly the Gore campaign was too afraid to attack Bush as McCain is lying and attacking Obama.

I still think this horrific disrespect McCain shows towards Obama (although the media and the Republicans made sure Gore and Kerry were attacked and always on the defensive) is racist and bigoted to the core.
Obama ought to sue the disgusting McCain for slander.
McCain bashes Sen Obama in exactly the same way Hitler smeared the jewish citizens of Germany.

Obama did not get pictures with wounded soldiers so he cancelled the visit. It's just that simple. Come on guys. He's a politician like any other politician.

Obama did not get pictures with wounded soldiers so he cancelled the visit. It's just that simple. Come on guys. He's a politician like any other politician.

McCain and his campaign is dealing in distortions and Outright lies on the issue.
McCain is showing his total lack of integrity and Honesty.Barack Obama canceled a pre-planned visit to the troops in Germany Thursday after being told by the Pentagon that the trip would violate a Pentagon policy prohibiting campaign stops on military installations. No problem there.
However, the McCain campaign is now blasting Obama:

The McCain camp has nonetheless been using Obama's canceled trip to insinuate that he's anti-troops. "Barack Obama is wrong," McCain spokesperson Brian Rogers said in a statement yesterday. "It is never 'inappropriate' to visit our men and women in the military."
The problem here is that the McCain campaign was denied a visit to a military base under the same policy back in April. Of course, there was no outcry or false outrage from Brian Rogers at that time. On April 3, 2008 CNN reported on this.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/03/mccain.pentagon/index.html

http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=4FE8823D79B012540EA163C17A17164E?diaryId=1671

McCain stated he wanted to run a campaign on the issues, up till now I have only seen ,whining, character disparagement, dishonest from an Angry Old Man!

Mccain needs to realize that Obama doesn't have time for his barking like a Pitt Bull. Obama is busy meeting his expectations while Mccain is standing by barking like a neighbord dog that gets on your nerves. Mccain is pathetic. Pitt Bull Mccain.

McCain will look back at this week as the week he lost the election. His wild accusations about Obama's patriotism and his incessant (and inaccurate) yammering about the Iraqi troop surge lead me to conclude he has left the straight talking war hero, maverick behind. He is channeling the campaigns of George W.Bush/Karl Rove and Hillary Clinton.

Where or where is the John McCain we independents used to admire?

THIS STORY PERFECT EXAMPLE. THE MEDIA AND REPUBLICANS NEEDED TO MAKE UP A STORY BECAUSE OBAMA DIDN'T GIVE THEM THE BIG GAFFES THEY FOLLOWED HIM ALL AROUND THE WORLD FOR.

THE MEDIA TRAVELED WITH OBAMA ALL AROUND THE WORLD LOOKING FOR A STORY OF A BIG GAFFE AND THERE WASN'T ANY. NOW THERE TRYING TO MAKE THEIR OWN GAFFES ON HIS SPEECH IN BERLIN. ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW HIM SEEMING TO PERSUMPTIOUS, AND AMERICAN VOTERS MIGHT NOT LIKE IT. NOBODY TOLD THE MEDIA THEY SHOULD GO WITH HIM AROUND THE WORLD HOPING FOR A BIG STORY AND BE UPSET THAT THEY DIDN'T GET ONE. IF THEY WANTED A STORY THEY SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME WITH MCCAIN HE'S MADE GAFFES ALL WEEK. MCCAIN SAID THAT IRAQ BORDERS AFGANISTAN, MCCAIN SAID THAT THE SURGE BEGAN THE ANBAR AWAKENING AND HE SAID THAT A 16 MONTH TIMETABLE WAS A PRETTY GOOD IDEA. HOWEVER, THESE WERE GAFFES ON MCCAIN AND NOT OBAMA, THEREFORE THEIR NOT IMPORTANT. ONLY OBAMA'S GAFFES GET PLAYED ON THE AIR REPEATEDLY. SOON THEY WILL START RUNNING POLLS OF OBAMA'S WORLD TRIP. ITS FUNNY HOW THE MEDIA CRITICIZES OBAMA'S SUCCESS ABROAD WITH ALL OF THE FANS AND ANXIOUS LEADERS AROUND THE WORLD HOPING FOR AN OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AS BEING PRESUMPTIOUS INSTEAD OF THE RESULT OF A GREAT LEADER. MAYBE THE MEDIA LIKES THE IDEA OF HAVING OUR PRESIDENT HATED OR DON'T WANT TO BE THE BEACON OF HOPE AROUND THE WORLD AFTER ALL.

SEE MCCAIN EAT HIS WORDS AND SIGN ON TO OBAMAS 16 MONTH WITHDRAWL.

MCCAIN SAID A 16 MONTH TIMETABLE IN IRAQ WOULD BE A PRETTY GOOD IDEA:
WATCH

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xRGl7UjSL_U

Saint: I promise NOT to engage you further in this exchange, for having a battle of wits with you is like fighting an unarmed man . . . If only your vaunted verility extended to your intellectual prowess . . .

For the record, being a Democrat doesn't necessarily make one a liberal--I happen to be a centrist, but perhaps that's too fine a distinction for you to wrap your mind around. But on to the real point:

While nobody (including me) actually regrets Saddam's removal, the point remains that invading Iraq was 1) not justified by the very reasons that the lying Bush administration advanced, as has been amply demonstrated. What part of NO WMD's, no Saddam connection to Al Qaeda do YOU not understand??? 2) The war was very badly prosecuted, not by the heroic soldiers on the ground, but by the inept and incompetent Bush administration. "Mission Accomplished," my _____.

Oppose Obama's candidacy if you must, but at least don't rant hysterically, and do try to offer RATIONAL reasons for your opinions (oh, sorry, that would require you to be capable of doing so). As for me, I hope the Republicans and the Bush-surrogate John McCain get the electoral spanking they so richly deserve in November.

oldwhitelibbiein wv- Bad News, I am very Verile!

Just what do you think, Barry O'Bomba-Nation is actually saying when he proudly declares his opposition to Saddam HUSSEIN's Removal?

FYI - IF, it was up to Barack Hussein, Saddam would STILL have MILLIONS of Iraqis, under his Tyranical Control!

Barack LIKED that Scenario, and PROUDLY Proclaims his OPPOSITION to our Liberating Iraq!

He should have been SCORNED by the Iraqi People!

The Media is very good at CONFUSING People with WARPED REALITIES! :-(

Just what part of "He was AGAINST the Liberating Invasion of Saddam HUSSEIN's Country", don't you comprehend?

Or, traitorous and duplicitous Shi-ites like al-Malarkey?

p80yx4dxtr2z9xv http://www.157656.com/402228.html > s4sb8e7sf5a7pyi6h [URL=http://www.224214.com/399578.html] 58g668pw [/URL] 8zu1r2pu

SAINT--The (whoever the heck you are): I have often criticized many writers of comments to various articles for their irrationality and stupidity, but brother (sister?), you deserve a special award!! It's been a while since I've seen such idiocy combined with such hatred. Mind you, I can respect clear thinking and good writing coming from those with whom I disagree. And I think civility should be the order of the day for persons posting comments here. Derision and contempt are your just desserts, however. Was this a contest to use the name "HUSSEIN" in the least truthful, most stupid ways???? If so, you win. Are you sterile?? For the sake of humankind and of the planet, I hope so.

After all this late night dinner monolog by barry. The polls show him up 6 points.No gain .In fact McCain gained a point. Without the hysteria Barry isn't selling in the USA. There is profound uneasiness about him. I don't think the world will end if either gets in . McCain we know. Obama we don't. The issue is he can't dodge the debates with McCain. when we know him will we vote for him.This election is a referendum on Barry.

This seems like a no-win for Obama. If he visited the troops he would be accused of "expoliting" them. When he doesn't, he's accused of "disrespecting" them.

Bush *LIED* to start this unnecessary war and nobody cared... Bush sent people into combat without proper armor and nobody cared... When his war went over budget Bush cut soldiers pay and benefits and nobody cared...

Obama is one of the few people who spoke up when it mattered to say "No, the reasons aren't good enough to send our young people to go and die."

He doesn't have anything to prove when it comes to caring about our troops. He wants to bring them home where they belong.

War is a tremendous waste of resources.

Did you listen to Obama's Berlin speech? He is trying to unite the world to take a more sensible approach to our common problems.

The only people who will lose out are the arms dealers.

Please cool-it with the spite and cynical rhetoric. This is not a red-state/blue-state thing. You are not rooting for a sports team.

Please do some homework and think about the issues.

These are difficult times and we as a people have important decisions to make.

Barack Obama canceled a pre-planned visit to the troops in Germany yesterday after being told by the Pentagon that the trip would violate a Pentagon policy prohibiting campaign stops on military installations. No problem there.
However, the McCain campaign is now blasting Obama:

The McCain camp has nonetheless been using Obama's canceled trip to insinuate that he's anti-troops. "Barack Obama is wrong," McCain spokesperson Brian Rogers said in a statement yesterday. "It is never 'inappropriate' to visit our men and women in the military."
The problem here is that the McCain campaign was denied a visit to a military base under the same policy back in April. Of course, there was no outcry or false outrage from Brian Rogers at that time

http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=4FE8823D79B012540EA163C17A17164E?diaryId=1671

This is another example of the McCain distortions and lies. McCain needs to stop whining and complaining and explain in detail what his Foreign policy strategy is, Healthcare,Economic and Energy policies. He needs to stop behaving like an angry Old man.

It doesn't matter what Obama does; the Republicans will fine something wrong with it. They suggested that he go and when he went they started finding fault with it. He should have just gone and watched his mouth like Blacks have learned how to do so well to survive. but then as I have observed; it doesn't matter what he does the Republicans will find fault with it. The Limbaughals (pronounced limbowels) will find some reason to complain because they, "those Limbaughals" just don't get it.

Well of course O'Bomba-Nation did not want to see the servicemen and women who ousted Saddam HUSSEIN.

He openly admits, he would have preferred to have Saddam still in Control!

I'll wager Barack HUSSEIN Cried, when Saddam HUSSEIN Died!

How DARE those Service People expect him to THANK Them for what they did! :-(

He is STILL Proud to support Saddam and his Reign! It was his definitive Moment to oppose Saddam's Removal!

HUSSEIN's Stand by one Another! ;~)

Obama was worried about his visit to the Troops in Germany has being viewed as a "political stunt"?!

His whole trip is a political trip! It's a joke! When Obama got off the plane in Afganistan the reporters should have said "Now watch has the Freshman Senator takes his first step on Afgan Soil! One small step for Obama, one giant step for his inexperience!"

The 4th of July was a political event. That was pathetic and just as dirty as he is.

Does anyone notice how Obama simply repeats/reflects the obvious or what has already been spoken by others?

McChange/Romney 2008! "Because there is No other Solution!"

How can the American people be so stupid.

More shameless schilling for Obama: the opening para ("Obama scrubbed a planned visit to see wounded American servicemen and women in Germany because of concerns raised by the Pentagon that the stop ... could be seen as a political event") is a complete lie. Obama dissed the wounded troops because he wasn't going to be allowed to use it as a photo op for his campaign -- so obviously it was not worth his or his campaign's time.

As the polls show, despite the media trying to sell BHO at every opportunity, voters are catching on: this is all about HIM, not them, and anyone who doesn't follow his script is thrown under the bus.

Including troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Talk about adding insult to injury.

pumaPAC.org / JustSayNoDeal.com

Hillary 08
or
McCain 08

May be Barack Obama could have paid a "restricted" visit to wounded soldiers in military hospital in Germany, but anyway, the latter would have come to know that finally there is a presidential candidate who genuinely cares for them.

Obama first to want to open talks with Iran.
Obama first to recognize that a change in policy is needed in Afghanistan.
Obama first to recognize that the decrease in violence meant that a 16 month time table was right for cutting troops in Iraq.

McCain has faux experience,he is last to know what is happening.

McCain was not polling well on Iraq. Or al-Maliki was being stubborn in negotiations and Bush will have to give in to 16 months time horizon and McCain does not want to be last to get on board. The man with faux experience has stumbled along following the pack.

As a presidential candidate, Obama has been leading the country on it's big decisions. He is leading us out of Iraq before he is elected..

It looks like Republican dirty tricks telling Obama one thing and then turning around and saying another. Too bad those shenaigans didn't work when George Bush tried and prevent Obama from speaking at the Brandenberg Gates. Good thing the site that was ultimately chosen fit 200,000 people.

There is nothing Diane72 has to say that is worth reading , let alone thinking about, let alone respond to. Diane is a he. Ignore him.

What is not being covered in the presidential campaign is that Senator McCain, despite coming from a Navy family, being an Annapolis graduate, a career Navy officer and POW, has been no friend of veterans as evidenced by his votes; he has voted against sufficient VA funding at every opportunity and opposed the 21st Century GI Bill.

It's no accident under the Republicans that concurrent receipt for military retirement and disability benefits is structured with phase-ins with the actuaries betting most veterans would be dead before they could ever collect or that the VA has evolved into a system that is the veteran's adversary rather than advocate as the object is to slash budgets on veterans' backs by directives to misdiagnose and deny disability compensation where-ever possible as evidenced by leaked VA memos.

McCain was recently quoted in the Army Times that he would prioritize combat-disabled veterans over all other disabled veterans in the VA system for treatment and compensation. (http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/military_mccain_healthcare_072308/) Making a distinction between service-disabled veterans based on how that disability was incurred simply to deny care and benefits to one group to cut expenditures is repugnant and quite telling. McCain was simply focused on combat-wounded veterans as they are a hot topic and therefore a means to gain sympathy votes from those who are not informed on his record and actual position.

The result of McCain's plan will be a still woefully under-funded VA while shoving every other veteran out in favor in favor of the combat-disabled to save a buck.

This is nothing new. The Bush Administration proposed creating a two-tiered VA system where, for example, a leg lost to an IED would be worth more than a leg lost in a training accident and then declare, in either case, once the veteran was able to walk with a prosthetic leg that they were made whole and benefits would stop although both were still missing a leg. There was also the idea of giving the veteran a lump-sum payment for a disability before the full extent of it and its life-long implications could be evaluated.

Every voter should know and remember this: While countless veterans are on waiting lists for medical care and fighting for compensation for years McCain gets the very best of priority care at Bethesda Naval Hospital while collecting his Navy retirement, disability compensation and senate pay.

Obama is a fraud. And he is a divider of the worst kind. He did not tell the Germans about his listening to ANTI "European whites" rhetoric for 20 YEARS! Yes 20 YEARS of following this Black Supremist mentor. I bet the Germans and French would be very interested in getting to know the real Obama and his "Mentor and Uncle" for 20 years, the Rev. Wright.
Obama, ACTIONS (for 20 years) SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS (6 months of rhetoric for a vote)!

I wonder when the MSM will pick up on Michelle Shaniqua Obama's arrest at the age of 16 in Gary, IN for shoplifting. Do we want someone like her pilfering White House valuables?

Both of you are as fake as Obama.

Posted by: Seminole-rob

Please document what things Obama represents himself to be and is not. Be specific about you're proof that he is not what he said he is. Remember your a Seminole, not a Gator.

Well,well so WAPO changed its story about
why that damn phony cheap political opportunist President and Commander in Chief Loser Barack Hussein Obama,suddenly decided to not go visit our wounded Soldiers and Marines at the US Military Hospital in Berlin,Germany after sleazy Obama found out he could not make the visit
into yet another phony Obama photo op and
then Obama went to the gym to work out,and
now Obama and his lying stooges and WAPO
are trying to blame the Pentagon and our
own military for egomanic no military service Obama SNAFU What An Insult By That
Damn Arse Barack Hussein Obama as everything Obama does always ends in FUBAR!
Hey Obama get your deadarse back into your
Ghetto One Is The One Airliner and take your phony butt back to Germany and make a
public apology to those same wounded troops
you jerk! As a former member of the US Army
and Army National Guard Medic from 1955 to
1983,Honorable Discharge Vet Obama I resent
you and your endless pandering and BS and
above all your insulting and total damn
disrespect for our troops you sleazy scumbag. Your Totally Unfit To Be Our
Commander in Chief Barack Hussein Obama and
I call on other voters,veterans and all of
those decent loyal American's who do support our troops to condemn Obama and Demand Barack Obama Go Apologize To These
Brave Wounded Troops! Show Your Outrage and
Real Support For Our Troops Now Voters!
I damn well will not Vote for Obama!

Well,well so WAPO changed its story about
why that damn phony cheap political opportunist President and Commander in Chief Loser Barack Hussein Obama,suddenly decided to not go visit our wounded Soldiers and Marines at the US Military Hospital in Berlin,Germany after sleazy Obama found out he could not make the visit
into yet another phony Obama photo op and
then Obama went to the gym to work out,and
now Obama and his lying stooges and WAPO
are trying to blame the Pentagon and our
own military for egomanic no military service Obama SNAFU What An Insult By That
Damn Arse Barack Hussein Obama as everything Obama does always ends in FUBAR!
Hey Obama get your deadarse back into your
Ghetto One Is The One Airliner and take your phony butt back to Germany and make a
public apology to those same wounded troops
you jerk! As a former member of the US Army
and Army National Guard Medic from 1955 to
1983,Honorable Discharge Vet Obama I resent
you and your endless pandering and BS and
above all your insulting and total damn
disrespect for our troops you sleazy scumbag. Your Totally Unfit To Be Our
Commander in Chief Barack Hussein Obama and
I call on other voters,veterans and all of
those decent loyal American's who do support our troops to condemn Obama and Demand Barack Obama Go Apologize To These
Brave Wounded Troops! Show Your Outrage and
Real Support For Our Troops Now Voters!
I damn well will not Vote for Obama!

I just love how Obama get's most of you dems/'new' progressives in a tizzy, last time a democrat running for president did that he stained a dress.

Posted by: Dick

your name fits.

"I also don't believe that Gator-ron graduated from the University of Florida."

Posted by: Seminole-rob

You're very unimaginative. You think inside a box. You assume that because of a name I graduated from the UF. You're petty. What is the difference whether I graduated from the UF or not, it has nothing to do with what I said. Unimaginative and petty, that sounds a person who would believe McCain. He once was a good man, who I voted for but that was before 2004. Now he is the stalking horse of Bush on Iraq and the economy. An honorable man sold himself out.

Just to remind you it was Obama not McCain who voted to increase veterans benefits this year. McCain did not care enough about the issue to even show up to vote. He had no opponent.

Your ad hominem attack on Obama makes it seem that you have yet to enter FSU, let alone graduate.

▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ OBAMA / SANTA CLAUSE '08 █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁

........ THE ULTIMATE DREAM TICKET ........

So, Dan-bama, could it not be simply said that Obama would only visit the wounded troops if his fawning press entourage was allowed to be there to record him doing so? Sure, it could. He couldn't get his picture taken with the wounded so he passed on the visit. Now, why couldn't you say that? Climb out of that tank, baby. See what the real worlds like again.

What does "repugs" mean? Republicans? Republican dogs? Republican Blue Dogs? Blue Dogs? A hybrid of all of the above?

I just love how Obama get's most of you dems/'new' progressives in a tizzy, last time a democrat running for president did that he stained a dress.

I just love how Obama get's most of you repubs/'new' conservatives in a hissy fit, last time a democrat running for president did that he won 2 terms..

Gator-ron wrote:
"No, he knows that McCain whines about Obama being arrogant and there is no reason to believe it would be different. Many times McCain has shown his indifference to veterans"

bob II wrote:
"Obama said he chose not to meet with the soldiers because he didn't want it perceived as a photo opportunity for his political campaign. As a veteran, I like him being honest."

You are both incorrect and dishonest. I don't believe for one second that bob II actually is a veteran. I also don't believe that Gator-ron graduated from the University of Florida.

Both of you are as fake as Obama.

Mr. Magoo was stuffing bloody meat into a hose with a gang of senior prussians in the dank cellar of Schmidts' Sausage and Gunnery in Ohio, the home of the fabulous Jean Schmidt who said all us veterans of the Vietnam War cut and ran. Jean's a Republican applying for the Dot the I in Idiot job in Ohio because she's a Republican pig from the heartland. Magoo was elevated from the Cheezwhiz zone where he said murdering colored chillen from 40,000 feet to privatize the second largest oil reserve on the planet and be top Cracker on Crusade for Crude was a gift from Jesus. Let's discuss arrogance, the Jesus picked me, I'm a chosen moron arrogance whose exit strategy is the rapture when JC will personally return to crush your inbred skulls for disparaging His good name, not to mention setting chillen on fire for oil contracts for Ray Hunt, billionaire Republican oil boy on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board since two weeks after 9-11; all orchestrated, all manipulated, all planned for your oil stealing pleasure. What could be dumber than killing your own kids for oil contracts? What Republicans? Why are you so genetically mutated? Ask yourself and take a long hard look at Mr. Magoo and understand the 72-year-old soldier is the best the Grand Oil Party can do.

Gator-ron,
Obama apparently listened to the wrong advice/people when he canceled this visit.
Posted by: Seminole-rob

No, he knows that McCain whines about Obama being arrogant and there is no reason to believe it would be different. Many times McCain has shown his indifference to veterans

"Obama said he chose not to meet with the soldiers because he didn't want it perceived as a photo opportunity for his political campaign. As a veteran, I like him being honest."

Posted by: bob II | July 25, 2008 7:13 PM

amaikovich,
Butcher the English language much?

More slanted coverage by the Post. Obama was welcome to visit the troops, but he couldn't bring the press along with him. Obama went shopping instead. Pretty clear what his priorities are.

The reason Obama did not go to Landstuhl was he did not want to appear arrogant.

Obama took time off from his primary campaign while Hillary was still active and voted for the veterans new increased benefits. McCain who had no opponent at the time did not take off to vote on the veterans benefit package, and it is McCain who needs to explain his failure to show up. Obama has explained why he did what he did.

Independents ... @7:03 PM is another fool that posts here who is partisan but claims he is independent. I support Obama though I have voted for Republicans with some frequency prior to Bush 43's election. But I am honest and have nothing to hide. This blogger is deceptive like many Republicans who blog here.

Wake Up Voters, as even Adolf Hitler visited his wounded German soldiers in the
German Military Hospitals during WW2 so what makes this phony empty suit arrogant
egomanic loser Barack Hussein Obama think
he is too good to do so too? We need to
forcefully demand Barack Hussein Obama go
make a personal public apology to these
wounded US Troops that Obama refused to go
visit,after Obama was told he cannot turn
the visit into a photo op,and yet Obama
found time to go work out in their gym and
make phony speechs to the German people.
Obama your a bitter scumbag then Adolf Hitler,and even George W Bush,since Bush
even visits our wounded as do John McCain
and Hillary Clinton. Democrats Dump Obama!

Gator-ron,
Obama apparently listened to the wrong advice/people when he canceled this visit.

He's not qualified for CinC. He should go back to being a "Community Organizer" or whatever it was...

To bloggers who constantly complain about Obama supporters' cultlike qualities--now you can add Europeans to your list--isn't it nice to at least have a live person to complain about? All the Republicans do is genuflect to Ronald Reagan. Ever listen to one of their debates? "I'm the best one to move the Reagan revolution forward." Help me.

Obama said he chose not to meet with the soldiers because he didn't want it perceived as a photo opportunity for his political campaign. As a veteran, I like him being honest. Our soldiers will do well in Afghanistan after we pull them off the Republicans' oil heist for Dick Cheney and Ray Hunt. Mr. Magoo is still screaming about victory in his oil reserve after Saudi Arabia attacked us. One million Iraqis are dead and they told Mr. Magoo to shove his New Oil Deal up his medal of honor. Mr. Magoo is an idiot who attacked the wrong nation to privatize its oil and make billions for his Big Oil Buds. America armed Iraq from 80 to 88 people. Have a braing. Try one out. Give one a test drive. When Saddam gassed the Kurds, America didn't give a damn. Wake Up and smell the oil. Republicans kill your kids for oil contracts in Iraq while the Sunni enemy, the extremists we helped train to kill the Russians are in Afghanistan. Mr. Magoo is too dumb and too old. McCain will blow a fuse before this is over and freak out. Iraq ain't your country and it ain't your oil!! Doo-dahs!

McCain states that he has more experience than Obama. The mark of experience is the ability to anticipate problems. It is the ability to be given information and be able to evaluate it. Obama and McCain had the opportunity to suggest that more troops were needed in Afghanistan Last summer Obama did that. It took McCain a full year longer to come to the same conclusion. The same thing happened with talking to Iran Obama suggests it late last year and earlier this year McCain called Obama naive. Now McCain recognizes his error and supports talks, but only as the president begins such talks.

Obama is not able to predict the future but he is able to listen to many people holding different opinions and to sift though that information and correctly analyze that problem. That is good judgement and good judgement comes from experience so apparently Obama has the ability to gain from his experiences better than McCain.

It is just like the three students all go to school for one year. One student goes to school only one day per week but reads and talks to other people who are experts on the subject and learns the material well. The second and third student go to school and attend their class but the second student simply is not that intelligent and at the end of the year has barely learned anything. The third student text messages back and forth with his friends but occasionally catches a word or two from the teacher but is there mostly for a good time. Obama would say that student one has the most experience even though he attended school the least he acquired the most knowledge but he did not do it the normal way. McCain would say that student two and three had the most experience because they went to school longer but did not learn as much.

If McCain has more experience than Obama he has not proven and so the claim falls flat.

What I think is scary is not that Obama did not want to visit the wounded troops, it the the people in this country that will sugar coat it give him a pass and think all is well in their little world.
I think Obama passed up a great time he could have pulled a Frank Burns and commanded those wounded soldiers to get out of that bed and head to Afghanistan! No Mash was funny this man is SCARRY!

lonewolf,
They started drilling for oil about the same time the New Zealand All Blacks started drilling your sister.

Next question.

lonewolf:

I wish I could stay and play, but I have to go out tonight. See you later ; )

Mike Nguyen:

Be sure to vote for McCain!!!

for all of the obama haters-----we are waiting for your fighter to come out of the lockeroom. please dry off his tears and give him some encouragement. oh and by the way----when did they start drilling for oil in the mississippi river?

The bottom line is "Obama is God," to most of liberal media, and Obama supporters. I am sick and tired of the "cult of personality," which is completely an old trick of the rulers of dictators.

The Audacity of Douchebaggery

The bottom line is "Obama is God," to most of liberal media, and Obama supporters. I am sick and tired of the "cult of personality," which is completely an old trick of the rulers of dictators.

"Lord -- Protect my family and me, Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will."

Is anyone really surprised that Obama and his stooges have continued to betray their disengenuousness by doing this!?

---------------

No at all!

it seems truly sad that the pentagon chooses to pick which candidates can politicize the visiting of troops who have served our country with honour, courage, and sacrifice. in the end however, obama did right by once again drawing out mcbush on an issue that a far more intelligent candidate would have refused comment upon. mcbush doesn't do this and doesn't do that. instead he sits at home and whines while screaming "foul" at every possible chance. why does he not go to europe? is it because he knows that instead of a warm welcome he will become a symbol of the ire europeans have for our present course of actions in this world? you bet he does. outmanouevered at every turn in the course he can do no more than critizize his opponent for being the aggresor. so now we have it- I JOHN MCBUSH COME FROM THE VERY SAME ILK AS THOSE ARROGANT AND STUBBORN NEOCONS IN WASHINGTON AND WILL DO AS I PLEASE, EVERYONE ELSE BE DAMNED!! out troops deserve better than to be treated as simple pawns by a man who so far has bored us senseless with his military record, and why is it that even the votes that our troops cast in the elections never seem to be counted on time? well it's very simple you see. the neos can always use these votes as their hole cards if the election gets tight. nothing more than mercernary pawns- that is what our men and women in uniform have become. next stop for obama-walter reed. and why not, he can prove he is the true leader of men now while johnny boy whines in another corner. always the hypocrite, johnny needs to temper his stubborness and anger and get in the game lest his lack of pragmatic participation loses the election of himself by default. 235,000 germans versus a braut? where is mcbushes answer for all of this? is he capable?

vegasgirl:

I doubt the Army is hurting for many 76-year-olds (I served my time during the Korean War, hon ; )

When we invade Iran ; )

Posted by: JakeD

Right, Jake -- now put your money where your mouth is and please go enlist.
And to Sic Semper Tyranus: No, YOU are a douchebag. Grow up, and get a life.
The sad fact is the McCain camp is green with envy that Obama's trip is basically a success, and all it can do is sputter with the same "admit the surge worked" spiel.
How boring, how patheti -- how typical.

Is anyone really surprised that Bush and his stooges have continued to abuse their power by doing this!?

---------------

No at all!

Norm:

I do not know what you mean by I do not know about the Partisan stuff. You chose to write a post that imitates the McCain campaign's position which is on the day that they wish to spread this bias and then you claim to be an independent. I reply to you what Obama said and you tell me that I am making a supposition. I admit to my bias and you do not. Had you said you were a McCain supporter I would feel that you are giving an honest opinion. Since you did not criticize McCain and did criticize Obama and did not condemn McCain's indifference on the veterans bill I have to conclude you are attempting to deceive the readers of this blog and that is contemptible.

You snide remark about his being organized comes from the fact that you made a complimentary remark about Obama and felt compelled to devalue him by calling it a traveling show. Norm that tells me you are the usually Republican troll that blogs here, that hides their identity and gives BS. You may well be the person blogging as Juan who tried the same trick as you hiding his identity. Better come back with a new name next time because you have been discovered again.

Obama's campaign wanted the full entourage w/media, the Pentagon reminded the Tour Manager that it is a hospital afterall and only the Senator and congressional staff were allowed (not campaign staff and media) so the Tour Manager pulled the plug.

Obama is a douchebag, end of story.

When we invade Iran ; )

So, When will McCain be visiting the troops he is so concerned about on the Iraq/Pakistan border?!?

goldie:

McCain authored an alternative GI Bill that gave more benefits the longer you stayed in the military, but did not support Webb's GI Bill because it would have driven down retention rates. That's the only reason Webb / Obama voted for it, as a back-door way of getting troops out of Iraq. It would have weakened the military around the world. Why can't the Democrats GROW BALLS and simply vote to de-fund the war directly? Isn't that what they were sent there to do TWO YEARS ago?!

never mind the economy, reading comprehension classes for all Americans should be the next president priority.

The Pentagon did not tell Obama not to come and see the troops. They said that he could come but had to come with no press and limited entourage since anything else would be construed as a campaign stop. The rational person would have said "O.K press, I'm going to be unavailable for a few hours, I 'm going to see the troops." But upon hearing that he could not bring press and the 300 people who are advising him, he said no deal and did not go. Crazy people may pin blame on the Pentagon for reminding Obama of protocols, but sane people know that all Obama had to do is follow them.

McCain is the one who does not support Veterans benefits. So who doesn't support the troops? McCain.

So I guess McCain would use visiting the wounded troops as a political backdrop during a campaign tour? He just criticizes anything Obama does even if the Pentagon said he must change his plans. I think Obama's Senate staff was in Washington. Not so easy to pull them over to Germany just so he can visit the troops. McCain would go anyway I suppose with his campaign staff? McCain just doesn't know what he is saying anymore. He is just mouthing off... that angry temper of his has got the best of him. I don't want that man in the White House. McCain doesn't have a Presidential presence.

So the Pentagon calls and says 'you're campaigning and can't come talk to the troops' and then tells the press 'sure he could have come here'.

Political appointees at the pentagon are 100% POLITICAL

Polling Data:
Poll Date Sample Obama (D) McCain (R) Spread
RCP Average 07/07 - 07/24 -- 46.4 41.6 Obama +4.8
Gallup Tracking 07/22 - 07/24 2695 RV 47 41 Obama +6.0
Rasmussen Tracking 07/22 - 07/24 3000 LV 49 44 Obama +5.0
FOX News 07/22 - 07/23 900 RV 41 40 Obama +1.0
NBC/WSJ 07/18 - 07/21 1003 RV 47 41 Obama +6.0
CBS News/NY Times 07/07 - 07/14 1462 RV 45 39 Obama +6.0
ABC News/Wash Post 07/10 - 07/13 LV 49 46 Obama +3.0
Reuters/Zogby 07/09 - 07/13 1039 LV 47 40 Obama +7.0

Is anyone really surprised that Bush and his stooges have continued to abuse their power by doing this!?

Bush was helping his terrorist buddy "McCain" by not allowing Obama to visit this at the last moment.

LOL, caliguy55, you keep posting that on every thread -- not realizing that Obama needs a MINIMUM of 270 to win -- "Obama maintains his substantial lead" my *ss!!

Barack HUSSEIN Obama will not be sworn in as President of the United States on January 20, 2009. Get used to it.

Norm
My guess is not a supposition Obama said that he did not want to appear arrogant and that is why he did not go to Landstuhl. The part about McCain attacking him for being arrogant is a projection of mine based on previous complaints of that type from McCain.

But Obama said that his reason for not going was to avoid appearing arrogant and to me with the length of the trip being what it is I think it might give that appearance.

I will continue later.

It is simple, all he had to do was to tell the press and the photographers to take an hour off, while he visited the troops without them. He chose to snub the troops in the interest of photo-ops and coverage.

This sort of sums this guy up, he is not Presidential material - not a class guy, no substance.

http://brokengovernment.wordpress.com

Obviously, Obama didn't want to take the time since his media buddies couldn't tag along and get all those campaign photo ops. Pretty shallow suit if you ask me.
I hope McCain holds his feet to the fire on this one!!

Let's talk about the soldiers, who have been electrocuted in Iraq because of faulty wiring in their quarters installed by a Halliburton subcontractor. Why doesn't the MSM do more reporting on this horrifying story of abuse of power by the Bush/Cheney Administration.

"Released: July 24, 2008

Zogby Electoral College Update:

Obama 273, McCain 146, with 119 Votes Too Close to Call

AZ, AR Move Red; FL and SD move from red to purple on the Zogby Electoral College Map at www.zogby.com

UTICA, New York - Four states have changed color on the Zogby Electoral College map at www.zogby.com, as presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama battle for the upper hand.

Obama maintains his substantial lead over McCain in the Electoral College race, the latest map shows, as he remains at 273 votes, but McCain loses 14 votes."

This is why McSame is becoming such a pathetic figure. Obama will beat him into the ground come November. And, McSame knows there isn't anything he can do to stop it. McSame's attacks will become even more negative as the election approaches. But, these attacks will only prove that McSame is devoid of any ideas as to how to clean up the mess left by the Bush/Cheney Administration. Obama 08!!!

The BUSHCO put obstacles in Obama's way.
Members of the State Department were ordered not to appear at Obama's event in Berlin. The Army command "gives a hint" that an Obama visit to the troops could be construed as "political" and therefore forbidden.
Obama did not visit the troops because the "warning" from the DOD was clear. Visit this base and we will embarrass you by making any excuse to "call your visit political" and therefore forbidden. The DOD warning was a Rovian ploy to catch Obama and put him in a position-Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
As one of the generals recently indicated there are more Democrats in the Army, than the current administration would like to acknowledge. GO OBAMA!! Our country is in trouble. WIN THIS election!!

The republicans were waiting for a gaffe to exploit, but I think they got so much more with this development. Look for a new commercial about this on youtube soon.

Dianne72- I think you meant to post that on another forum. Perhaps you meant to post it on a white-power website?

: Dianne72 you are showing the ugly part of the US with remarks you wrote on July 25, 2008 at 5:01 PM !

My daughter was born in 77 and my husband and I raised her to embrace all races and nationalities. So much so that she didn't know that there were people like you still left in our world. I showed her your remark and quite honestly, I have never seen such loath and discust form onto her face. "What and eye opener" she said..."I really didn't know that people still thought like they did in the 60's"...Lessons learned...sadly no not by Dianne, but for my daughter, yes

Why does WAPO give the campaign the benefit of a doubt by leading with its version of the story? The correct answer (and no one on the Obama camp denies this) is that the senator was welcome to visit, but would have to have done it without campaign staff and press. The story should have made that much more clear, and the reporter should have pressed the Obama campaign on that point. Poor reporting.

Cindy "cocaine" McCain would be passing oxycontin to all the female dignitaries. She would THE life of the party. Can't wait to have her in "White" House. It'll be filled with 'snow', you know what i mean

hey jeff08
he could have gone, but he could not have made a campaign program out of it.
he could have gone in without cameras and spectators and talked to our brave troops.
he chose to work out and go to paris, where he badmouthed his country.

Posted by: | July 25, 2008 4:25 PM
------------------------------------
Haven't you gotten it yet? Obama does not need to take cameras in to visit the troops. The media would have been more than happy to stand at the gates waiting for Obama with a shot of him leaving and a shot of him coming back; all Obama had to have done was smile on his way out and the media would have made a full article of it headlining, "Obama Gave New Life to Troops by Giving Them Hope that the War is Nearing End". The problem you Repukes have with this is Obama has stolen McSame's base--the media, so you think. In actuality, McSame and the rest of you Repukes actually gave the media to Obama with your poor policies over the past 8 years that has this country in a sunk hole.

Give me a break! If he doesn't go to the base he is blasted and if he was to go on the base he would have been blasted, that is the reality. For those that are worried their tax dollars are being used for the last leg of his trip..hence, Berlin and beyond, you are wrong UNLESS you are one of his Closet, Republican supporters! This last leg of his trip is paid from his campaign donations!

We all know that John McCain would have made a huge stink about it because Obama's campaign was finacing the trip...Just the appearance alone would have raised questions...

From a little town in rural Missouri, I look forward to Senator Obama becoming the next President of the USA!!

OBAMA 2008!

Obama is an embarrassment. Once the visit to the troops could not be a campaign photo opp, he cancelled it. He is a slimeball. McCain would have been there for sure.
Posted by: Dan M | July 25, 2008 4:37 PM

--------------------------------
McSame will be there for sure--bets bet you lil lying Repuke azz he's on the next flight there so he can say he went there and Obama didn't. See that's the problem with McSame, he has no strategy, so he's chasing behind Obama to rebuke his, lol...sit down old man, let some fresh young blood at it, lol...

Bitter and Clinging (@12:55 P.M.), loved your parody; it was hilarious! I hope you have other chapters in the making and will post the sequels.

Posted by: Judy Kilgore | July 25, 2008 4:37 PM
+++++++++++++++

I don't think B&C meant to take credit for it, it's by Gerard Baker in today's Times of London:
http://tinyurl.com/5bgetv

As a German let me assure you that Angela Merkel's refusal to let Obama speak at the Brandenburg Gate had nothing to do with the White House , but represented the opinion of most Germans.
Obama might be a huge cult like figure in your country but to us he is a politician who is looking for opportunities to further his political career .
The Berlin visit was a well staged media event and received as such.
His speech was political rhetoric and did not have any substance.
Sorry , Obama , but Europeans are very astute when it comes to their politics.

Posted by: Halina | July 25, 2008 12:43 PM
------------------------------------
Halina, are you speaking of all 200,000 that showed up, those that stayed home and watched it on T.V., or just you? 200,000 astute Germans--that's larger than any crowd Obama has spoken before her in the U.S. Either you are just not as "astute" as the others or you simply have your facts mixed up. The numbers don't lie, so it must be you. Oh what, know you are going to try and tell us that the folks standing in the crowd were on their way to the market--get real!!

Republican cowards continue to spew their lies...who actually wants 4 more years of the Republican Terror Regime!?

(well, of course other than the drugged out Rush Limppaw stooges.)

Obama is an embarrassment. Once the visit to the troops could not be a campaign photo opp, he cancelled it. He is a slimeball. McCain would have been there for sure.

This is outragous! Barack Hussein Obama has the time and energy to take his campaign to Europe but won't speak to our wounded troops? Are You freakin' joking? Who is this guy...really?

Posted by: Larry | July 25, 2008 9:33 AM
----------------------------------
Dear Dear Larry; I mean Dear Dear Larry, why is it that I have a feeling that if Barack Husssein Obama missed breakfact it would be "outragous" to you. Get over it, he is who he is...and if you don't understand that, he's "Barack Hussein Obama" to you, LOL...

Bitter and Clinging (@12:55 P.M.), loved your parody; it was hilarious! I hope you have other chapters in the making and will post the sequels.

You people are a disgrace to the USA. You are so ignorant to the facts. McCain sang like a bird before they released him from prison,left his very ill wife for a rich young girl, does not know what country is connected at the borders, he's in the early stages of demenics, and this is the best the Republicans can come up with. Sad,
Sad, Sad.

Ask McCain's first Wife, about McCain's Loyalty....oh and ask his kids too.

Should he not be campaign here is the USA. Last I checked we are the ones that vote. If Senator Obama is just doing it to make his foreign policy work strong its not working. Talking with a bunch of different governments is not the same as creating a policy and then having it succeed. It is kinda like if I wanted to be a lawyer and just started going to court and talking to other lawyers and plaintiffs.

Posted by: Storm | July 25, 2008 8:53
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Hey Storm, you are exactly right...like if you wanted to be a lawyer you should probably spend some time going to court and aligning yourself with other lawyers and yes even some plaintiffs. Oh and from the sound of your blog, it sounds like you are missing Obama here in the States. Not to worry, it's only a week long trip, he'll be back to see you real soon--you know like McSame did when he went to Iraq, Mexico, Afganistan, and the host of other places he's visited outside of the U.S. Didn't know that huh, well I'm not surprised because his trips didn't make any noise--surely he wanted them too, but there's no story there.

If a Pentagon requirement for a nonpolitical visit is all it took for Obama to opt out of a visit to wounded soldiers at Landstuhl, I don't think any American soldier would want that chickensquat watching their back in the White House!

Ask the Rev. Jeremiah Wright about Obama's loyalty!

McCain has no Family Values:

McCain has a reputation as a politician who has difficulty keeping his pants zipped, according to Republican sources. He acknowledges that his adultery broke up his first marriage. His second wife Cindy, the daughter of a wealthy Budweiser beer distributor, was addicted to prescription narcotics and even stole hard drugs from a medical charity that she ran. McCain acknowledges that she didn't want him to run, and only agreed once he promised that she doesn't have to go to New Hampshire or Iowa.

McCain is a Founding Member of the Keating Five criminal group:

Back in the old days, defendants in famous trials got numbers -- the Chicago Eight, the Gang of Four, the Dave Clark Five, the Daytona 500. McCain was one of the "Keating Five," congressmen investigated on ethics charges for strenuously helping convicted racketeer Charles Keating after he gave them large campaign contributions and vacation trips.
Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court after his Lincoln Savings & Loan collapsed, costing the taxpayers $3.4 billion. His convictions were overturned on technicalities; for example, the federal conviction was overturned because jurors had heard about his state conviction, and his state charges because Judge Lance Ito (yes, that judge) screwed up jury instructions. Neither court cleared him, and he faces new trials in both courts.)

Though he was not convicted of anything, McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating after Keating gave McCain at least $112,00 in contributions. In the mid-1980s, McCain made at least 9 trips on Keating's airplanes, and 3 of those were to Keating's luxurious retreat in the Bahamas. McCain's wife and father-in-law also were the largest investors (at $350,000) in a Keating shopping center; the Phoenix New Times called it a "sweetheart deal."

When Obama couldn't make a speech in front of thousands at Landstuhl, Obama cut and run for Gay Paree!

Gay Paree, like San Francisco, welcomed Obama with open arms and slobbering kisses!

Will Obama explain to the Gay Parisians why Americans cling to guns and God?

hey jeff08
he could have gone, but he could not have made a campaign program out of it.
he could have gone in without cameras and spectators and talked to our brave troops.
he chose to work out and go to paris, where he badmouthed his country.

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Hell yeah he is campaigning. This whole trip was a campaign gimmick and we tax payers are paying for it. He needs to be investigated NOW!
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LOL...can you start the investigation at the point where McSame challenged Obama to visit the troops in Iraq and Afganistan, lol...you Repuks are pathetic, first you chestize Obama for not going overseas and now you criticize him for going. What is it? Oh I know, you're pissed off because he didn't make any screw ups like McSame ALWAYS does when he's overseas--scratch that...screw ups like McSame ALWAYS makes everytime he opens his mouth. FEAR...FEAR...FEAR, one way or the other the Repukes are all about FEAR!

Would McCain even know where Germany was without Liebearmanpig's help?

We all know McCain is very concerned about the German/Iran, and Checkoslovakia/China boarders.

But what does he plan to do to battle Al-Qubert all the way to Mars!?

Obama isn't just any ol' chickensquat!

Obama reminds me of a chicken I once saw in a Los Angeles freak show! A chicken with two anuses!

Out of one, Obama lays eggs for his America-hating liberal base!

Out of the other, Obama lays eggs for Democrats who shrink from cutting and running!

Could America be in a bigger mess!?

Republicans have us at war in two countries as a result of Republican lies and deceptions, and we might be in two more wars--Iran and Pakistan--by November. We have alienated the entire Muslim world and most of the rest.

The dollar has lost 60% of its value against the euro, and the once mighty dollar is losing its reserve currency role.

The Republicans' policies have driven up the price of both oil and gold by 400%.

Inflation is in double digits. Employment is falling.

The Republican economy in the 21st century has been unable to create net new jobs for Americans except for low wage domestic services such as waitresses, bartenders, retail clerks and hospital orderlies.

Republican deregulation brought about fraud in mortgage lending and dangerous financial instruments which have collapsed the housing market, leaving a million or more homeowners facing foreclosure. The financial system is in disarray and might collapse from insolvency.

The trade and budget deficits have exploded. The US trade deficit is larger than the combined trade deficits of every deficit country in the world.

The US can no longer finance its wars or its own government and relies on foreign loans to function day to day. To pay for its consumption, the US sells its existing assets--companies, real estate, toll roads, whatever it can offer--to foreigners.

Republicans have run roughshod over the US Constitution, Congress, the courts and civil liberties. Republicans have made it perfectly clear that they believe that our civil liberties make us unsafe--precisely the opposite view of our Founding Fathers. Yet, Republicans regard themselves as the Patriotic Party.

The Republicans have violated the Nuremberg prohibitions against war crimes, and they have violated the Geneva Conventions against torture and abuse of prisoners. Republican disregard for human rights ranks with that of history's great tyrants.

The Republicans have put in place the foundation for a police state.

We must get the Republicans totally out of power, or we will have no country left for any of us!

Undoubtedly, in the Obama-manic worldview, anyone who has completed his six year obligation to the S