Conservatives' Dover talking point is half-right
October 30, 2009 2:12 pm ET by Matt Gertz
As conservatives have rent their garments over President Obama's decision to honor fallen soldiers by going to Dover Air Force Base to be there when they were returned to U.S. soil yesterday morning, they've invented a new talking point: President Bush was more respectful to the troops, because Obama "used the troops coming home in coffins as a photo op," while Bush would do so without getting the press involved. The talking point is half-right; Bush never brought the press to Dover to take pictures of him receiving the coffins, because Bush never went to Dover to receive to coffins.
Liz Cheney got the ball rolling yesterday on John Gibson's radio show by saying:
I think that what President Bush used to do is do it without the cameras. And I don't understand sort of showing up with the White House Press Pool with photographers and asking family members if you can take pictures. That's really hard for me to get my head around...It was a surprising way for the president to choose to do this.
Rush Limbaugh jumped on board this afternoon, airing Cheney's comments and saying:
President Bush used to do it, did you know that? We didn't know it, she just told us something we didn't know. Bush used to do it, but there were no cameras. He did it privately with the family.
Unfortunately, the reason we "didn't know it" is that it didn't happen. CBS News reported yesterday:
Mr. Obama's predecessor, President George W. Bush, visited the families of hundreds of fallen soldiers but did not attend any military funerals or go to Dover to receive the coffins. In a 2006 interview with the military newspaper "Stars and Stripes," Bush said he felt the appropriate way to show his respect was to meet with family members in private.
So there you have it. Bush never took the press to Dover because he never went there in the first place.
I don't think that Ms. Cheney or Rush have a clue about the truth and both are willing to use this against the president at the expense of those who've given their lives in defense of the nation.
I believe he spent about two hours first with the families there. Obama then left a small chapel and got into the cargo transport plane when prayers were said for all the lost servicemen and the 3 DEA agents. Then he stood outside and saluted them all.
The media only witnessed one. I think Obama witnessed them all.
If that doesn't shut their clueless pie holes, nothing will.
And George W. Bush never paid respects there. he kept as far away from the coffins as possible, knowing he was responsible for them being filled.
If they wanted a truly heartfelt Reagan eulogy, they should've been SS.
When I heard that the president 'returned to the White House' at 4:30 am or so, all I could think was he's going to be hellified tired.
President Obama and the White House were respectful of the families privacy. Seventeen of the eighteen families turned down the request for cameras, and their wishes were honored.
I have no idea why GWB did not go to Dover, but compared to what I saw yesterday, it made GWB look like a man who couldn't or wouldn't face up to the conseqences of his decisions.
Before making statements like you made, you might want to do some research. Only the FAMILIES of the fallen may grant permission for cameras to be at the return. It had nothing to do with Obama.
As for Bush being more "respectful," give me a break. He sent over 4,000 to die and even more to be horribly maimed in an unnecessary war of his own choosing. He has no respect for anyone.
Prove the WH "request[ed] cameras", please. I won't be waiting for a response.
First of all that sentence doesn't even make sense. Secondly, do you think Ms. Cheney, or do you know? Or are you just a paid hack?
You're right, but technically she didn't lie. Her quote is "I think..."
Further, I have listened to her on some talk shows, and she never, never answers the question. She reroutes the question, and gets the talking points that she wants to highlight.
What drives me nuts is; nobody ever says, Well that's fine, Ms Chiney,(pronounced Chiney according to Chris Matthews and Lynn Cheney) but I will refrase, so you can answer the question I just asked.
She is a lying hack, and she is allowed to get away with it.
Perhaps that's because Bush did not forego golf during the war.
I almost feel sorry for you conservatives at how misinformed you are most of the time.
How about you not send them to war under false pretenses in the first place?
They all are chicken hawk cowards,,,,, could not have enough respect to show for all the families of the ones they send into harms way.
and rushbuttboil you are one of the top five cowards there is.
Bush and Cheney sent our men and women off to be slaughtered on the cheap, and brought their carcasses back on the cheap, because the coffins were carried in the belly of cargo planes as FREIGHT. THAT'S why they demanded the cameras be turned off.
This is exactly what you expect of these Orwell-speak psychopaths in the "Support the Troops" crowd - chickenhawks all. The only thing they cared about was securing the oil. Eliminating all these poor and working class young Americans was simply a perk to them - a way of carrying out an unspoken agenda of economic eugenics.
Bush has a problem going to military bases. This problem dates back to the 1970s, when he stopped showing up for duty when he was in the Air National Guard. He stopped showing up when they started doing random drug tests......