Standing Ovation for Rumsfeld in D.C. (President Bush Stand by His Man)

DrudgeReport ^ | 5/31/04 | DrudgeReport

[NYC Republican]

Developing...

[NYC Republican]

I'm so glad President Bush did the right thing and firmly stood by Rummy in Rummy's time of need.

[AngieGOP]

It was great. Rummy derseves it. I hope Bill, Hill, Gore and Ketchup Boy are dismayed.

[NYC Republican]

Here's the story

U.S. President George W. Bush has acknowledged the "great costs" of American military deaths from his administration's war on terror at a Memorial Day service as the combined U.S. death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan climbed toward the 1,000 mark.

On top of a rainswept hill in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington on Monday, the Republican president placed a wreath at the marble tomb of unidentified soldiers killed during the two world wars and in Korea, before bowing his head for a national moment of silence.

He then stood at a podium in the cemetery's marble-columned amphitheatre to extol the "decency" and "brave spirit" of U.S. soldiers overseas and describe the Iraq of Saddam Hussein as a terror regime akin to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, which sheltered Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda militants.

"The war on terror we're fighting today has brought great costs of its own," Bush said.

"Those who have fought these battles and served this cause can be proud of all they have achieved. And these veterans of battle will carry with them, through all their days, the memory of the ones who did not live to be called veterans," he added.

"This is the loss to our nation," the president said.

Clashes with Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim insurgents in Iraq raised the U.S. death toll there by more than 200 in April and May. The two-month figure compares with the 138 U.S. soldiers who died during the major combat operations in Iraq that Bush declared over on May 1, 2003.

Official Pentagon statistics show 802 U.S. dead and 4,682 wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom as of Friday morning. Another 122 have died and 310 have been wounded as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, mainly in Afghanistan.

The official figures do not include at least five soldiers in Iraq and four in Afghanistan killed during the weekend.

WAR PRESIDENT

Bush, who avoided combat in Vietnam while serving as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, calls himself a war president for his re-election campaign against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran.

Kerry made his own Memorial Day visit to the Vietnam Veterans' memorial, where he laid a wreath with the family of a soldier who died in 1976 battle injuries he suffered in 1968. Kerry had pushed to have the man's name added to the list of 58,000 Vietnam fatalities engraved on the black granite wall.

Arlington is one in a series of war-related appearances for Bush, who spoke on Saturday at Washington's new World War Two memorial and will visit France on June 6 for the 60th anniversary of the Normandy invasion.

However, Iraq has become a political liability for the president in recent months, with the approaching June 30 handover to an Iraqi interim government overshadowed by insurgent violence and a scandal over abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Appearing on stage with embat

tled Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Bush lauded the character of U.S. military personnel who he said have made America safer by ending "two terror regimes" and freeing more than "50 million souls".

"Since the hour this nation was attacked, we have seen the character of the men and women who wear our country's uniform," said the president, who has backed Rumsfeld despite calls for Pentagon chief's resignation over his handling of Iraq.

"We have seen their decency and their brave spirit," he added.

A presidential visit to the Tomb of the Unknowns has long been a U.S. tradition on Memorial Day, a holiday of remembrance dating back to the aftermath of the Civil War.

[McGavin999]

I watched it. That is the closest I've ever seen that man come to tears. It must have overwhelmed him.

Our media is so completely out of touch with America it would be funny if it weren't so tragic.

[NYC Republican]

I can't wait to watch the highlights on the news... Yeah, right...

[NYC Republican]

Who was in the audience? Congress? Was it bi-partisan? Did the Dims applaud?

[Lady GOP]

I'll See You And Raise You Two

THE HONORABLE DONALD RUMSFELD

Donald Rumsfeld was born in 1932 in Chicago, Illinois, attended Princeton University on scholarship, served in the U.S. Navy (1954-57) as an aviator, and was All Navy Wrestling Champion. Married in 1954, he and his wife Joyce have three children and five grandchildren.

Mr. Rumsfeld is in private business and is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gilead Sciences, Inc. He serves as a member of the boards of directors of ABB (Asea Brown Boveri) Ltd. (Zurich, Switzerland), Amylin Pharmaceuticals, and Tribune Company. He is also Chairman of the Salomon Smith Barney International Advisory Board and an advisor to a number of companies, including Investor AB of Sweden. He is currently Chairman of the U.S. Commission to Assess National Security Space Management and Organization.

In 1962, at the age of 30, he was elected to his first of four terms in the U.S. Congress. In 1969, he resigned from Congress to join the President's Cabinet. He served as Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity and Assistant to the President, and later as Director of the Economic Stabilization Program and Counselor to the President. In January 1973 he was posted to Brussels, Belgium, as U.S. Ambassador to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In August 1974, Mr. Rumsfeld was called back to Washington, D.C., to serve as Chairman of the transition to the Presidency of Gerald R. Ford. He served as Chief of Staff of the White House and as a member of the President's Cabinet, 1974-75, and as the 13th U.S. Secretary of Defense, 1975-77, the youngest in history.

In 1977, Mr. Rumsfeld left Washington, D.C., after some twenty years of public service and lectured at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs and at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management prior to entering business.

In June 1977, he became Chief Executive Officer of G. D. Searle & Co., a worldwide pharmaceutical company, where he served until 1985. The turnaround there earned him awards as the Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in the Pharmaceutical Industry in 1980 and 1981. He was in private business from 1985 to 1990. From 1990 to 1993, Mr. Rumsfeld served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Instrument Corporation, a leader in broadband and digital high-definition television technology. After taking the company public, Mr. Rumsfeld returned to private business.

During his years in business, he has continued public service in a variety of federal posts including service as President Reagan's Special Envoy for the Middle East, and as a Member of the President's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control, and the National Economic Commission. His current civic activities include service on the Boards of Trustees of the Chicago Historical Society, Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, the Rand Corporation and the National Park Foundation. He is also a member of the U.S.-Russia Business Forum, and recently completed service as Chairman of the U.S. Government Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States.

Honors include: Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (1975), George Catlett Marshall Award (1984), Woodrow Wilson Award (1985), Dwight Eisenhower Medal (1993), and eleven honorary degrees. In 1977, Mr. Rumsfeld was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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[Vision]

Amen

[no dems]

I understand your frustration. It certainly won't be on SeeBS but we are getting a lot of mileage this weekend out of the WWII Memorial Dedication (The Prez did a great job), Today's activities televised world-wide and on June 6 when President Bush attends the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

I must say that I was a little surprised that the applause for The President was more subdued at the WWII Memorial Deication than I thought it would have been. But then, most of these old timers are from the FDR era and remember the Great Depression. You know, "born a Democrat, die a Democrat" mentality.

[Not A Snowbird]

Bush, who avoided combat in Vietnam while serving as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard

They just have to toss that bias in, don't they?

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

I saw it on FOX. It was stunning and emotional to say the least. One of the newscasters said he sits (or sat) in meetings with Rumsfeld and knows his voice. When Rumsfeld calmed the crowd down and started speaking, he said Rumsfeld's voice sounded on the verge of tears. I'm paraphrasing. He didn't exactly say it in that way, but that is the message he conveyed. All I could think of at the time is that all Democrat must be on life-support.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Democrat = Democrats. I guess I'm still excited about it.

[BlessedBeGod]

Married in 1954, he and his wife Joyce have three children and five grandchildren.

Wow, he's been married 50 years this year? That's quite an achievement in itself. Congrats, Sec'y Rumsfeld!

[Paul Atreides]

W is making the world a safer place, while Algore is out blathering about a stinkeroo movie.

[AngieGOP]

Rummy's ovation was awesome. The President's speech was great. You could see that he was genuinely moved by the snippets of the letters he read.

[WestCoastGal]

I was so happy to see him get a standing ovation. He tries to be a tough guy most of the time, but today emotion almost got him. Got me for sure!! Someone on the Arlington thread said President Bush whispered to Rumsfeld "See They Love You".

I didn't hear what he said, I saw that happen but cannot confirm if true. I hope it is.

[NativeTxn]

I saw a clip of Kerry at the memorial yesterday and he was walking along a fence trying to wave and shake hands with some of the old vets. They absolutely ignored him. He was smiling and most of them just turned their heads.

[evets]

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

I saw a clip of Kerry at the memorial yesterday and he was walking along a fence trying to wave and shake hands with some of the old vets. They absolutely ignored him. He was smiling and most of them just turned their heads.

LOL!!! I'm sorry I missed it!!!

[STARWISE]

Bush Honours US War Dead

From Reuters UK, and, of course, they couldn't resist a slam with their biased reporting:

"Bush, who avoided combat in Vietnam while serving as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, calls himself a war president for his re-election campaign against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran.

Kerry made his own Memorial Day visit to the Vietnam Veterans' memorial, where he laid a wreath with the family of a soldier who died in 1976 battle injuries he suffered in 1968. Kerry had pushed to have the man's name added to the list of 58,000 Vietnam fatalities engraved on the black granite wall.

Arlington is one in a series of war-related appearances for Bush, who spoke on Saturday at Washington's new World War Two memorial and will visit France on June 6 for the 60th anniversary of the Normandy invasion.

However, Iraq has become a political liability for the president in recent months, with the approaching June 30 handover to an Iraqi interim government overshadowed by insurgent violence and a scandal over abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Appearing on stage with embattled Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Bush lauded the character of U.S. military personnel who he said have made America safer by ending "two terror regimes" and freeing more than '50 million souls'".

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was a poignant and moving ceremony and the standing O that the CIC received was tumultuous and grand, and very deserved. I think Bush and Rummy both were moved to tears. The nightly horrors on their minds have got to be such agony, for these are good and decent men of honor.

Also so wonderful was the PBS Memorial Day Celebration .. it was incredible .. Ossie Davis, Charles Durning, Tom Hanks, Joe Montegna .. all filled with love, deep admiration and respect for our soldiers, from the past and now. At one point, after Joe Montegna and another actor read letters from two amputees .. one from Viet Nam and one from Iraq .. wherein the Viet Nam vet who struggled after a brutal mine injury that caused the loss of both legs, recounts the years of re-learning how to live again, writes how he visits the current amputees in the hospital to let them know they can do it, too. It was a 5-tissue segment, and then .. at the end, the actors, including Montegna and Hanks, walked right down to the front row, where they greeted and hugged the severely wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan .. I just sobbed .. it was so moving.

The show is is still on now at 2:10 EST... near the end, tho. The music from the 40's and 50's .. big band stuff and dancing the jitterbug .. and even the somber Ave Maria played as the names of all the dead soldiers was scrolling above on a screen. It was a fabulous, moving, patriotic and soldier-focused event.

God bless all our brave troops .. protect them, keep them in your care, and keep us safe.