Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Obama’s Potemkin Military Reception=No Scandal-..were pre-screened,asked ...“Who voted for Obama?”
Flopping Aces ^ | 4-11-09

Posted on 04/12/2009 10:07:03 AM PDT by STARWISE

“Cheered wildly by U.S. troops,” begins Jennifer Democratic Operative Loven’s AP report on Obama’s surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday.

Quite a contrast to the silent treatment Marines gave Obama at his Camp LeJeune speech in late February. Just how did Obama manage to fix that little problem?

According to a sergeant in Iraq :

*****We were pre-screened, asked by officials “Who voted for Obama?”, and then those who raised their hands were shuffled to the front of the receiving line. They even handed out digital cameras and asked them to hold them up. [Via Macsmind.]****

As supporting evidence for the digital-cameras part of the story, the sergeant (or Mac, can’t tell which), suggests that the identical cameras can be verified in the AP photos. Looks right:

Charles Dharapak/associated press

So will the press cover this evidence of a staged and unrepresentative show of military affection for our anti-military president? The reporters were there. Did they actually see the troops being sorted by whether they voted for Obama, which the sergeant describes as happening on the spot?

Stephen Hurst’s AP report is upfront about Obama’s fervent desire for a hero’s welcome:

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama went for the defining television shot by capping his first extended foreign tour with a surprise visit to Iraq.

He got it – pictures of hundreds of U.S. troops cheering wildly as he told them it was time for the Iraqis to take charge of their own future.

Just no mention of HOW Obama managed to fake this response: Obama lover’s to the front!

FLASHBACK: How the press treated the merest impression of a staged troop response under President Bush, even when there was no actual manipulation

Remember this headline from 2005:

Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged

It dominated the headlines and the television news-analysis for days, and the fabricated scandal was utterly dishonest. The so-called “staging” involved no manipulation whatsoever. A group of soldiers who were scheduled for a televised chat with President Bush were “caught on tape” discussing ahead of time who would answer questions on what subjects. There was NO discussion of WHAT should be said.

Now there is evidence that Obama perpetrated an actual fraud right under the watching eyes of the press, handpicking Obama voters to represent on television the views of our soldiers, and the press reports nothing but the fraudulent story.

Piling it on

Of course the AP stories about Obama’s surprise Iraq trip are larded with other bits of pro-Obama, anti-Bush disinformation as well. Hurst ends with his own interpretation of the glorious new age of Obama:

The world has been alerted to a new U.S. approach that breaks with the “go it alone” style of Bush.

“Go it alone” as in going into Iraq with a coalition of 40 countries and an evenly split minority party (same degree of Democrat support in the Senate as opposition in the House).

Neither did the press note the glaring counter-factuals in Obama’s speech. From The New York Times:

The president said that it was time for Iraqis “to take responsibility for their country and for their sovereignty.”

So why does it take Gateway Pundit to point out that sovereignty has already been transferred in 13 of 18 provinces?

All the disinformation that fits in print.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bhodod; bhoiraq; bhotownhalls; bhovisit; cameras; diggit; fraud; iraq; mediaistheenemy; military; militaryvote; obamainiraq; obamatruthfile; obamavoters; propaganda; staging
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160161-170 next last
To: LUV W

Ahh LUV, thanks so much!!


141 posted on 04/13/2009 9:54:21 AM PDT by potlatch (A burden shared gets lighter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: PapaBear3625; didi
"Sorry, my point with the bumper sticker thing, is that they shouldn’t have been asking whom they voted for in the first place. At all. That is just wrong.

I agree. NOBODY should be asking members of the military who they voted for! That's just wrong!

I have serious doubts about this story. It just doesn't pass the smell test. There are DOD regulations against polling members, in this case directly, about who they intend to or did vote for. I believe that there's also Federal statutes that prohibit the same, but I'm not attorney, so I could be mistaken about the US Code.

I served under four different presidents. And, I was fortunate enough to be in attendance when three of them visited my camp or base. Two of the times, attendance was mandatory - it was a formation. The third time, during the height of campaign season, it was completely voluntary. As an officer, I was given explicit instructions that I couldn't pressure my subordinates to attend.

I find it very difficult to believe this happened the way the story describes. I'm much more inclined to believe that this was a voluntary event. It would explain the disproportionate minority representation that indicated in the photos that I saw. JMHO.

142 posted on 04/13/2009 9:56:17 AM PDT by Big_Monkey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: PhiKapMom
[Those cameras are all the same!]

Yep, the soldiers were handpicked and the cameras were given out and they were told to hold them ‘high’. Guess they forgot the very same ‘cameras’ would be obvious, lol.

143 posted on 04/13/2009 10:05:30 AM PDT by potlatch (A burden shared gets lighter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 106 | View Replies]

To: Big_Monkey

I think you’re exactly right about the regulations, but how do you explain the exact same cameras in the picture though?

There’s no way those present would happen to have that many of the same kind of cameras.


144 posted on 04/13/2009 10:29:54 AM PDT by Gordon Greene (www.fracturedrepublic.com - Jesus said, "I am THE way, THE truth and THE life." Any questions?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 142 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Greene
"There’s no way those present would happen to have that many of the same kind of cameras.

The are base exchanges in these forward deployed operating areas. The selection isn't great. I'm going to wager that the similarity of cameras is because the base exchange (or in this case, the Army PX) only sold that one model of camera. I think that's the more likely scenario.

I could be wrong. I suppose that there's a chance that one of the camera companies sent a pallet of give-away cameras to the Green Zone. When I was there, the troops got corporate freebies with some regularity - that was several years ago, so I'm not sure if it's still that common.

But, I know that there's NO WAY the White House or the DNC would have been allowed by the Pentagon to give away cameras. Such a brazen publicity stunt - no matter who the president is - is a no-go.

145 posted on 04/13/2009 10:37:00 AM PDT by Big_Monkey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 144 | View Replies]

To: Uncle Meat
This sounds as bad as his mama having to hang a pork chop around his neck to get the dog to play with him.

Where he grew up, hanging a pork chop around his neck would have greatly increased his "social undesirability".

146 posted on 04/13/2009 11:00:17 AM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Big_Monkey

Admittedly, I’d like to believe this about the Administration. The one thing that keeps going over in my head is that more than one out of that number of soldiers would get the word out even if it meant incriminating themselves. It’s kind of like the UFO thing to me... that much silence is unlikely.

That being said, I wouldn’t put it past them and wouldn’t discount the story completely.


147 posted on 04/13/2009 11:02:16 AM PDT by Gordon Greene (www.fracturedrepublic.com - Jesus said, "I am THE way, THE truth and THE life." Any questions?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 145 | View Replies]

To: SeminoleSoldier
There are clearly some cameras that are different (alot of those silver onese though I agree)

Well, a few people would have brought their own, just to document the mass of identical ones, don't you think?

148 posted on 04/13/2009 11:09:31 AM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 107 | View Replies]

To: TXnMA
By simply "color profiling" that photo, the fraud is obvious:

I don't think that the fraud following *just* from that.

If it had been a legitimate, but voluntary, event, you'd get plenty of self selection, without any blatant, "seeding" of the audience by Obama's handlers.

149 posted on 04/13/2009 11:11:58 AM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 127 | View Replies]

To: Big_Monkey
There are DOD regulations against polling members, in this case directly, about who they intend to or did vote for. I believe that there's also Federal statutes that prohibit the same, but I'm not attorney, so I could be mistaken about the US Code.

But remember, we are no longer doing things according the regs, the law, or the Constitution, we are doing them "The Chicago Way".

150 posted on 04/13/2009 11:14:16 AM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 142 | View Replies]

To: Big_Monkey
But, I know that there's NO WAY the White House or the DNC would have been allowed by the Pentagon to give away cameras.

Last time I checked, the Pentagon was lower in the food chain than the White House. The White House tell s the Pentagon what it may not do, or what it must, not the other way around.

Besides which, the leadership, especially the civilian leadership, at the Pentagon are appointed by the President, and approved by the now Rat Senate, and serve at his pleasure.

151 posted on 04/13/2009 11:17:33 AM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 145 | View Replies]

To: Big_Monkey; Allegra

See #43 and #53


152 posted on 04/13/2009 11:19:05 AM PDT by STARWISE (They (LIBS-STILL) think of this WOT as Bush's war, not America's war- Richard Miniter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 142 | View Replies]

To: Big_Monkey

ilitary who they voted for! That’s just wrong!

I have serious doubts about this story. It just doesn’t pass the smell test.

~~~

So you think this crew would give a
duck’s poop about that ?


153 posted on 04/13/2009 11:21:10 AM PDT by STARWISE (They (LIBS-STILL) think of this WOT as Bush's war, not America's war- Richard Miniter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 142 | View Replies]

To: El Gato
"But remember, we are no longer doing things according the regs, the law, or the Constitution, we are doing them "The Chicago Way".

The "military establishment" didn't disappear on Jan. 20. There still are hundreds of thousands of officers and SNCOs they take the regulations very seriously. I have no doubt that Alexrod et. al. are used to having their way back in Chicago. But, they're in a different league now.

Think back to what happened to Obama at Landstuhl. He wasn't allowed to take his camera's and his entourage into the hospital. The military takes protocol very, very seriously. They won't allow it to be abridged or compromised just because some political hacks say so.

There's no doubt that there respect for the office of President, no matter who the president may be. But, there's equal contempt by the military officer corps for the political machinery that surrounds any president, but I'm guess especially this president. The military isn't going to cede there obligations that easily.

154 posted on 04/13/2009 11:28:09 AM PDT by Big_Monkey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 150 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Greene
The one thing that keeps going over in my head is that more than one out of that number of soldiers would get the word out even if it meant incriminating themselves

They apparently have, you've just not come accross the places yet. Allegra gets her "G2" from the horse's mouth so to speak, independent of a couple of blog sites. She confirms the basics of the story.

155 posted on 04/13/2009 11:32:08 AM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 147 | View Replies]

To: Big_Monkey
Think back to what happened to Obama at Landstuhl. He wasn't allowed to take his camera's and his entourage into the hospital

He wasn't the President then, assuming he is now. He was just a first term Senator.

156 posted on 04/13/2009 11:35:30 AM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 154 | View Replies]

To: El Gato
"He wasn't the President then, assuming he is now. He was just a first term Senator.

I was at Camp Lejeune from '95 to '96. Clinton came just before Christmas (I can't remember which year) for a photo op. His advance people wanted to put up a background sign. I can't remember the verbiage, but it was just a little to political in nature. The CG said nope. The banner came down and was replaced by a big American flag. That's how it works. The President is Commander-in-Chief, but he's not the sovereign king. He has to follow the rules too.

If this Baghdad event happened the way it was described, which I believe is dubious, eventually there will be an investigation and the truth will come out - it always does.

157 posted on 04/13/2009 11:44:47 AM PDT by Big_Monkey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 156 | View Replies]

To: MSF BU; OldMissileer
If you are retired military then you must be retired for a LONG time not to know that there is a sizable welfare class, even among those in uniform.

Yep, I retired a few years ago and while I wasn't in during the election I knew plenty of folks that I suspect voted for Obama. They are probably more concentrated in the junior ranks but the senior ranks aren't immune.

And it isn't just the "welfare class". It's people who think The Daily Show is a real news show. It's people from families or areas that have always voted democrat and aren't going change just because they are now in the service.

158 posted on 04/13/2009 1:18:16 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: potlatch

Nice job potlatch.
The photo on the front page of the WSJ showed Obama fistbumping a black soldier in a sea of white faces.


159 posted on 04/13/2009 4:06:36 PM PDT by ntnychik
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: ntnychik
Thanks nit. Everything Obama does is prearranged. It's all a set up and the fans never know the difference.
160 posted on 04/13/2009 4:45:03 PM PDT by potlatch (A burden shared gets lighter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 159 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160161-170 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson