Print'Spare me your anguish, Mr. President'
The Associated Press has published a moving piece about the emotional toll Barack Obama is facing as a wartime president. It was definitely moving, but good manners does not allow me describe what in me was moved.
As a Gold Star Father I am very suspicious of politicians posturing themselves for personal aggrandizement with the caskets of our fallen military.
The AP story reports on the president's October visit to Dover, Delaware to greet the caskets of our fallen soldiers.What the AP fails to report is the never-before and piquish posturing of a US President "greeting" our fallen heroes becoming just another powerful photo-op for history's most glamour-conscious government official. Mr. Obama said in an ABC interview when discussing his dilatory decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan:
"With this one, you feel it viscerally. You lose sleep. You think about families. You think about history."
"You think about history." Hence the cameras.
Forgive my skepticism but this "commander" in chief's ostentation and insolence makes sincerity on his part suspect at best.
There have been many wartime presidents who have faced "the difficulty and weight of sending young men and women into war", most for more than 330 days. Some spent actual years in office during wartime.
I agree that as president is it a "solemn obligation to make the best possible decision" when it comes to sending America's finest into combat. But Mr. Obama with your track record would it be possible just this once to do something of merit, something sacrificial, even something difficult without you telling us about it?
The burden of the presidency is no doubt extreme, but could you just this once spare me your anguish Mr. Obama?
