Picture of the Day - 3
This is a picture they wanted out and they wanted it out today.
Why? It seems strange he'd bring Walter Reed up now, six weeks after the stories broke.
(President Bush shakes hands with the prosthetic arm of 1st Lt. Scott Quilty during a visit with patients at the physical therapy wing of Walter Reed Army Center in Washington, Friday, March 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert))
Later: I think I've got it. Bush met with the Congressional Republicans yesterday to try and gain their support for the battle over funding/withdrawal. I'll bet dollars to donuts that the Congressmen told Bush that he had to remediate the Walter Reed impressions if he expected support on Iraq.
If you think about it, you can imagine that conversation, "Mr. President, we want to support you in this war, but we are getting battered by our constituents over Walter Reed. Unlike you, we are worried about the 2008 election."
Later: Pentagon hires PR firm in aftermath of Walter Reed.
Later: Veterans groups were not so kind. (AP)
Retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, among retired military officers who took part in a conference call before Bush's visit, praised the president for seeing wounded soldiers. But, he added: "I'm convinced he would honor them more if he would refrain from using soldiers as props in political theater."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino called it "an unfortunate characterization" to say Bush was using Walter Reed as merely a picture-taking opportunity.
I tend to side with Bobby Muller, president of Veterans of America, rather than Dana Perino. I just don't see Bush visiting the PTSD wards. This was a photo op.
They're political props. Wounded soldiers used as political props.
posted by mikevotes at
1:23 PM
4 Comments:
I'm in 100 percent agreement with the political prop theory, but I can't help notice from this picture -- though he is still avoiding a genuine human-to-human interaction by touching a prosthetic limb -- that there is almost an "Oh. My. God. What have I done?" look in Georgie's eye.
I hope these brave soldiers haunt his dreams tonight.
By
Anonymous, at 3:03 PM
That's a pretty funny observation.
But I have to say there are a whole series of photos of him with another amputee (leg) working rehab where they are close and laughing and they guy's wife and baby are there. Very warm.
I chose this picture probably because of what you point out. It's Bush touching the damage he's caused.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 3:18 PM
Those are very prescient quotes. I especially like the one accusing him of visiting as a politician instead of commander.
As a combat veteran, I can respectfully say that our nation is not being led by a qualified or competent commander in chief.
By
Anonymous, at 8:58 PM
They struck me, too. Perhaps because being the picture buff I am and seeing so many Bush visits, I'm very aware that he only visits ceratin soldiers. They steer Bush well clear of the guys with tubes running out of them or the guys with brain injuries.
The vets making these statements aren't just seeing the "happy" wounded that Bush visits. They really see that the problems are far deeper and broader than these little quarterly visits represent.
We have a real problem. A huge problem. To me, the biggest issue is not the living conditions in Walter Reed, it's the fact that so many of the wounded are dropping out/falling through the system because they can't get through the beaureacracy.
That's unforgivable.
How in the fuck does a wounded soldier not have someone assigned to him to make sure they get the appointments, therapy, and medications they need?
How is there nobody on their side in the disability assessments?
They're treated as problems rather than soldiers.
(And, I think that the majority of the country would agree with your last statement.)
By
mikevotes, at 9:17 PM
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