August 26, 2005
"Today's Presidential Action"
August 24, 2005
Retreat And Isolation Will Not Make America Safe; We Must Complete The Mission In Iraq
The mother of four son's currently deployed to Iraq, Tammy Pruett, is embraced by President George W. Bush following his speech at Idaho Center Arena, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005 in Nampa, Idaho, honoring the service of National Guard and Reserve troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. White House photo by Paul Morse
fact sheet/more photos [whitehouse gov.]
>related: Bush backers give speech 20 standing O's
NAMPA, Idaho -The standing-room-only crowd punctuated the president's 40-minute address regularly with applause and nearly 20 standing ovations.
"A heavy burden falls on our military families. There are few things in life more difficult than seeing a loved one go off to war. They miss you and love you," the president said. "By standing behind you, the families are standing up for America."
At the end of his speech, the president acknowledged the fallen, noting 491 of more than 1,800 soldiers killed in Iraq were National Guard troops. "We mourn the loss of every life," he said. "We will honor their sacrifice by completing their mission."
press release
~An e-mail friend sent this press release along with the observation, "You know, 20 years ago, 10 years ago this would have been satire. 5 years ago?"
[Cieciel] I don't think our President would allow himself to be photographed, for example, with the young man in the photo below. That is, I haven't seen any photos of this President (other US presidents in recent years too?) with crippled soldiers. Hugging parents is as close as they can get to the damage they've done.
Or perhaps photos of the President with wounded soldiers is not the message the Whitehouse is trying to convey. We are united at war: this is not the time for healing and reconciliation.
>for what it's worth: google image search "president bush" hospital (searching within these results with 'veteran' added nothing)
Doing a similar search for Clinton shows that neither of these presidents were (often or ever?) photographed with severely wounded soldiers or for that matter crippled civilians. (Imagine what our enemies would do with pictures of America's presidents showing compassion?) There are photos on google of both Clinton and Bush honoring veterans at the Arlington Cemetery.
Posted by Cieciel at August 26, 2005 12:08 AM