The Obama Memorial Day

I cast about for opportunities to post my various thoughts on this site, and I often have to yield to the numerous interferences and urgencies in my life that interrupt the flow of postings.  I pass by many stories because their timeliness fades, but I cannot go much further without returning to an item from last week, on Memorial Day.

I have written before about Obama’s narcissistic attitude (and I am certainly not unique in noticing), particularly when it involves the military.  My latest post on that topic is here, but this one provides a good example too.  A normal person would take heed of the criticism about this flaw and at least try to make adjustments to its perception, if not consider a genuine appraisal of one’s outlook about how he fits into the mix of humanity.  But he and his handlers are determinedly blind to it, thus showing how all the more serious is this blight.

This particular instance was at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC – the Vietnam Wall – the two reflective, dark granitic walls, set at an angle and sunk into the ground, listing the names of the dead and missing from that war.  (The design remains controversial, certainly in my mind as in many others, but that is not the purpose of this post.)

The first item I noticed stunned me, but not in the way it was intended by the White House photographer and the campaign:

Official White House photo, Pete Souza 

Sure, there is a wall, but the central aspect is the silhouette of Obama, with halo.  It does not require much reflection on the photo to understand how carefully thought out, positioned and posed this is to render this effect.  This isn’t a mere Memorial Day – this is Obama’s Memorial Day.

Add to that the fact that the park was shut down, barred from the families and friends who wanted to attend the wall on this day in particular, for seven hours.  Seven hours in order to render a fifteen-minute speech, with photo op, to his select audience.

All in all, though, it was a good speech.  A welcome note was Obama’s acknowledgement of the orchestrated disrespect of the Left, in all its forms, against the returning veterans from Viet Nam.

You were often blamed for a war you didn't start, when you should have been commended for serving your country with valor.  You were sometimes blamed for the misdeeds of a few, when the honorable service of the many should have been praised.  You came home and sometimes were denigrated, when you should have been celebrated.  It was a national shame, a disgrace that should have never happened.

True enough, and I thank him for those words so very long overdue from one of his ilk, compatriot to William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, and unknown others – unknown because of the yawning chasm of information about Obama’s background that is scrupulously unexplored.  But at least he said it, and I can hope that he was sincere in saying it, even if those who should hear and heed those words ignore them.  After all, only Nixon could go to China.

But then back to a discordant note:

As long as I’m president, we will make sure you and your loved ones will receive the benefits you’ve earned and the respect you deserve.  America will be there for you.

It is all up to him – “As long as I’m president”?  A veteran’s benefits are at stake if Obama is out of the equation?  He just can’t resist that electioneering bargaining.  Wouldn’t it be so much better, and truly bipartisan, to say “America must ensure that you receive the respect that you have earned and that you deserve.  America must be there for you.”  The benefits, to avoid the appearance of bargaining chips, should be presumed within the word ‘respect’.

I look forward to see the translation of his remarks throughout the liberal establishment.  I will let you know when that happens, but don't hold your breath. 

And I really wish this cult of personality would just stop.