I'm thrilled he visited, and glad it was more than made out to be, but to paraphrase Chris Rock, that's what he's supposed to do. To split hairs, from the Campaign Spot:
Why Was Obama's Visit to Landstuhl and Ramstein Canceled?
The argument I'm getting from some readers over Obama's is that "Bush was very busy putting kinks in Obama's trip. Bush banned State Department Officials from attending Obama's speech."
"Bush" didn't; the State Department decided, with no real precedent for these circumstances, that U.S. diplomatic employees should not be seen at the event lest it be construed as an endorsement. We can argue about whether that's too strict, but I don't think it's unreasonable to argue that if you're overseas on the government's dime, you probably shouldn't be showing up at partisan political rallies.
Anyway, once again in the campaign, we've got the left hand of the Obama campaign not knowing what the further left hand is doing.
"We learned from the Pentagon last night that the visit would be viewed instead as a campaign event," the adviser, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, said in a statement. "Senator Obama did not want to have a trip to see our wounded warriors perveived as a campaign event when his visit was to show his appreciation for our troops and decided instead not to go."
This makes it sound like the Pentagon registered the objection. But the initial statement from Obama's spokesman didn't mention any objection from the Pentagon, and that Obama himself had decided it would be inappropriate.
Gibbs said the stop was canceled because Obama decided "it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign."
But most importantly, note this report from MSNBC:
One military official who was working on the Obama visit said because political candidates are prohibited from using military installations as campaign backdrops, Obama's representatives were told, "he could only bring two or three of his Senate staff member, no campaign officials or workers." In addition, Obama could not bring any media. Only military photographers would be permitted to record Obama's visit."
The mention of the "no campaign officials" rule is interesting in light of yesterday's report, in which someone familiar with the situation told me that rule was the main sticking point in the cancellation of the trip.
Guess who was stationed at Ramstein Air Base from 1990 to 1992? And who also served as director of the Plans and Policy Directorate at U.S. European Command Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany?
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, current policy adviser to the Obama campaign.
07/25 08:13 AM
It's just that any time someone starts talking about what's best for the world and how that should supersede what's best for the country, I get nervous. Where should our interests lie? Should we place the good of all countries above the good of our own, or should helping other nations take a back seat to the self preservation of our own ideology? I think taking the former approach ends up decreasing our ability to have an impact because our idiology is what drives us in a direction that allows us to help.
