In the history of mankind, many republics have risen, have flourished for a less or greater time, and then have fallen because their citizens lost the power of governing themselves and thereby of governing their state. TR

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White House Dossier

Obama to Mark Memorial Day in Proper Style

President Obama today will mark Memorial Day in a way that is, well, presidential – meeting with families who have lost loved ones in wars and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier. Here’s the sched:

9:10 am || Hosts a White House breakfast for “Gold Star” families of those who have been killed in wars since World War II
10:10 am || Announces new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Rose Garden
10:55 am || Lays wreath at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; Arlington Cemetery
11:15 am || Participates in Memorial Day Service; Arlington Cemetery

All Times are Eastern.

Here, you may remember, is how he marked it last year – in Elwood, Ill.

He’d tried to squeeze a Chicago vaca in over the weekend and the day turned into a complete fiasco. He ended up addressing a hastily thrown together group of servicemen and women at Andrews Air Force Base that evening.

So kudos, Mr. President, for giving the country a proper way to remember its fallen heroes.

But please don’t go golfing.

21 thoughts on “Obama to Mark Memorial Day in Proper Style”

    3. Susan

      Maybe he can spend the afternoon out of the spotlight to reflect on his responsibilities and rest up from all that globetrotting. Hopefully he will sacrifice one afternoon on the links so that our military and their families in the area can enjoy a day of golf. How many weeks in a row was he hogging the course? The only reason he wasn’t there last weekend was because he was whooping it up in Europe.

  3. Tregonsee

    What a difference an OBL takedown makes. It is the only thing which has caused his approval ratings to twitch upward, so he is going to play at being Bush. Either one.

  5. sportinlife10

    Salena Zito is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staff writer and can be reached at 412-320-7879 or via e-mail.

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    A little more than a week ago, Vice President Joe Biden traveled to fundraisers in two battleground-state cities, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

    Neither stop included the White House press corps; requests by local media to cover the events were denied by the vice president’s press office. The Democratic National Committee arranged the events for the Obama Victory Fund.

    A number of seasoned political reporters and former White House press-office staffers consider that lack of coverage a dangerous precedent.

    “It would behoove the Obama administration to keep its promise of transparency even with fundraisers,” agrees Jeff Brauer, a political history professor at Keystone College. “The United States is a democracy, after all.”

    Having press coverage of fundraising events that feature the president or vice president matters for at least two reasons, Brauer explains.

    “One, large amounts of taxpayer dollars are being used for personal security at such events. As with all tax dollars, they should be spent with accountability.

    “Two, it is important for the public to know what the president and vice president are saying to donors. Is it the same message they are saying to the electorate at large?”

    Such knowledge helps citizens judge officeholders’ authenticity and integrity.

    The White House press office earlier this month rejected a request by the Boston Herald, a conservative-leaning newspaper, to cover an Obama fundraiser. The press office’s publicly “outed” e-mail said so-called pool reporters are chosen based on whether they cover the news “fairly.”

    Several former and current White House correspondents see presidents choosing who covers them as a nightmare scenario. The correspondents also are agitated by Biden’s refusal to be covered by local media, even if that means reporters cooling their heels outside an invitation-only fundraiser.

    “What if something happened to him?” is the question they raise.

    All administrations want to bask in a warm glow. All members of the press want to protect democracy by keeping the public informed and holding administrations accountable.

    Throughout American history, presidents — and politicians in general — have had tenuous press relations.

    President John Adams, a Federalist, went so far as to sign the Sedition Act of 1798, which made it a crime to publish “scandalous and malicious” writings about government officials.

    “Even before signing this act, Adams had Ben Franklin’s grandson, editor of a Republican newspaper, arrested on libel charges for writing accusations of incompetence against George Washington and of nepotism against Adams himself,” recalls Brauer.

    Franklin’s grandson died in prison, awaiting trial.

    The Sedition Act expired the day before Adams’ presidency ended; his successor, Thomas Jefferson, pardoned those convicted under it.

    Not until 1964, in New York Times v. Sullivan, did the U.S. Supreme Court resolve the constitutional issues surrounding press freedom and public figures. That case established the very high standard of proving “actual malice” for libel and defamation of those in the public eye.

    Late last month, the White House press office threatened to ban a San Francisco Chronicle reporter from pool reporting after she used a cell phone to record protesters heckling President Obama at a fundraiser.

    “The administration must simply get used to the idea that some media outlets are going to be critical, and that is healthy in a democracy,” says Brauer.

    John Adams did not learn that lesson. And it is no coincidence that he was the first one-term president and that his laws, such as the Sedition Act, were the death knell for his Federalist Party.

    Days before Biden was sworn in as vice president in 2009, he promised to be more open than his predecessor, Dick Cheney.

    Yet his official schedule more often than not lists meetings as “closed press” or shows no public events at all.

    You may not care what any vice president does. You may not care for the press, either. But you should care deeply about the fundamental right and obligation of the press to cover the vice president and president.

    Vice President Biden’s comings and goings should not occur in an unobserved world that, to paraphrase Biden himself, is a big bleeping deal.

    Dangerous precedent for press – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/zito/s_739337.html#ixzz1Nq8A15jK

    This link notes a press blackout for Biden fundraisers, the original link in RealClearPolitics for today.
    What do you make of that, Keith?

  6. srdem65

    We all wish that his new appreciation for our valiant soldiers isn’t just a political ploy to enhance his re-election efforts. But, we know it is.
    We also know that MrsO’s amazing discovery of military families and her concern for their welfare is as phony as her 1in eyelashes.

    I’m on the other side of MrO’s love of golfing. Why shouldn’t he golf today? The rest of the country will be doing the BBQ picnic, heading to the beach, going to the movies, or heading to the golf course.

  8. Granny Jan

    Meanwhile, the Obama war to destroy our civilization goes on.
    Hillary Clinton Releases Video Celebrating a Millennium of Muslim Inventions
    http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2011/05/hillary-clinton-releases-video-celebrating-a-millennium-of-muslim-inventions-what-inventions/

    Jim had a photo of a suicide belted islamfascist to illustrate the story.

    The muslims luck out here, too. It’s the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka who originated modern day suicide belts. The muslims are always copying other people’s inventions.

    1. sophie

      Granny, Hillary is well on her way to becoming a disgrace. Whether it is self-inflicted, or demanded by her ‘boss’ doesn’t matter. And I thought she was the lesser of two evils, apparently not.

      As to Obama’s schedule, wouldn’t it be great {and totally out of character} if he visited Walter Reed today ?

    2. srdem65

      Apparently MrsClinton has been on a plane too long and the lack of oxygen has affected her good sense. The Secretary of State promoting a religious group is not only insane but unlawful.
      This administration is trying their darndest to rile up the whole country. Every day brings a new outrage, a new insult or more lies.

  9. Mo

    All of a sudden he’s Ike and General George Washington rolled into one?

    Eh….don’t buy it. This hack does NOTHING publicly that’s not for political purposes. Now he’s in campaign mode, so he has to look Presidential. But if we’re fooled into voting for this disaster again, we deserve to lose our freedom that was so hard fought for. MY Memorial Day wish is that we start to think about what we are quickly losing, as we have an administration that runs by executive fiat, laws made behind closed doors and feckless lying.

    If I’m wrong, and Obama really starts acting like the POTUS of all of us, and not just the Leftist core, then good, I’ll be quite happy. But I’d bet heavily on the idea that he is just showboating here to buy votes, as he has almost nothing else to show for his term.

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