Gates is in a tough position. Here he's trying to conduct a war, but has a boss that doesn't have a clue about how to do it. Gates and Panetta are a lot alike in that regard. Both good men with a lousy manager above them trying to undermine everything they are tyring to do to protect the country.

WILL, ROSWELL, GA:  ‘…It is about this time that I start wondering whether Hilary Clinton could have done a MUCH better job with this - she would not have been blinded by some "bipartisan" light at the end of a tunnel - she would have recognized it for what it was - a Right Wing Runaway train of hypocritical Senators & Congressman already receiving THEIR share of OUR taxpayer paid socialized benefits!

Let's hope Obama's rhetorical skills can help salvage this wreck!...’

It’s a good point
The current problem with HCR is not the Republicans
The problem with HCR is Obama’s inability to lead
You can get the Public Option by using RECONCILIATION in the Senate
WHY NOT USE IT ????

Bush Did !
WHY CAN’T OBAMA ???

It would have been better not to have released the photos.  Nothing gained...A lot lost.

Clara:  Thanks, you could be right-on that we pick-up three Senate seats.  I guess I didn’t have the courage to go that far out on the limb.  It feels good to be on the same page with someone as smart as you. Have a great weekend.

Pat: Great post this morning: The man with the intellectual, independent mindset is still there. He is at his best when he is “renegade”, out there, sometimes alone.  Being too cautious or too political, or listening to Rahm Emanuel is a strong temptation for him.  I think what we will see next Wednesday is a full-blown renegade. Win or lose, he will fight for HCR.  Enjoy the stories and history of NYC. Doubt if you will spend much time at Yankee Stadium.

Bush struggled with press too. In time of war, you need to balance reporting the overall facts against reporting the grim facts of war. We live in a free society though, and Bush stayed silent about the presses reporting, and his ratings suffered. Now Obama has the same problem. We'll see if the liberal press is more favorable to Obama then it was to Bush.

thought America was FOR spreading Democracy around the world??

Ohhhhh, That was when the Republicans were in office and America was for FREEDOM.  never mind.

From a previous post, I just had to respond.
Why do republicans feel they can only spread democracy from the end of a gun. It worked so well in Iraq and Afghanistan hasn't it?(what a joke) The Honduran constitution and judicial system would have not allowed the ousted president to do away with term limits unless the majority of Honduran citizens voted to do away with term limits. That's called democracy! Not to long ago in our own country after FDR we also voted to have term limits imposed. We called that democracy! Now the Honduran military has taken over claiming they were protecting their democracy  by ousting and running out of their country one of their own citizen without letting him finish his legal elected term. That's not called democracy, that is simply brutality at the end of a gun! So I'm pleased that we have cut off funding assistance from their country and the current mmilitary who are now running that country. Beides it high time we stop aiding other countries when our own deficits are as high as they are and were going bankrupt with our own economic issues. Let the Hondurans and other countries fend for themselves for a change and they might realize just how giving of a nation we truly were and realize what a great nation we truly are. thank you first read for allowing this posting.

"...The issue here is not law, policy or constitutional right -- but judgment and common decency."  Robert Gates (a Republican)

I agree and my heart goes out to the Bernard Family.

This issue makes me wonder, when will the idea of judgment and common decency cross over to the chattering class trying to tear down our President?  I'm sorry I don't recall the name of the poster yesterday that stated that the Republicans are making a thousand cuts to our President.  Why isn't there greater outrage over this?

What ever happened to common decency?  What, exactly, did the AP hope to achieve by publishing this picture?  Was it to inflame passions against the war?  Educate the public?  As to what, exactly?

The entire media has abdicated responsibility and common sense.  We are inundated with stories about the teenaged father of a former politicians daughter's son, diatribes against views that oppose the president's, and now, graphic footage of the injuries of a fallen hero.

Disgusting, absolutely disgusting.

FR: "Gates followed up with a scathing letter to Curley yesterday afternoon."

Sounds like Gates got pushed into writing this letter by the political wing of Democratic party. Gates is  a good man, too bad he's being manipulated by the far left liberal weenies of the Democartic party.

War IS hell. It's sad that Obama and Company somehow think it's a video game.

Time for another round of golf Mr. Commander in Chief?

Disturbing & Disgusting that the AP would go against the family’s wishes!

Is the Associated Press stooping to the National Enquirer level?

Appears so…

Good for Mr Gates for trying to protect the family of a fallen solider serving our country.  Shame on AP for not having compassion.  My question:  as during the Bush years, will the radical left anti-war movement praise AP for publishing the photo since they seem to love putting any negative attenion on our military that they can?  Or will they show sentiment toward a family who just lost a son who was protecting our country?

" Sounds like Anita has been drinking the blueberry Kool-Aid today.  Yesterday's rants had a hint of strawberry to them. Hope she lays off the juice over the weekend.  
31 Flavors
-----------

Baskin and Robbins...fruit juicy and strawberry is my favotite. Since it's a holiday weekend, I'll add a little vodka to it.

Anita, Birmingham, Alabama (Sent Friday, September 04, 2009 10:15 AM)
-----------------------------------------
Kudos on turning a bad insult into a good joke.  This place could use some more levity.

This just breaks my heart. The family of a fallen veteran should ALWAYS have their wishes respected. This should have been a no brainer for anyone involved.
Thank God there a still some news organizations that chose to do the right thing.

The AP is a scum sucking organization by blowing off the family's wishes to not have the picture of their unfortunate son all blown up.  The AP has been part of the right wing spin machine and isn't worth trusting anymore.  Just a bunch of ambulance chasers looking for something catchy to gain viewers.

"Pagan Meaning and Definition
(n.) One who worships false gods; an idolater; a heathen; one who is neither a Christian, a Mohammedan, nor a Jew.
(n.) Of or pertaining to pagans; relating to the worship or the worshipers of false goods; heathen; idolatrous, as, pagan tribes or superstitions."
Jones,Wv

Hey Jones - thanks for the creepy christian definition of a pagan, but then since christian, jews and muslims all pray to false gods then everyone is a pagan.  Since Pagans pray to the Sun and revere Nature they are far closer to the truth than you creeps will ever be praying to your false son.  You fools of faith are the downfall of our secular democracy and are as UnAmerican as they come as you try to force your superstitions upon all of us.  Us Non-Theists are the only ones who have the false god nonsense figured out correctly and factually.  Besides what does your garbage have to do with politics?

Just Say No to All False gods!

Defense Secretary Gates should not expect morality on this type of thing. In an era when the President of the United States is called a Nazi and we cannot agree to disagree, news outlets only serve to feed the public anger and distrust. I had so much hope in November 2008 that things would get better. I am so sad that I was wrong.

WE are the Associated Press.. We like showing DEAD Americans....Typical of the leftist America haters

Communist VAn Jones anyone? anyone?
Rangle paying off investigators..anyone anyone?

And FR, where's the story on Obama managing to release the White House visitor logs without actually releasing them?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32447886/ns/politics-white_house/

For someone who never passed the bar, that man has an ability to write between the lines that would make any ambulance chaser proud.

Common decency is right!!
Keith O. needs to make the AP the worst person in the world tonight!!

From NBC’s Courtney Kube
For the first time since he took office as Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates has reached out to a news organization to ask them not to publish a photograph.
----------------------------------------------------

MSNBC, please do not publish the photo's or video. Please respect the family's wishes. They should not be forced to endure watching the death of their child being relived on news shows just to boost ratings. Please do not release them...

Answer for a previous posting:

"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."
- Henry Ford
Jym Allyn
------------

Thanks for the shout out Jym. I just had to finally put it out here. The Media is tap dancing around it and it’s sickening.

They just want to please the right wing and go along with the status quo. I am so sick and tired of false faces and BS that I am beside myself. Every one of them has a stake in the crap.

Jym, what they don’t understand is that, there are a “lot” of people out here that feel the same and see through them. I will stop lending opinion on what I propose that the President will do and what I want.

When ever we do that...it's used against him. I am waiting to hear what he has to say, because what we are getting is speculation and gossip from the press. The president nor his staff has released any information.

BWT…the statement from Henry Ford you posted speaks volumes. The people that are opposed to Health Care Reform are reminiscence of evey "new" pospect of change that this Nation has experienced. They are fighting it now, but will embrace it later. Just as they did automobiles and Medicare.

While Obama slogs through health care, many of Americas finest are dying, and for what? I voted for Obama, voted for him to end these two mistakes of wars, and he's done nothing to end them. In fact, Obama is escalating the war in Afghanistan. What exactly is Obama trying to do in the god-forsaken country? I doubt we will ever elect as pacifist
liberal president as Obama again, but if he won't stop these senseless wars, who will?

Is the Associated Press stooping to the National Enquirer level?

Appears so…

Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL

The National Enquirer bases it's stories on well researched facts (see the John Edwards story for details). The AP wouldn't be moving down to the NEs level, it would be moving up.

>>>Obama is weak and indecisive, period.  That is why healthcare is failing and that is why his term will be a failure.  Repub 4 life (Sent Friday, September 04, 2009 9:57 AM)<<<

Repub, my old friend ~ What has happened to you?  You and I both know that healthcare reform is failing because CONGRESS is weak and indecisive ... democrats and republicans, alike.  You can lead a horse to water ... remember?  

And if President Obama's term is a failure, THAT is why.  The horses failed to drink.  

"In Vietnam, the White House grew increasingly obsessed with victory, and increasingly divorced from the will of the people and any rational policy.  The Department of Defense kept assuring us that each new escalation in Vietnam would be the last.  Instead, each one led only to the next. There was no military solution to that war,Echoes of that disaster are all around us today."

What ever happened to common decency?  What, exactly, did the AP hope to achieve by publishing this picture?  Was it to inflame passions against the war?  Educate the public?  As to what, exactly?

The entire media has abdicated responsibility and common sense.  We are inundated with stories about the teenaged father of a former politicians daughter's son, diatribes against views that oppose the president's, and now, graphic footage of the injuries of a fallen hero.

Disgusting, absolutely disgusting.

no joe, no bo,nj (Sent Friday, September 04, 2009 11:19 AM)

For once I agree with you no joe. But all Americans need to use more common sense and common decency, not just the media.

The AP is just as bad as the Fox Nation when it comes to feeding the masses and just as insensitive as the hate mongers at Fox and Freaks.

Anita I trusted that you and the rest of my lefties could  hold the fort down as spent some time with my grandson. Oh and by the way I like your kool-aid . Should we offer more of it to the deprived ones?

You know can bring a horse to the water; but you can't make it drink?

The "Dopes of Nope" can only say  "No" even when they're dying of thirst.

To all my lefties a big shout out for holding the fort down. The Gallup poll today says the president numbers inches a little thank ya'll for making a dent.
 Feisty and others in the Chicagoland; isn't it strange those who don't live in Chicago know so much about Bill Ayers?
You'd they they hung with him they way they talk.

***********************************
For someone who never passed the bar, that man has an ability to write between the lines that would make any ambulance chaser proud.

MO Attorney (Sent Friday, September 04, 2009 11:29 AM)
**********************************
MO Attorney
I guess you know a since you chase lies
******************************
Dirtbags at the AP (Sent Friday, September 04, 2009 11:28 AM)
******************************
I coulnd't agree with you more. The Ap is a douche bag.

Walter C., NYC: '...Bush struggled with press too. In time of war, you need to balance reporting the overall facts against reporting the grim facts of war. We live in a free society though, and Bush stayed silent about the presses reporting, and his ratings suffered. Now Obama has the same problem
We'll see if the liberal press is more favorable to Obama then it was to Bush....'

Bush was trying to cover up images of TORTURE
Those pictures weren't about war, they were about the Bush/Cheney WAR CRIMES
Bush and Cheney were two draft dodgers who became belligerent War Hawks when they no longer had to go to war.... CHickenHawks

Has anybody noticed that Republicans are NOW concerned about Unemployment and Jobs ?
Ever since Bush left office

Anybody notice Conservative bloggers sniveling about deficits AFTER Bush left office
Baby Bush DOUBLED THE NATIONAL DEBT with the Help of a Republican House and Senate for 6 years

Mo Attorney:
That's a big 10-4!

"Sounds like Anita has been drinking the blueberry Kool-Aid today.  Yesterday's rants had a hint of strawberry to them. Hope she lays off the juice over the weekend."  
31 Flavors

Hey 31 Flavors - Just because you're drinking the fox and freaks kool-aid don't go blaming others of it.  If you don't have anything intelligent to say about politics or the article you're commenting under then shut up and don't bother us adults little child.

Hey First Read crew can one of you explain why you keep posting these worthless personal attacks instead of sticking to posting comments that pertain to the article posted?  I'm really starting to wonder about the value of this site, it seems to be wandering from being a political discourse site to one where a bunch of whiny jerks post hateful personal attacks against other commenters here.  Our country has turned into the Hatfields and McCoys because of the hate that politics nowadays engenders.  Are you going to keep slumming it posting personal attacks like this which have no bearing on the articles posted or are you going to clean up this hate filled site and get back to some more reasonable discussions?

Our country is going to hell with all this hate going around and you at First Read are enabling this by posting petty personal attacks against commenters which do not have any relevance to the article posted.  To be honest I'm starting to wonder about what First Read has degenerated into, nothing but a hateful shouting match.  I sure hope you clean up your act or I'm just going to stop wasting my time here.  Yeah I've been guilty of making hateful replies when I see garbage like this and I certainly get riled up commenting against the repugnant ones but atleast I try to read the articles and post comments that pertain to those articles you spend so much time and effort posting.

I certainly hope you take a good Labor Day Weekend and contemplate this conundrum.  Is being popular worth the price of all this hate being bandied about?  If you don't clean up your act then I can find better things to do with my time that make me far happier.  You at First Read are helping to make this country more divided when you don't show some proper restraint in the kinds of hateful personal attack comments you post.  Make people stick to commenting on the fine articles you post and stop posting worthless personal attacks from the lunatic fringe who hate you in the First Place!

Clean Up Your Act First Read!

AP, America, is there any compassion left in this country? I guess if we believe it will make us money, apparently not!

What exactly is Obama trying to do in the god-forsaken country? I doubt we will ever elect as pacifist
liberal president as Obama again, but if he won't stop these senseless wars, who will?

Left of Left (Sent Friday, September 04, 2009 11:30 AM)
*****************************
I believe you are a troll!

The Right Wing Whack Jobs are out in full strengh today with the “Faux News’ has more viewer’s bandwagon!

So let me take a moment to remind you (oh say for the 100th time or so) that Faux Entertainment ALSO has the LEAST EDUCATED viewers.  That explains why they’re so terrified of allowing their children to listen to OUR President!

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/19/fox-news-viewers-misinformed

Time to stock up on some more Republican’t Repellent

"Gates is in a tough position. Here he's trying to conduct a war, but has a boss that doesn't have a clue about how to do it." Joe Manford, MS
------------------------------------------------
It's comments like this that make me believe that racism is alive and well in America.  Take something which has nothing to do with our elected President, then twist it into an illogical irrational attack. Ignorance thrives in America.

To those sqeamish about releasing this photo, two words seem to sum it up:  tough toenails.

Kiddies, this is war.  These are the pictures war creates.  You turn away in horror, yet are immune to the war  that created it.

Look long and hard at this picture.  Look at it luntil you scream and demand each one of our troops come home.

Until then, more pictures and video, pleaese.  MUCH more.  Time to face the music.

"this war has been consistently and grossly mismanaged, and we are now in a seemingly intractable quagmire. Our troops are dying, and there really is no end in sight."

Umm ... liberals?  Stone me if you like, but as heartwrenching as this may be, covering these wars is ultimately more important than a single family's discomfort.  

Your reaction here is testament to exactly why the press needs to be covering ALL the deaths and ALL the funerals of soldiers dying in TWO now senseless wars.  More than 5,000 of them so far, and no end in sight.  Like THIS sad case where one of Senator Kennedy's former aides was killed in Afghanistan just recently and buried two days after Senator Kennedy.    

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/01/AR2009090100664.html

How many of you paid attention to this?  Did Countdown cover it?  I don't remember that.  

Unfortunately, this is what may be required to stop these wars, just like it did for Vietnam.  When people finally see what it means, then they finally begin to understand.  Last I heard, folks, shielding delicate American sensibilities from the truth about these wars was NOT the liberal mantra -- it was the Bush administration's policy.  

My heartfelt thanks, admiration and respect go out to all of our Servicemen and Servicewomen, and their families, serving so that we may enjoy our life back here in the States. Get home soon, and safe.

That's my one regret in life. That I did not serve. I was an ASVAB away from serving in the US Air Force in the late 1980's.

I voted for Obama, voted for him to end these two mistakes of wars, and he's done nothing to end them. In fact, Obama is escalating the war in Afghanistan.
Left of Left (Sent Friday)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
He never said he would end the war in Afghanistan. He said he would increase efforts in Afghanistan which is exactly what he is doing.
Guess you were not paying attention or only heard what you wanted.

If the family didn't want them released, then SHAME on A.P., period.

They are profitting off of war, that is the sum of it.

There are more people dropping dead right here at home everyday because they can't afford healthcare, more than in the two wars combined, why don't you show somebody suffering through the last stages of cancer at home because they have lost their job and health insurance? Good hardworking people are dieing everyday at home because of greed and coruption, greatest country on Earth my ass.

".......What ever happened to common decency?"  
no joe, no bo,nj (Sent Friday, September 04, 2009 11:19 AM)
_____________________
I can only assume you ask this very same question each and everyday that you read some of the posts on these boards, right?

Just Say No to All False gods!
Eric, Salinas, CA
-------------------

And no to the C-Street Brothel, I mean Band.

Dear Left of Left.(from center field) The president did not promise to pull out of the Afgan war. He did promise to withdrawl from Iraq asap.
As for promises in general...they are like the individuals and organizations that make vision plans. They are directional but they rarely accomplish all they envisioned. Sometime the need to take another course because the vision was not fully informed. Obama was not my first choice but I am very satisfied with his administration and personal leadership. I wanted a president who opened up government to the people. The healthcare debate is an example of sloppy democracy (as it always is) and the people were invited to the table of discussion. This never happened under Bush and McCain promised more of the same. It's a messy discussion but the people were included. I wanted less fear comming out of Washington and I have not heard the retoric of fear of the world, nor have I seen anything that would indicate that this government would seek to silence its foes by misinformation, threats, exposures. That was the case in the past administration. We were on the path of losing our democracy under Bush-Cheney. Each day we lost more privacy, more rights, and more protections and gained less liberty to speak our mind. I don't like the lies that come from the lingering rabid right wing behavior and speech. But, it is all they seem to know. The infected have lost reason. Hopefully, with time the American people can recall that fair play, open discussion, and good leadership can take us forward. As a political nation and in the rest of the world we were less trusted, less liked, less respected under Bush-Cheney. That trend has diminished. How many nations could Bush-Cheney have convinced to take our political/war prisoners? Likely none. After 8 years of disrespect, bully tactics, and having their advice ignored over and over, we had lost most of our political friends. I also respected the candidate Obama for speaking the truth about the future. He said the change needed would be difficult and not short-term. He said that we were in a financial crisis never seen before in the depth of mismanagment. He spoke of the wounds of division in the country. We all knew this was the reality and that we needed a new direction. We have been 8 months into this new government and the greater part of that time has been lancing the festering sores of the past 8 years. We need to do it if we are going to get the nation healing, moving financially, morally, globally. It is uncomfortable but we are moving in the direction we were invited to take. I have great confidence in the president. I sometimes have less in the people's capacity to respond. We are an impatient people, we are entrenched in political divisions based often on lies and ignorance. I hope for the best.

Photograph the Caskets not the Corpses. Point of the cost of war made without the horror being imposed on the families to see their mutilated family members bodies. There is something very sobering about the stark simplicity of lines of flag drapped coffins.

On the release of visitors: There is no need to know every person that visits the White House unless we simply want government to move its more sensitive visits elsewhere as it likely already does in certain circumstances. If a government has no capacity for descreet businces, it simply can't function. I am not in favor of police state behaviors as under the last president but I don't want the pendulum to swing so far in the other direction.

I get the point. The AP wants to show both sides of the story. But I completely disagree about showing the picture unless this young man's family consented first.

Clara could not agree with you more on this.

It is not a political issue (left, right, Dem, Rep, liberal or conservative) - it is a humane issue.  I believe in Karma and Mr. Curley has some bad coming his way.

Left of Left: '...While Obama slogs through health care, many of Americas finest are dying, and for what? I voted for Obama, voted for him to end these two mistakes of wars, and he's done nothing to end them. In fact, Obama is escalating the war in Afghanistan. What exactly is Obama trying to do in the god-forsaken country? I doubt we will ever elect as pacifist
liberal president as Obama again, but if he won't stop these senseless wars, who will?...'

During the campaign Obama said:

'...I'll be just as careful getting out of these wars as we were reckles getting in...'

He repeated that statement all through the campign
Were you listening ??

Obama is doing WHAT HE PROMISED TO DO on Iraq and Afghanistan

Sorry, Bush/Cheney left America holding the bag
It may take a while, but it has to be done

All the Republican 'Armchair Generals' who thought we'd be 'Greeted as Liberators' seem to have 'Cut and Run'

Pretty transparent

Reagan, Bush and Baby Bush CREATED NINETY PER CENT OF OUR TOTAL NATIONAL DEBT !!

Stop Sniveling DittoHeads

Reagan, Bush and Baby Bush CREATED NINETY PER CENT OF OUR TOTAL NATIONAL DEBT !!

OBAMA IS INCOMPETENT ... TO LEAD ... TO MANAGE .., TO PRESIDE ...

HILLARY WARNED US.

But the liberal establishment kept telling us a 'community organizer' was just what the country needed at the top to unite the people.  DUH!

OBAMA IS ON HIS WAY TO BEING THE MOST DIVISIVE PRESIDENT SINCE RICHARD NIXON.

Freedom of the Press, where were you when NEITHER Bush allowed coffins to be photographed in Delaware?  Weren't they a helluva lot more anonymous than this Marine?

So Gates needs to respond in kind.  Permit every other news organization access to the troops EXCEPT AP.  Basically tell them to go pound sand.  There WAS A TIME when that would never have even been an issue.

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