First thoughts: Healer-in-Chief

Posted: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:20 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: First Thoughts

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Healer-in-Chief: The commander-in-chief tries to become the nation’s healer-in-chief when he travels to Texas to participate in the memorial service at Fort Hood after Thursday’s massacre there. President Obama and the first lady arrive in Killeen, TX at 12:25 pm ET; they meet with the families who lost loved ones in the tragedy at 12:50 pm; they then meet with wounded soldiers and their families at 1:20 pm; finally, the president addresses the Fort Hood community at 2:00 pm. These kind of moments are BIG for presidents; in fact, they're more defining than presidents themselves sometimes realize. Does Obama say anything about some of the reaction we’ve seen to Muslims serving in the military? (Yesterday, the conservative group America Family Association called for the purging of Muslim soldiers in the U.S. armed forces.) It would be surprising if he did NOT address this potential firestorm which, while not yet spreading, is no where near contained. That said, stories like this piece in the Washington Post on Maj. Hasan's warnings of Muslim uprisings INSIDE the military will only make this issue of Hasan's religion a continued focal point.

*** No decision on Afghanistan -- yet: Per NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, senior White House sources dispute the reports that the president has made up his mind to deploy more than 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. In fact, the White House says President Obama has NOT decided. One senior official, who spoke to the president yesterday on the subject, stressed that Obama had not made up his mind. A senior U.S. military official adds to NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski that Defense Secretary Gates and the Joint Chiefs have NOT yet presented the president with additional options that he asked for more than a week ago; they are expected to do that later this week, and Guthrie says the White House is awaiting four options. But while the White House is pushing back on this 30,000-plus number, that doesn’t mean this won’t be the administration’s ultimate decision. The concerted effort to push back has to do with the administration's belief that the focus should be on its new strategy, not on troop levels. As for a decision, it obviously won't come during his trip to Asia (Press Secretary Gibbs himself all but said that yesterday). Will he really let Thanksgiving go by before announcing?

*** Bubba heads to the Hill: Former President Bill Clinton heads to Capitol Hill today to speak to Democratic senators at their weekly caucus meeting at 1:45 pm ET. The topic, of course, will be health care. What’s particularly interesting is that Clinton has strong ties to the Senate centrists who could very well decide the fate of the health-care bill in the Senate. Clinton was governor when Ben Nelson served as governor of Nebraska; Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor just happen to represent Clinton’s home state of Arkansas; and Clinton and Joe Lieberman used to be VERY close personally and ideologically -- all before the Lewinsky scandal. In particular, what kind of advice does Clinton give to Lincoln and Pryor? What does he say to Lieberman (if the Connecticut senator ends up attending)? During the '08 campaign, Clinton found his stride campaigning in, well, red America -- in places that are similar politically to Arkansas, Nebraska, Indiana, etc. Clinton's at his best when he's giving OTHERS political advice, and he excels at framing an argument better than just about anyone on the political stage today.

*** NARAL -- fired up and ready to go? Staying with health care… Is the pro-choice community considering funding primary challenges to pro-life Dems? Sounds like it from this Politics Daily report. "It's too early to say whether the abortion rights lobby is a sleeping giant, but it is definitely, some would say finally, awake. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL ProChoice America, was in a fighting mood in an interview on Monday. 'There's elections coming up in 2010. We will know who stood with us and who stood against us,' she told me. The latter, she said, may face primary challenges. 'Nothing's off the table,' she said. 'It's a new day and I'm here to tell you we're going to hold those accountable who voted against us.' This would be a departure. According to Keenan, her group has supported a challenger in a Democratic primary only once." What will the pro-choice community say today in response to Rep. Loretta Sanchez's (D-CA) contention on “Morning Joe” today that there are only approximately 150 pro-choice votes in Congress? This is the unintended consequence of trying to become a big-tent party on certain issues (like guns and abortion).

*** RGA loses two in one day: Just one week after the GOP’s wins in New Jersey and Virginia, we assumed that Republicans would be gaining key gubernatorial candidates -- not losing them. But that’s exactly what happened yesterday. First, up-and-coming Colorado Republican Josh Penry announced that he wouldn't run for governor, which essentially means that former GOP Rep. Scott McInnis will be the Republican who will challenge Gov. Bill Ritter (D) next year. Then, Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell (R) said she won’t run for another term next year, which gives Dems a pretty good shot at winning that seat. Something must have spooked Penry; a source tells us that a pro-McInnis 527 was gearing up to go after Penry, who used to work as an aide to McInnis. But the energy behind Penry was palpable, which his VERY early exit a surprise to a lot of folks, particularly here in DC. As for Rell, her poll numbers -- while better than most governors’ -- have declined; she isn’t as popular as she once was. Indeed, a new Quinnipiac poll has her with a 64% job rating, which (believe it or not) isn’t close to the high she once enjoyed in the 70s and 80s. Rell was going to have her first tough campaign as governor and, well, being a governor these days is difficult.

*** Another thing to add to Wednesday’s calendar: Tomorrow, on Veterans Day, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will join the national service group ServiceNation to launch its “Mission Serve” initiative, a network of military and civilian service organizations to meet the needs of troops, military families, and veterans. Both Michelle Obama and Jill Biden will deliver remarks at the event, which takes place in DC.

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Comments

Obama is sending out a trial balloon for troop deployment to Afghanistan? A trial balloon? You send up trial balloons when you're thinking about raising/lowing taxes, or on funding or not funding some medical program, but you don't play with trial balloons for war! Obama is actually more worried about the political ramifications, his political ramifications, then he is concerned about the troops. It's amazing to watch Obama work, the man is more concerned about himself then anyone else. Obama is actually polling to see how popular/unpopular he'll be if he sends the troops McChrystal requested. That is so unbelievable! Well, maybe not for Obama, where the overriding concern is his popularity.

Kara Williams, Iowa (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:30 AM)

Mr. Harry Reid ,

I thought Obama said that Tax Payer Funded Abortion was not in ObamaCARE .

Was Obama lying ?

Because it looks like you are going to lose your Senate in Nevada in 2010 ,

how can you treaten the Democrats to vote for ObamaCARE ?

What about putting TORT Reform in the bill to get rid of bad law suit lawers ?

Why don't we get rid of all the corruption that exist now before you push something new ?

Minzy Evans, Houston (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:30 AM)

So now the RNC gift that keeps on giving… Michael Steele is convinced that ‘white folks’ are scared of him!

Let me tell you something Michael… you’re right… I am scared of you… however it has NOTHING to do with the color of your skin! And I’ll leave it at that!

Ya know at this point the dopes of nope are in such a frenzy of obstructionism that we could allow them write the HCR bill ALL by themselves…

And they would STILL vote NO!!!
______________

From earlier:

Better get your barf bag out, Redhead. This plan is deficit neutral for 10 years and then costs explode. The Democrats are counting on Americans being ignorant to their gimmickry.
_______________

Don’tcha just LOVE all the phony outrage? I have to ask where the OUTRAGE was when ‘W’ & his sidekick the ‘Dick’ were spending billions a month on a bogus WAR?

Hell they didn’t even BOTHER to try to hide the fact they were screwing us & NOT including those billions (rapidly approaching 1Trillion) in their so called budget(s)??

If that’s NOT gimmickry… I have a slightly used bridge to nowhere that you might be interested in…

I ask the question again to the righties… WHY is it okay to spend Billions on killing people and NOT okay to spend money helping to improve American lives!

One thing remains consistent and that is you righties sure have some effed up priorities!

And the shtick about the ‘children & grandchildren’ is rapidly growing tiresome!

Let me ask… did your grandparents leave your parents a ‘perfect’ world? Did YOUR parents leave YOU a ‘perfect’ world?

WHY are today’s ‘children’ ENTITLED to a ‘perfect’ world?

Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:31 AM)

Liberal rant: "I want it! I want it! I want it! But make someone else pay for it."

Bet It Smells Bad (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:31 AM)

As for your position on Social Security, it is not YOUR social security.

Chris - IL

Ehh, yes it is. The original intent was that the money you paid in was yours and it was guaranteed to be there when you became eligible to receive it. Since that time, SS has become the federal governments piggy bank. A 15% payroll tax that is used by the federal government as it pleases. In place of the funds the federal government "borrows" (Read: Steals) from the system, it places an IOU in it's place, an IOU that never gets paid back. Hence you get Al Gore saying he'll make SS into a "Lockbox". And that worked all well and good, as long as more people paid into the system then took out of the system. But now with the baby boomers, the reverse is true, more money is going out then coming in. So at some point soon, the system will go bankrupt, it won't have enough money coming in to pay the people that are eligible to collect, and the guarantee of Social Security will end. So 15% of your pay throughout your working life (you paid 7.5%, your employer paid the other 7.5%) will be gone. And at that point Chris, you will be correct, it won't be your SS anymore.

If a private citizen ran a retirement account, which also is social security if you think about it, like the government is running their retirement account for the people, they'd be in jail. Don't think so? Ask Bernie Madoff. He did the same exact thing. So how'd that work out for Bernie again?

Lylee Hayes, Jacksonville, FL (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:32 AM)

"Yesterday, the conservative group America Family Association called for the purging of Muslim soldiers in the U.S. armed forces."

---------------------------------------------------

...and all you have to do is get rid of that First Amendment.

Pete - Albany, NY (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:33 AM)

Why in the world is Obama sending 40000 more troops to Afghanistan? I thought he would end these George Bush wars and bring our military back home? That is why the world hates the US, because the US keeps fighting these wars! The Muslims will stop attacking us, like they did in Ft. Hood, when America gets out of the Middle East, gives up on Israel, and apologizes and makes reparations with the Muslims. Until then we will always have this terrorism threat against our country. And that is what Barack Obama was elected to do!

Janie, Burlington VT (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:33 AM)

Headline: NOAA: Third Coldest October on Record...

Al Gore was asked to comment, his quote: "Damn!"

It's Cold Al - Make It Warm (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:33 AM)

So General Casey thinks it's more important that the military be "diverse" rather then having the best and the brightest. Why else would Hasan still be around if he wasn't a muslim and a part of that diversity? How many chances and how many warning signs were needed to have this guy thrown out of the Army? Lets guess for once that had Hasan been a Christian, and he had been communicating with know terrorists, he would have found himself on the inside of the brig and not running around free at Walter Reed and Ft. Hood. All in the name of "diversity". Obama said we should not "jump to conclusions". Fine, we didn't. But as more and more evidence on this Hasan character comes out, we can come to a conclusion. Using the "Obama Way" is to let people like Hasan slide though, to give them all the breaks in the book, to over look their short-comings, to not hold them responsible or accountable for their actions. That's the Obama Way, and we see the results. And to top it off, now Obama is sending his AG to be the keynote speaker to a radical muslim group in Michigan (CAIR), providing legitimacy for that organization. You don't want to jump to any conclusions, but whose side is Obama on?

Stan, Santa Fe, NM (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:34 AM)

*** NARAL -- fired up and ready to go?

NARAL - They seem a lot like ACORN, don't you think? You wonder if there any community organizing federal/state funds going to NARAL, just like they did for ACORN? Maybe our crack media team can figure that relationship out. We wouldn't want any government money flowing to NARAL now would we?

Donna, Illinois (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:37 AM)

newdayDAWNING (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:37 AM)

At Ft. Hood, will Obama say we "Shouldn't jump to conclusions" on if the shootings were terrorism, even though all evidence revealed so far says it was? Or is that little fact just being swept under the rug, just like the media and the Clinton administration did throughout the '90s.

Connect The Dots (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:39 AM)

30,000 more troops to Afghanistan! Come on lefties, where is the outrage, where are the protest marches, the smashed windows, the overturned cars? You did it when Bush was in office! Why the change of heart?

Can I just finish my waffle? (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:42 AM)

*** Bubba heads to the Hill: Former President Bill Clinton heads to Capitol Hill today to speak to Democratic senators at their weekly caucus meeting at 1:45 pm ET.

What is it with ex-Democratic Presidents? Can't they just move away? Nuts like Clinton and Carter keep showing up for some reason. The Cheater in Chief Clinton has as much integrity as a Muslim cleric, so who ever believes what Clinton says does so at their own peril.

Chel Sea, NY NY (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:42 AM)

HEALER?

Obie's at Fort Hood today.
Big deal.

He refuses to use the term War On Terror and also refuses the term Islamic Terrorist.

This was, in fact, the first successful terrorist attack on our country since 9/11 and Obie plays it down as just someone losing control.

The background on the shooter proves his attack was staged. What does Obie takes us for?? How dumb does he think Americans are? The world knows the entire story and Obie's gonna make a little speech to refute the truth. Spineless.

Full Moon
Palomino
Sexy Sadie ... and the rest.

The Chihuahua Gang (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:42 AM)

No decision on Afghanistan?

Tell us something new.

Pablo Peso (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:44 AM)

I watched part of the "debate" on the health care bill on C-Span. The Republicans really put on a good circus.

Their ventriloquist baby was so good it almost looked like the Republican Congress critter who was holding her was the one actually spouting all the ignorant baby talk on health care.

Another Repub, who was trying to make a point about how bad public health care was, asserted that medicare was $62 TRILLION in debt. I'm surprised that even George Bush could hide a debt so big in the 12 trillion dollar national debt he piled up. He must have had REALLY smart accountants.

The Republicans also sent in a clown to claim that the majority of Us physicians opposed the public option. This despite the fact that a scientifically conducted national survey of doctors published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 63% of doctors favored the public option and another 10% favored singel-payer insurance. But when you work for the Republican Circus, you don't have to worry about inconvenient facts.

There were other amazing stupid Republican tricks too numerous to mention. I didn't see anyone juggling chain saws, thought.

Houston (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:44 AM)

"The commander-in-chief tries to become the nation’s healer-in-chief when he travels to Texas to participate in the memorial service at Fort Hood after Thursday’s massacre there."

-------------------------------------------

Just so we can get this straight ahead of time, what will the GOP be counting today's event as...

..."vacation" or "campaign event"?

Sofa King Wee Todd Did (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:44 AM)

*** Healer-in-Chief: The commander-in-chief tries to become the nation’s healer-in-chief when he travels to Texas.

Maybe Obama should have sent Benny Hinn? Obie can make Benny his Healing Czar.

Morris Cerullo, New Jersey (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:44 AM)

How can we possibly talk of providing healthcare for all, and containing the costs of the healthcare, without looking at diet? What we eat is as much responsible for the ever increasing costs of healthcare as any other single factor. As we move forward paying for more and more of the healthcare costs with our taxes (whether HRC passes or not) we will need to get a handle on this problem. To see the expediential evolution of this problem check this out. http://www.bullz-eye.com/furci/2009/unhealthy_american_pt1.htm My question is simple, if we know what is bad for diet why doesn’t the government do something about it? It is obvious just looking at the obesity in America some folks are unable to make good choices on their own. When it comes to alcohol and tobacco we help them. When it comes to sugar, salt, fat, and cholesterol, we just help them shovel it down. Just look at the average convenient store, truth be told the snack isle is very similar to the poison isle at Home Depot. There is one thing missing, and that’s what I wanted to talk about, at Home Depot there are warning labels on the insecticides. Why are there Surgeon General Warnings on alcohol and tobacco but none on foods high in sugar, salt, fat and cholesterol? I do believe more people die from heart attacks than lung cancer. Do we honestly not think that eating these foods increases your risk of cardiovascular disease and a whole lot of other diseases? Why haven’t our leaders demanded these warnings? Do they not care about the health of our citizenry? Do they not care about healthcare costs? 2000 pages and no requirement for Surgeon General Warnings, well hopefully we can get that out of committee. It is time to evolve.

Judas Goat (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:45 AM)

Tomorrow is Veteran's day and Obie will be shooting pool in the hood ... with a smile on his face and a song in his heart.

Just Sayin' (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:46 AM)

First thoughts: Healer-in-Chief

I can only imagine the kind of responses we will get with this lead - way to NOT create the narrative First Read

Saint Dick, Dallas, TX (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:48 AM)

Dr Jill Biden has a doctorate in Education. Which for normal people is like a Associates Degree in something else.

Mattie Agee, DL (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:48 AM)

Here's a story from the front in the "war" that Barack Obama is waging against Fox News that's been overlooked by those promoting the war narrative: Fox News fudged Neilson Ratings to support the claim that their ratings spiked after administration officials mentioned that Fox was not a real news organization:

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/27/fox-news-ratings-up-during-white-house-war/31797

Few journalists in the "serious" media seemed to have noticed this story. I wonder why. Could it be because, as Jake Tapper said, they regard Fox as a "sister" news organization that needs to be protected from big bad Barack? If Fox is really their sister, then there's obviously been too much inbreeding among the corporate media "family."

War Correspondent (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:49 AM)

A chief spokesman for the pro-life, far-right organization, American Family Association, has called for the purging of Muslim soldiers from military ranks in the wake of the tragic killings at Fort Hood.

Bryan Fischer, AFA's Director of Issues Analysis, put up a relatively unnoticed blog post last Friday arguing that U.S. command needed to "stop the practice of allowing Muslims to serve in the U.S. military."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/09/conservative-group-time-t_n_350945.html

Did Bryan Fischer have on his hood at the time? What about all the muslims that have dies in the service of this country since the wars began since 2001? How do we recruit and use credible interpreters and intelligence agents? Follow this clan and the war just becomes infinitely harder. Shame on this repub-aiding group and all those with similar sentiments. Nothing wrong in being more vigilant of kooks whether muslims or mentally unstable (there has been several of those actors in the past 8 years) but purging of Americans from the military after one isolated incident is a klanman's excuse for setting the country back to the stone ages. What would we say if Iraq purged christian's from its army. I thought we were there because we were better or thought we were.

J. Richter (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:50 AM)

FR --- Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor just happen to represent Clinton’s home state of Arkansas;

Arkansas was Clintons' stepping stone state. At last look, Arkansas just wasn't big enough for ol'Bill, and he packed up the family and moved to Albany, New York that is, swimming pools, movie stars.

Jed C. (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:52 AM)

Why does it have to be this way,way would FR use a title like "Healer and chief"this is red meat for the Dog pounders,and moon walkers,and BoBo,and LoCo's of the world that already call the President insulting names.Is it always about creating tension,stirring ones dislike for the President.Is the job of a reporter to report real worthy news or twist it to make it bleed,is it the job of reporters to give a fair and balanced observation,one that has no political twist?This is what Rush does,what Glen does,what Sarha does,Pawlenty wants to be more like Rush everyday.Be MSM seems to treat every event like it's a game,and that there opinion is important to the outcome.

Reportes or repeaters,Rushheads Fla. (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:54 AM)

Oh, the amazing abortion issue and the lies it exposes. Let's start with President Obama, the radical pro-abortion president, who so hypocritically for over a month has tried to deceive us into believing that no federal funds would be used for the killing of innocent babies via abortion. And YET, it took a special ammendment by pro-life DEMOCRATS to really prevent federal funds for being used for abortion. Hey media, how come no one has asked the President why his memebers of his own party don't even believe his song and dance to dupe the american people about funding abortion with taxpayer money. And we all know that this man, as a candidate, said his first priority would be to sign the FOCA bill which would have removed any and all restrictions on abortion, including making the barbaric partial-birth abortion legal again. This man (and many other liberals like him) is a pawn of the powerful and lucrative pro-abortion industry. Those of us who are pro-life have known all along that he and Pelosi and others would do everything they could to sneak federal funding of abortion upon the american people. HOw amazing, abortion's roots in american were started with racist and lying foundations, and it continues that way to the present. May the "truth set us free" in America, and like slavery, may we reject the evil of abortion.

Abortion (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:54 AM)

First Read says: America Family Association called for the purging of Muslim soldiers in the U.S. armed forces.) It would be surprising if he did NOT address this potential firestorm which, while not yet spreading, is no where near contained.

You have a Muslim, who communicates with known terrorists, not once, but dozens of times, openly talks against the US and the US's military, shouts Arabic slogans just before he starts shooting, and somehow Obama can't connect all the dots. I know it's not PC to point fingers, but it gets kind of ridiculous to ignore the obvious.

Akmed, NYC (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:56 AM)

Forty-one percent of Americans believe the U.S. health care system would improve if the legislation pending in Congress passes while 40% say it would get worse, according to the new poll. Fourteen percent said the bill would not make much difference.

Asked how the proposals would affect their own health care situation, 26% said "improve," 31% responded "not much difference" and 36% said "worse."

Interestingly, 38% say they would advise their member of Congress to vote against the legislation -- about the same as the 40% who reached that conclusion on a similar Gallup Poll in September. The share of people who would tell their lawmaker to support the bill dropped to 29% in this recent poll, compared with 38% in September.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2009/11/poll-public-wary-on-health-care-bills-.html

Bing Censored? (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:59 AM)

Wonder what sort of deal it took for Bill Clinton to make a Capitol Hill appearance on behalf of the president? Too bad the full language of his remarks will not be made public. The parsing would be so entertaining...

http://www.political-buzz.com/

matt (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:59 AM)

Clinton or Bubba, as you direspectfully call him, is a centerist and will be able to talk to the centerists in a way they will understand. As for those who want to scrap the part of the HCR bill that would pay for a woman's right to choose I suggest that we can't have everything we want. Sometimes we must compromise. Unfortunately in this country we have gottent the attitude of I want it all and I want it now. That idea has been seen in Congress just as much as elsewhere in our society. If we don knock it off we will meet the same fate as the great Roman Empire.

eagle1776 (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:00 AM)

New Gallup poll shows 40% of the people think the Democrats health care bill will improve health care. That's it. 40%. If it was such a good idea, it would be much higher then 40%. That means 60% think it will make it worse, or the same. With a $1.3 trillion dollar price tag, maybe Congress should just start over.

Jill Givens, Cary NC (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:02 AM)

I appreciate the President going and doing the best he can to help and honor these young men, women and families. I have been very proud of the way that he and his wife have gone out of thier way to connect with not only the officer corp but also the enlisted men and women. This is not political folks it is a command function and speaks well of him. I hope that he is able to give some comfort in thier time of need. As far as the larger picture goes what we have here is partly a symtom of the enormous stress we have placed on the the military and thier families by pursuing the objectives that we have for to long now.To put it simply if you try to force something to do something that it isn't designed to do it will break no matter how much you wish and pray that it won't. As far as barring and purging the Muslims from joining the military how stupid is this? I can see where some of these folks could be highly motivated and a very real asset for thier fellow unit members in understanding thier enemy in Middle Eastern countries. If it was a Black guy or a White seperatist would the same thinking apply? The military is really in need of these individuals and native speakers right now so why cut off your nose to spite your face. Let's not compound a tragidy by going off half cocked that is what got us in this mess to start with. My thoughts and prayers are with Fort Hood and seeing as how I can't be there myself I am more than willing to let the C.I.C. pass on the wishes of a grateful nation.

Independent Redneck Va. (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:03 AM)

Let's just purge the military of muslims, immigrants, gays, lesbians, while not showing eagerness to move out of Iraq (50 to 100 years said GOPers last year) and then send the 40,000 (wish) that's left to Afganistan without any interpreters.

At the same time, let's refuse to pass a climate change bill and reduce our dependence on oil that will allow us less presence on muslim lands.

J. Richter (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:07 AM)

The president's appearance is important for the victims, their families and the military personnel at Ft. Hood.

What troubles me is the prejudice against Muslims. Too many are ready to breathe fire against all Muslims for the actions of one individual. When do we as Americans stop preaching hate against an entire segment of a population--it says more about those individuals and groups ranting against Muslims than it does about the majority of Muslims who are not radicals.

I hope the right will not be criticizing Pres Obama for his attendance at the Ft. Hood memorial service but I have my doubts especially after the outrageous comments when he went to Dover AFB to meet the fallen troops at midnight.

The media and the right keep pounding away for a quick decision about Afghanistan. Why? Bush took many months to decide about the Iraq surge and he stayed the course for 4 years while casualties mounted. Couldn't we allow Pres Obama that same courtesy. This is a critical decision and moving quickly is not the answer; it may define us for several years. Get it right. Some slowing down by Bush/Cheney before we invaded Iraq might have resulted in a different decision.

No doubt former Pres Clinton will be rattling some blue dog cages about health care. He knows what happens when democrats don't keep their promises. Cheers to the women in the House & Senate for making their voices heard regarding the Stupak-Pitts amendment, and the President Obama for reminding lawmakers that this is a health care bill not an abortion bill--stick with the existing Hyde rule which prohibits use of federal tax dollars for amendments and don't try to shove something through with this bill.

More trouble for the GOP. Qualified centrist republicans are backing out of races because of the Club for Growth threats of attacks. Heard the Dick Armey has petitioned for a new party in FL, the Tea Party, let's see that would be TP for short.

No Joe. Missed the cutoff late yesterday. You are right, I failed to insert the word, possible. I do not have a crystal ball but the warning signs are out there if we pay attention. Providing health insurance is becoming an ever-increasing burden for employers which impacts the profit margins; employees are paying an increasing portion of the premiums; pay raises are impacted by these employer costs; manufacturing jobs are outsourced to avoid benefit costs. The number of small businesses offering health insurance to employees has been decreasing dramatically with each passing year. Many large employers are dropping or reducing retiree insurance benefits. It is wrong for us to assume that employer-based health care will always be there. Be careful what you wish for by hoping HCR fails to pass. The elimination of pre-existing conditions as a criteria for purchasing insurance, the provision which prohibits insurance companies from cancelling policies because of illness is critical--these are both portions of HCR legislation that can protect your granddaughter in the future. As for your crystal ball to presume that others here have no experience with catatrophic illness or organ transport, you are mistaken. I have been through lengthy terminal illness with family members, I have a family member by marriage whose brother has had 3 kidney transplants to keep him alive. May your granddaughter continue to thrive and grow and may she always have access to the health care she needs; not everyone is that fortunate.

Jody, Iowa (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:08 AM)

Thank goodness democrats aren't fracturing and splintering like those wacky republicans...
Don't Ask, Don't Give
Posted by John Aravosis (DC) at 11:30 AM

Joe and I are launching today a donor boycott of the DNC. The boycott is cosponsored by Daily Kos, Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake, Dan Savage, Michelangelo Signorile, David Mixner, Andy Towle and Michael Goff of Towle Road, Paul Sousa (Founder of Equal Rep in Boston), Pam Spaulding, Robin Tyler (ED of the Equality Campaign, Inc.), Bil Browning for the Bilerico Project, and soon others."

http://gay.americablog.com/2009/11/dont-ask-dont-give.html

Bing Censored? (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:10 AM)

What a sad duty for the President and First Lady--I don't care whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, our military deserves our support and thanks, on this day especially. I hope here at FR we could de-politicize this (more so than the moderators did) and just offer our prayers to the victims and their families.

Steeler Fan Pittsburgh, PA (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:12 AM)

The Fascists fear campaign by the socalled American Family Association is on full alert for fear mongering.Did we not learn from History about the illegal internment of Japanese Americans during WW2. So now lets start purging Muslim Americans in the service. We do not for right wing fanatics who were Republicans like Timothy Mcveigh. Stop pandering to fear which is about all you righties know our to do successfully. You know like instill hatred, create mob mentality i.e, tea baggers/birthers, US vs THEM and slowly but surely riddle away of our Constitution with warrentless wiretaps of Americans w/o due process all in the name of sercurity. McCarthism is alive and well with the Rethuglican Party.

Juan,Ft Lauderdale, Fl (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:13 AM)

Five dollars say they will not only have something negative to say but won't be supportive of this also.

Ivoted (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:20 AM)

*** Healer-in-Chief: The commander-in-chief tries to become the nation’s healer-in-chief when he travels to Texas to participate in the memorial service at Fort Hood after Thursday’s massacre there.
------------------------------------------

Good morning...I haven't posted in quite some time and it's mainly because of articles like this one. What happened in Ft. Hood is a national tragedy that shouldn't be politicized or scrutinized.

I'm sure that the tragedy at Ft. Hood wasn't staged by this Administration so why the catty rude article about he (the President and First Lady) visiting the victims families?

You Quote:
FR-- these kinds of moments are BIG for presidents; in fact, they're more defining than presidents themselves sometimes realize. Does Obama say anything about some of the reaction we’ve seen to Muslims serving in the military?

WTF???? Should he? What should he say? How long have Muslims been serving in the military? You people take an incident of tragedy such as this one and assist asses with passing judgment.

What say you? Are we suppose to treat Muslims the same as we treated the Chinese Americans with slanted eyes bearing resemblances to Japanese after the bombing of Pearl Harbor--they were put in concentration camps--in America...What bout Hitler's Germany? You people should be ashamed.

The war on terror was enacted by the Bush Administration...was it not? If they (Bush/Cheney Administration) did such a W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L job protecting this country...they how was this Major overlooked??? Do your jobs ...investigated and report that.

BTW...this is a drive by

Anita, Birmingham, Alabama (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:24 AM)

as the good ol' gop is wont to do, the cheney/bush administration with its' machiavellian and orwellian word playing that disguises their agenda, immediately proclaimed our response to the global enemy who brought such tragedy to our shores on 9/11, as a "war" on terrorism, as though it could be one fought and won with our military.

so today, we are still fighting this effort with a military that is wearing down, too few of our citizens and their families paying the price for those, who never put themselves into harm's way and costing our country in treasure we no longer can afford and the blood of too many of our young people, for no guaranteed result.

it is time to look at all the intelligent and smarter options we have to fight this global and violent enemy other than our military.

as we watch president obama, first lady michelle obama and dr. jill biden, please show your support for those who do put themselves in harm's way, by donating to the IAVA and/or USO.

sbvpav, creswell, oregon (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:31 AM)

It is time for any favorable tax status to be removed from the Catholic "Church". If they were as involved as they appear to have been in the Health Care Legislation, they should have to pay taxes just like the rest of us. This is not a Catholic country, and I deeply resent those ugly old men acting as though the United States is an extension of Rome and in the charge of the Idiot who mistakes himself for anything having to do with God. Anyone else believe that those old ignorant men are against birth control and abortion because they want more victims for their abuse?
newdayDAWNING

This would kill the south side of Chicago churches, the ones in Obama old neighborhood. They are about 5% about religion and 95% about politics. The governor even showed up in a few the other day, pushing for higher taxes so the social programs received by the people in that church would not be cut.

Sendra Sumner, Chicago (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:38 AM)

Questions for both sides - Why is it that whenever one side doesn't like something the first thing is to state the other side did it before (Rebs- well Clinton did it or Dems- well Bush did that)

Since when did two wrongs make it right? No wonder we are ALL going to h*ll in a handbasket.

Rick, Boston, MA (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:39 AM)

Yes we can - NOT! Somebody help me here, but what the hell has changed since Obama's been prez? We're taking off our shoes to fly, yet a KNOWN physcologically impaired radical is in our service, contacting terrorists and the FBI, Home Security or the Army just brushes it off - for a whole damn year - why aren't freakin heads rolling from each branch? Swine flu shots are either going to filthy rich bastards at bailed-out brokerage firms or Gitmo detainees, while I hear daily reports of the deaths of CHILDREN each morning. Double and triple service tours to Iraq are going to stop - no, that's BS- they're just being moved over to Afganistan for their 4th and 5th tours. Banks are still paying BILLIONS in freakin bonuses - while those they're making their bonuses from are out on the streets, without jobs or homes - and the lowlife repukes delay the extension of piddly-assed unemployment benefits? Aaaaaaagh!

Brian, Cedar Hill, TX (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:42 AM)

Chel Sea, NY NY. What is it with that republican VP named Cheney and his equally obsessed daughter out there constantly railing against Pres Obama? Why doesn't he just GO AWAY. Cheney and Bush were the biggest liars of all time, they lied us into an unnecessary war costing nearly $1 trillion of unfunded money; they lied about torture, they took away habias corpus for Americans, they locked up innocent people in Gitmo in their rush to judgement against anyone who looked suspicious. What have Cheney and Bush done lately for the people? Bush is out there giving motivational speeches; Cheney is out there trying to change history by altering truth which is available in video and written form and he's hoping no one will notice. Clinton and Carter both have done extensive humanitarian work. You don't have to like their politics or them but they are doing good work for many which is far more than most former GOP presidents have done.

Jody, Iowa (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:43 AM)

*** No decision on Afghanistan -- yet: Per NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, senior White House sources dispute the reports that the president has made up his mind to deploy more than 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. In fact, the White House says President Obama has NOT decided.
----------------------------

Take your time Mr. President. Bush should have done so before committing ANY troops to war. We were sold pure bullshit because of tragedy. Cooler heads did not prevail. Handel your job Mr. President, soldiers fight "wars" they are not "security guards".

This is suppose to be an alliance—is it not? If the people in Afghanistan want liberation then they should liberate themselves. Our objective is Osama Bin Laden, not liberation of nations not westernizing Muslims.

Hello gang--I've been extremely busy, you all have been doing a great job. Keep up the excellent work.

Anita, Birmingham, Alabama (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:46 AM)

Anita! Welcome back. How was Rosie's Cruise?

MR Tater (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:46 AM)

"Tomorrow is Veteran's day and Obie will be shooting pool in the hood ... with a smile on his face and a song in his heart."
Just sayin - and Georgie will probably be prepping the keg and hunting down the straws to make sure they fit his big fat nose.
Now how does it feel? Not too good huh?
No President Obama did not serve in the military, and neither did georgie, but you all seem to think using his wealthy get out of military action card puts him in the same ranks as a US soldier, I don't, so at least President Obama did not pretend to be a soldier, georgie prented to be one and still failed at that miserable attempt.
God Bless our veterans and service men and women, especially those who really serve and served, not those who got a "get out of battle for free" card due to daddy's wealth.

Union Baby, Tennessee (Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:48 AM)

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