Atlanta Weather

| Traffic

Search
Jay Bookman

Yes, playing politics with Tomb of Unknown is offensive

5:19 pm May 25, 2010, by Jay

On Memorial Day, Vice President Joe Biden will handle the somber duty of laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, while President Obama will mark the day at a national cemetery back home in Illinois.

A few hours ago, Erick Erickson, CNN’s house conservative and founder of Redstate.org, decided that this represented a political opportunity that he should not miss.

He tweeted:

“Obama skipping the Tomb of the Unknowns this weekend for Chicago is offensive. Chicago can wait. The Commander-in-Chief has a job to do.”

Pretty quickly, it was established that President Reagan had occasionally skipped annual duties at the Tomb.

As had President George H.W. Bush.

As had the more recent President Bush.

Caught red-handed, Erickson has just responded with another tweet:

“Diff b/w Reagan and Bush not going to Tomb and Obama? No one questioned their support for soldiers and belief in American Exceptionalism.”

Man oh man.

In itself, the incident is of little import. You could file it under IOKIYAR — “It’s OK if You Are Republican” — and forget about it. But I note it because it reflects all too well the childishness and pettiness that has come to infect American politics. Really, is this the best we can do? Has the capacity to feel shame disappeared?

But there’s also something deeper here. Erickson, Glenn Beck and others have tried to use this as an excuse to attack a president they don’t like. Fine, they don’t like him. But in trying to politicize a sacred national rite, haven’t they done precisely what they accuse Obama of doing? Is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier really just another ground from which to launch political attacks?

  • Print

404 comments Add your comment

Seeker

May 31st, 2010
1:24 pm

John 15:12-13(HCSB)
This is My command: love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.

It saddens me that while we have just lost our 1000th man in the War in Afghanistan we are at home arguing over something like this. I may not personally prefer President Obama as a president, but we should always respect the office. One other thing I do know, I have never been president of the United States. I am a pastor, and understand in small measure the pressures and stresses of leading when there are few who will follow, though nothing I am sure close to the leader of the greatest nation in the free world. To quote from the presidential charactor of Andrew Shepherd in “The American President”: “Is the view pretty good from the cheap seats…?”

Yes, I wish President Obama had laid the wreath, but I would also wish the same from all our previous presidents. I am a conservative. When I first received an e-mail on this subject, I wondered about the wisdom of pressing this point. I continue to wonder at persuing this line of discussion considering what day this is. I will not return to this blog. I have more important things to do than spend time arguing about who is right and who is wrong. I choose to remember with honor those who have demonstrated they know what love is…

PS – using text abreviations to use fowl language is still using fowl language and simply demonstrates a weak vocabulary or a weak mind.

gloria

May 31st, 2010
2:28 pm

all of you supporting this O decision & trying to flame the politicizing of it SUCK POND WATER. EVERY commander in chief should be there and do this. If they aren’t, they should take the heat at the time they decided. Obama isn’t attending this year. He is an adult…leader of the free world…let him be a man. take the heat. if YOU can’t even let him take the criticism for his decision — it is YOU who are politicizing this…NOT the media. GROW UP. And you have the nerve to question if the tomb houses a veteran who was brave when he died….you should be ashamed. But then, i bet you’ve never pointed a gun at our enemies so the rest of us can blog freely on the internet about it from our cozy homes.

James

June 1st, 2010
12:07 pm

I think you should all get a grip. Yes, we should not use the tomb as a political tool, but remember this President has bowed to every forgien leader who has nasty things to say about us and let Mexico’s President come here an talk trash about us too. Our President is a whimp who hasn’t got the balls to stand up for us-why? I’m thankful that I heard what he was saying and didn’t just listen to what he was saying when he ran for office-I didn’t vote for him and won’t again. We need jobs and a President who will stand up for America-not applogize for us or let others put us down. Our Military and our people desevre better.

Coll

June 1st, 2010
1:06 pm

I have read almost all of the posts on this blog, and I am actually amazed at how off-topic and completely irrelevant the majority of them are. I think it’s actually a good thing that VP Biden laid the wreath, taking into account his son’s recent return from Iraq. That being said, I do believe it is the privilege and obligation of the President to be there in Arlington because of the historical significance of the event. For those of you who believe he can do this from anywhere with the same meaning, the idea of this ceremony is that he is honoring all of our soldiers everywhere, but most importantly those who have died, by placing the wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier. I believe this is an important ritual, and it should be observed by every president (including the ones who have missed it in the past, although they seem to have been doing things other than taking a “vacation”). As for the rest of this conservative/liberal business, it doesn’t matter what party you are affiliated with, I am glad that someone (especially Biden, who probably has a better perspective on that ritual due to his son’s involvement in the military and the fact that his son made it back) was there to honor the fallen heroes on Memorial Day.

« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Show All