Too. Freaking. COOL!

My favorite part of the story? Scott McClellan told the accompanying reporters, en route to Baghdad, "If word of this leaks out, we're turning this plane around."

Don't make me stop this car!

Love it.

This visit may be a little foolish, but I respect the man for doing it.

Holy Crap!

Good on him, I say.

I have to admit Dean, I thought it must be satire. I was shocked it was true!

That was incredible. I can only imagine what the Secret Service thought of that. I can't wait for the "behind the scenes" details to come out!

On the other hand, I'm willing to bet that someone will accuse the President of foolishly risking his life, or putting the country at risk, etc. *sigh*

Heh, NBC news broke in on the TV to report this whole story. Something kind of cool: Gen. Sanchez was going to read a Thanksgiving note to the troops. He stopped and asked if anyone here was more senior that could read the note, and then Bush walked in. The video showed the troops going wild. I was incredibly cool. :-)

Good grief, the thought of Air Force One gliding into Baghdad at night with all the lights off, under a cescent moon. I would pay money for a picture of that! Hollywood couldn't do a better job if they tried...

Jeez... the Secret Service must have been shitting little blue bricks.

Dangerous move- but the troops obviously loved it, and that's what counts.

Happy Thanksgiving, all; we've got a lot to be thankful for.

You know Dean. It just ocurred to me that was a politically shrewd move by Bush.

What better way to 1-up Hillary's upcoming visit after all?

Can you imagine what Hillary would have been saying when she got back, if Bush had not done this? It would have been doom, doom, doom and more doom.

Now Bush can just say, "I was there just a week ago, and it wasn't that bad."

It was absolutely brilliant.

You cannot know how much this means to us in the military.

It also shows that he put us in the danger zone for the safety of our country, and he understands and appreciates the sacrifices we in the military have been called upon to make.

He spent Thanksgiving with us

"You cannot know how much this means to us in the military."

I can. I think I'm going to cry...

Damn. My respect for him just went up another notch. I hope that the video of this gets out to everyone in the military ASAP so that they can see it. I can only guess at what it means for them.

And I'm damn proud to have a president who would take so much trouble to thank our troops on our behalf. Truly, I was one of the millions that President Bush spoke for when he thanked the men and women of our armed forces.

The President's remarks to the troops are up on the White House site.

As an aside, I keep getting this picture of Cheney sitting in an underground bunker somewhere, eating faux-turkey breast and drinking cranberry juice.

Our President is a man of faith and he has determination to stay in Iraq to help bring about democracy. His trip was tremendous for our American troops and I can only imagine how wonderful this made them feel. His speech to them brought a thunderous applause and cheers from our troops and he told them America stands solidly behind them. Because of them we don't have to face the terrorist in America.

President Bush is a good man, a decent and honorable man. He has a resolve and it is that resolve those troops and their families needed to hear once again with all the negative things that are foolisly being said about this man in a time of war.

THANKSGIVING DAY OUR PRESIDENT GAVE OUR TROOPS IN PERSON, IN BAGHDAD, AN HISTORICAL EVENT, A MESSAGE FROM AMERICANS AT HOME, THANK YOU AND BLESS YOU ON THIS DAY. This was amazing, absolutely heartfelt, absolutely the kind of man Our President George Bush Is!

LP: since I'm stuck at home alone on Thanksgiving, I just sat there for almost an hour hitting refresh on CNN, Fox News, and Whitehouse.gov waiting for that transcript. Got it up now. :-)

Stuck alone at home on TDay?

WTF are talking about Willis?

Long story. Basically, I was mandated to work overtime this evening, and so I can't make it to the family get-together. Rose and Jake already left, and I'm getting ready to go to work in a couple of hours.

Bummer dude.

Hope they are bringing a plate home for you though?

Man, I just have to say, that news about Bush visiting Iraq just made my Thanksgiving Day! Imagine how much the Iraqi insurgents will be squirming when they find out (not to mention the Democratic leadership :)

Aw, let's not go all partisan. Senator Clinton's visit to Afghanistan is pretty cool too.

True, true, Dean. I'll give her that. I'll even say she went to Afghanistan to pay attention to the guys the media ignores right now.

But, you have to agree that she's probably pretty torqued right now... :)

Casey:

Clinton did the right thing, regardless, as she's a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The other members of that committee are the ones who should be torqued.

I didn't mean to be too partisan about it, but it sure made my day!

A Canadian friend of mine just emailed me and said, "Damn! I'm so jealous I'm not an American. It must be nice to have such strong leadership."

If nothing else it sent the strong political message, that Bush is committed, and we will not be leaving until the job is done.

I'm sitting there reading the story and thinking, 'Man, when was the last time we had an American President with "brass ones" this big... Teddy Roosevelt?'

This just sends chills up my spine.

And to think what this man went through just so he could spend a Thanksgiving dinner with the troops! This isn't just something that he did on a whim. He probably had to browbeat some serious opposition in his staff to get it done. As stated above, the secret service must have been going through apoplexy!

Hell no it wasn't necessary. It was risky. It could have gone so wrong in so many ways. (The naysayers will be whining about this just like they whined about the carrier landing.) But THAT'S what makes me so damn proud that he DID it!

I may not agree 100% with everything he does or wants to do. But DAMN it's good to have a President I can be _proud_ of!!

Since he showed up unexpectedly, this means the some of the troops were carrying loaded weapons. I believe that for earlier Presidential visits in recent times, the troops were required to unload their weapons.

What a gesture of trust and faith!

Oh, I agree completely, Ara! But I'm sure she had in the back of her mind how going over there would look. After all, she is a pro, yes?

But definitely props for her; she could have just visited a base in the US.

But I can't help but wonder what went thru her mind when she suddenly heard Bush had visited Baghdad...

As for those who think that one visit was counter to the other, the Bush trip (at least) was in the works since October, and was under heavy secrecy.

Dare I say: great minds think alike? {grin}

"But, you have to agree that she's probably pretty torqued right now... :)"

If the gesture was sincere, she won't be. If it was a political move, then Bush just gave her a priceless gift: he made her visit look even more statesmanlike than it did before and made it harder for the Clinton-haters to scream about her visit. IOW, the Bushes just made Senator Clinton's Christmas card list. :)

William: Are you proud that the President hasn't attended a single military funeral for those killed in Iraq?

Thanks, Adam, for reminding everyone how much of a bunch of partisan SOBs the Bush-hating crowd REALLY is.

I think one of the traits of a true democrat (lower case) is the ability to vigorously disagree with someone on issues without ascribing bad motives to the person. Furthermore, it is the willingness to learn and incorporate whatever things of value that exist within your political opponents arguments into your own positions.

The idea that you have a monopoly on good ideas, or that others disagree with you PURELY on the basis of bad motives, is anethema to good democracy. Part of the idea of democracy is respect and love for your fellow man. How can you say you have this respect and love if you cannot respect their opinions and viewpoints even while disagreeing.

I don't agree with the Clintons on many issues. But I look hard enough to find issues on which we agree, which is surprisingly easy to do if you are so inclined. So congratulations to Senator Clinton for her courage, her dedication to America and its troops, and for her willingness to serve our nation.

Scott: Well put. I couldn't agree more.

Sherard: I think the funeral issue is important, if you're talking about being proud of a Commander in Chief's conduct during a war, which is what I think we're talking about. I think the visit was an election-year publicity stunt, but I can clearly see where there would be differences of opinion on that point. If the troops' morale was helped by Bush's visit, that's a good thing. But I think we need to look at all of the President's actions, not just the ones that look good on TV. And I am honestly curious what Bush supporters feel about the funeral issue, since I've only seen it discussed on liberal/left sites.

Adam,

Bush has visited privately with many families of slain soldiers. He prefers expressing his condolences in private rather than make their funerals a public spectacle. Would your opinion change if he did publicly attend a funeral, or would you criticize hime for being unconcerned about the trouble he cause a family during their time of grief? I think as long as the President genuinely shows compassion to the military families, in matters not whether these expressions are public or private. Its a non-issue.

I think he should attend publicly; I'm sure there would be a lot of families who would be honored to have him attend, and of course the family should be able to decide that. And no, I'm not looking for how I can criticize Bush either way. I think going to a funeral or two would be an important statement, and if he did that, I would say he did the right thing.

Adam,
And if he attends one, why not two? And if he attends two, why not four? And if four, why not half? And if half, then why not all?
It's a game that cannot be won. Perhaps just attending a few would satisfy you, but our "non"-biased media outlets like CNN and NY Times would begin carping how President Bush was going to funerals as a photo-op, or digging into a family's privacy to determine that Bush visited these specific funerals because the family voted Republican for decades, or some crap like that.
Anything a President does can be politicized, and the liberals have proven they will politicize anything they can in the worst possible light. Thus, I do not blame him for not having chosen to attend a funeral yet.
At this point, at least, he made the better choice.

Adam,

Can you provide some examples of other presidents attending soldiers' funerals? It might help to show what a moral coward Bush is for not doing so.

Thanks, B

I've seen this "not attending funerals" run around for a spell now and it got me to wondering.

Should he?

I've decided, no, he shouldn't.

It would detract from the purpose of the funeral. It would turn the funeral into a media event. It would draw the focus from its rightful place, the deceased and their grieving family.

I've been to funerals where some bigwig comes, maybe for the right reasons, maybe not. But in all cases it altered the solemnity and focus of the occassion. And there is no re-do for these moments.

Funerals are private moments for famly and friends. Outsiders don't belong no matter how important they are.

And, seriously, if Bush attended a single funeral, wouldn't there be many who would howl as they do now about the "PR stunt" it was?

I know that, were I a grieving widow, I would not appreciate some outsider crashing my husband's funeral.

Best to let the dead and the grieving have their ceremony unburdened by a presidential visit.

Lunacy

Lunacy: To me, it wouldn't be a PR stunt. A big reason why? They wouldn't use it in a campaign commercial, unlike serving turkey to the troops.

Brian: I didn't say he was a coward, did I? I just think going to a funeral or two would be the right thing to do.

Nathan: Yes, anything any politican does can be politicized. But I've been amazed at the unwillingness of Bush supporters to ever criticize anything he does. Let's turn it on its head: after praising him for staying away, would you guys be saying Bush did the wrong thing if he did go to a funeral? I don't think so.

Adam -- you need to back up and re-think. Presidents never attend individual soldier's funerals unless it's a close friend or relative. Why? Because it would intrude on a very private moment for the survivors, and because the President knows he's the one who not only ordered the soldier into harm's way, but that it's going to happen again. It's not appropriate. Please make note that I'm saying this: if he attends a soldier's funeral without a personal connection to the family, I think it wrong.

On the other hand, Bush has made a point of meeting privately with the families later -- he just did so at Ft Carson last week. He dos so even though some of these people are very angry with him, and that is appropriate. What's more, if you notice, he doesn't have lots of press coverage of these visits.

I personally think you're whistling past the graveyard if you think the visit to the Abraham Lincoln wasn't a net positive for Bush, although I think you've got an excuse, because a lot of people have been whistling the same tune past that same graveyard. I don't think this "doiesn't attend funerals" thing is going to get much traction, either, because the only place I ever hear it mentioned is from the same people who repeat the other eminently false memes, like the "imminent" one. In other words, it's being handed around the hate-Bush-every-day crowd; it's another politically transmitted disease vectored through political incest.

And like other kinds of incest, it tends to stay inside the family; it just inspires revulsion outside.

Adam,

I'm sorry, I misread your original post.

Since you asked, I don't think Bush or any other president should be expected to attend a soldier's funeral, for many of the reasons stated here. If he decides to do so, I would hope he would handle it with dignity and respect, but I doubt he will.

Do you get the impression, as I do, that many of those calling on him to do so are actually attempting to politicize the issue of dead soldiers by painting Bush as callous toward their sacrifice?

B

I doubt he will...decide to do so, that is. Sorry, thought it was somebody else's day to watch the antecedents.

Charlie: Well that's a new one; and I thought I'd already been called every name in the book on this site. Now I'm an incest practitioner with a "politically transmitted disease." Must've taken you all day to come up with that one, eh?

I know it's a net-positive for Bush. It's an irresistible photo op on one of the slowest news days of the year. Bravo, again, to Karl Rove. Let's hope it doesn't get soured like the "Mission Accomplished" setup. If that ever makes it into a TV ad, it'll be for Howard Dean, not Bush.

"Get soured?" Dream on. It's only "soured" in the sense that most of the people who hated him already hated him even more afterward. Boo frikken hoo.

Adam,
I wouldn't exactly call what we are doing praising President Bush for not attending funerals.
You asked what possible reasons he could have for not going, we answered. That's it.
I praise him for going to Iraq. For Thanksgiving, it was an entirely appropriate thing to do, whereas a funeral was not. To insist he should have gone to a funeral instead of doing this is base criticism, because I sincerely doubt there were any military funerals during that period, and saying it in that manner makes it sound like an "either/or" choice.

Actually, Nathan, there was a soldier's funeral here in Atlanta on Thanksgiving Day.

I didn't say "instead" or "either/or." But I think the two concepts are related - we're talking about the President's conduct and his relationship with the troops.

With leftists like Adam, you can never win. Whatever Pres Bus does has to be wrong, or some kind of a reelection stunt, and nothing is going change their minds. So, since this trip to Baghdad was a 'lame political stunt", so I wonder what Senator Clinton's trip would be labelled. Oh, of course, since she is a shrill leftist harridan, she can do no wrong, and so, she is visiting the troops out of the goodness of her heart. But, the BBC is just reporting that Hillary has made a speech or two in Baghdad criticising the Bush Administration, saying that the UN needs to have been given a bigger role etc.

Anyways, what's new, leftists will always criticise GWB, regardless of what he and his administration does. Adam's comments are just to typical, and follows the standard leftist, hate-America formula.

With right-wingers like Ronin, you can never win. I specifically outlined what I thought would be right and wrong behavior for Bush, not trying to stake out territory on both sides.

I have some trouble with Hillary Clinton's visit. But she's not running for re-election, and she's not in charge of the war effort. So I think the stakes are a little different for her. Plus, I didn't see photos of her plastered over the front page of every newspaper in America today.

Yeah, leftists like me really hate America. That's the ticket. If it helps you sleep better at night, Ronin, go right ahead. Personally, I think the people who really hate America are the people who don't care what happens to it.

Adam asks "Are you proud that the President hasn't attended a single military funeral for those killed in Iraq?"

Is Adam proud of the ignorance his question displays? John Cole of Balloon Juice has shown that for 40 years or more presidents have not attended funerals of individual soldiers in wartime unless they were personally acquainted with the dead man or his family, though they have often attended collective memorial services for groups of soldiers. This is true for Republicans and Democrats alike. So my question is: Why should Bush be ashamed to be doing exactly what his predecessors did? And why should the president change 40+ years of tradition just because some guy named Adam can think of some reasons why he thinks it would be appropriate and can't seem to understand the many reasons others have offered to show that it would be inappropriate?

It's simple, Dr. Weevil. They'll start respecting Bush when he makes everything perfect in the Middle East (without offending anyone), ends the reign of terror in North Korea (without shedding a single drop of blood, of course), sucks Kofi Annan's wang in the well of the UN Security Council on pay-per-view, and sprouts wings and flies to the moon to bring back enough green cheese to end world hunger. Or haven't you been paying attention?

i think all americans can be proud to live in the sort of democracy where both parties can make political mileage out of the questionable invasion of another country in the name of justification of the war and at considerable personal risk from 'friendly fire' and of course the iraqis !!
ps now now free speech remember ? and just how many troops and civilians lost their lives to friendly fire ? do their families get a visit or a thanksgiving card or do their brave deaths at the hands of their own allies count for nothing ?
or werent we mentioning that in the wave of patriotism ? sorry !