Shocker: Obama Apparently Staged Photo Op With The Troops

  •  April 14, 2009

Obama has long been sensitive to claims that the troops liked Bush more than him (as illustrated by this comparison of the reaction of US Marines to Obama and Bush respectively). So it was with no small amount of glee that the media and other Obama apologists trumpeted this image of Obama being greeted by delighted troops during a surprise visit to Iraq:

image

The problem? It appears as though the photo-op was staged according to comments from one of our troops who was on the scene:

We were pre-screened, asked by officials “Who voted for Obama?”, and then those who raised their hands were shuffled to the front of the receiving line. They even handed out digital cameras and asked them to hold them up.

Adding credence to this report is the Associated Press itself, which reported that Obama went to Iraq looking for this exact photo op:

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama went for the defining television shot by capping his first extended foreign tour with a surprise visit to Iraq.
He got it – pictures of hundreds of U.S. troops cheering wildly as he told them it was time for the Iraqis to take charge of their own future.

Just another “all form, no substance” moment for Obama. In politics, perception is more important than reality. If Obama can be perceived as a beloved leader then how he actually leads won’t matter.

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  • http://Array docdave

    Now I know you are wedded to your blind hatred of Obama but at least try to know what you are writing about and do just a modicum of research on your part.

    The cameras are a minor point as the main story is the staging of the troop photo op. Perhaps, dj, you’d like to argue that setting up photo ops to show himself in a good light is not one of Obamas MOs.

  • robert108

    Hype always wears off, eventually.

  • 2Hotel9

    Again, you prove you are that stupid. What a stupid cunt you are.

  • 2Hotel9

    No try, you lied. Plain as plain.

  • http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

    Hannitwit probably can’t see through the spittle flecks on his monitor. Stop the ACLU had a larger version of the photo and a lot of those cameras looked pretty damn similar!

    Why would it matter if Obama gave cameras to the troops who support him?

    It enhances the photo op. It implies that all these brightest and best were really, really wanting to take the Teleprompter-Reader-in-Chief’s photo.

  • Hannitized

    Who you going to believe, one partisan….or your lyin eyes?

    Believe the one guy over all those troops? Don’t think so.

  • Hannitized

    Stop the ACLU had a larger version of the photo and a lot of those cameras looked pretty damn similar!

    So what? My camera looks like that too. Does that mean I was there? No.

    You guys are conspiracy freaks. The argument that the cameras look similar is no evidence of anything.

  • djer

    Hotelier writes;
    Your good at this making an idiot of yourself thing! And no, in your case it is not. It is simply descriptive.

    Who has the problem structuring a proper sentence using proper grammar?

  • andophiroxia

    I notice djer and the rest of the trolls get all virulent and nasty because everyone else goes to bed and there is no one to argue with them, because the rest of us have other priorities in life to attend to. However, then they leave because no one is inflaming them because the rest of us have lives.

    Sad thing, really.

  • http://www.dartemis.net/blog/ sayanything-42

    Jimmy,

    More importantly, second string politicans with little experience have to work at it much harder to achieve something that can be recorded as a spectacle by a friendly press corps.

    sparkless-arse-fuckin-buckle the “pandering ninny” and apoligist for racists is just too dense and/or too partisan to see that.

  • bustoff

    It’s nice to hear that our troops got some free digital cameras out of the deal. Too bad they had to waste them on taking pictures of President Pantywaist.

  • 2Hotel9

    Sweetheart, I mangles words and sentences I be done mean to, in order to get the message across to stupid cunts like you. See? It worked.

  • http://www.dartemis.net/blog/ sayanything-42

    Give it up. guys.

    The young steer has the blinders firmly in place.

  • djer

    Hotelier, you shouldn’t be calling your wife names. Your inability to read and article and click on the link are really quite astounding.

    You inability to tell what sex I am is equally astounding. I wonder if your wife likes it when you call her that lovely word. I am sure your children are equally proud of you. My spouse doesn’t have to worry about what I write about women but yours certainly does. She must be truly happy when you call her that.

  • jimmypop

    jimmypop

    as i said, ive never heard of it in a war thou.

    are you freaking kidding man?

    seriously, I dont know. I dont follow presidential visits in EVERY war we have ever fought. please let me know a source.

    liberals here could make another argument about how we are taking the word of some anonymous blogger that got an email form some anonymous ‘military’ person…. maybe they did, but i didnt read every post.

  • http://sillytroll.com/ Dino2

    Why would the con assholes want to see Obama anyway?

    I wonder if the con troops continue to love the republicans when they come back broken and maimed and end up living in the streets of the liberal cities? That’s what happened to the disturbed Vietnam vets.

    The con/republican suburbs won’t have them.

  • Mickey

    Didn’t the military used to order the firing pins removed from all weapons when Clinton came to visit?

  • djer

    Andy, what are you babbling about? You obviously have selective reading tonight as usual. Please feel free to go back to bed! I didn’t know there were hours for blogging. Does this one close down at certain time?

  • Pfeh

    Ahh, this oldie but goodie seems useful here.

    http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/crossed.asp

  • jimmypop

    they all do this….

    HOWEVER………

    what makes me sick about this one; they actually thought a j mac voter and military person would have been disrespectful to The One in a theater of war.

  • Neiman

    Look back at the original post on SAB, you will find that I said it was staged!

  • 2Hotel9

    djerk is wrong, yet again! The cameras handed out were not all the same. You really are this stupid.

  • Hannitized

    All those identical cameras!

    What are the odds that among all the troops in Iraq, only the ones who owned that one particular model camera ended up in the front row of this event?

    So what? Have you ever been to a seminar? At seminars they give out pens that are USB flash memory sticks, lasers and pens…all in one device….as a gift. Why would it matter if Obama gave cameras to the troops who support him?

  • djer

    Hey hotelier, don’t take the discrepancy up with me. Read the article, it says they handed out the same camera. Perhaps you should get those glasses changed.

    You can’t now claim there were different kinds of cameras when the original article claim they were the same.

    Perhaps you should know what you are talking about before you write.

  • djer

    of course you do, you have nothing substantive to say and your vocabulary is quite limited, so I understand why you keep repeating yourself and using your favorite word to describe your wife.

  • Uncle Joe

    Reminds me of those guys in North Korea who wave flags and pom-poms and cheer for that country’s only fat man, the Dear Leader. They’re all Party elite, privileged enough to live in Pyongyang. That, or simply told by the thought police what will happen to them and their families if they don’t.

  • http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

    Did that blogger say all the cameras were the same?

  • 2Hotel9

    Look at the pictures, you ignorant slut, and you will see at least 3 different types of digital cameras. You really are this stupid.

  • andophiroxia

    Please feel free to go back to bed!

    Feeling sassy? I notice you don’t talk much during the day could that be you feel overwhelmed with people refuting your crap? All you do is drive by, say something stupid, and run off. No communication, nothing on topic, nothing.

  • djer

    You really are that stupid, hotel. If you had actually read the entire paragraph from the numerous rightie blogs and which Rob failed to quote the entire statement in context you would have seen this little addition:

    “We were pre-screened, asked by officials “Who voted for Obama?”, and then those who raised their hands were shuffled to the front of the receiving line. They even handed out digital cameras and asked them to hold them up.”

    Take a look at the picture at AP and notice all the cameras are the same models? Coincidence? I think not.

    The person claims there were all the same!

    Now I know you are wedded to your blind hatred of Obama but at least try to know what you are writing about and do just a modicum of research on your part.

    So if you have any factual basis for your conclusion that different cameras were handed out, bring it but you won’t because there isn’t any, just your fantastical mind at play again as usual.

    You need to get out of the back woods.

  • jimmypop

    jimmy.
    ‘politics’ is the height of ‘spectacle’.
    open your eyes and see the light.

    so you dont have a source? okay.

    i never said it wasnt… in fact, i fully acknowledge everyone does this… just not a theater of war. its shocking to me that, if true, someone actually thought a US military person would protest A PRESIDENT in a war zone. tells you what they think of our troops.

  • djer

    Andy, I don’t blog during the weekdays. I work, how about you?

  • djer

    The cameras were an integral part of the story to show that the event was staged. By saying that everyone received a similar camera furthered the event staging proposition for the story in the first place.

    If the cameras weren’t all the same, then it calls into question the veracity of the reporting source and the entire staging accusation.

    And DD, all those soldiers are being forced to smile and laugh and hug the president under orders for the photo op.

  • andophiroxia

    polâ‹…iâ‹…tiâ‹…cian
       /ˌpɒlɪˈtɪʃən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [pol-i-tish-uhn] Show IPA
    –noun
    1. a person who is active in party politics.
    2. a seeker or holder of public office, who is more concerned about winning favor or retaining power than about maintaining principles.
    3. a person who holds a political office.
    4. a person skilled in political government or administration; statesman or stateswoman.
    5. an expert in politics or political government.
    6. a person who seeks to gain power or advancement within an organization in ways that are generally disapproved.

    So, it can be a description of a person’s job or how a person acts in relation to such job. There are stereotypical politician and the people who are employed in political positions. I think this term should have clarification.

    I’m not the absolutist here, sparkie.

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus Last Best Hope

    the novice Obama team did not have to “stage” a visit to the troops..that is so disrespectful to them and shows a total lack of understanding of how soldiers inherently respect their Commander In Chief.

    Even if they don’t agree with some policies, no soldier would ever be anything but respectful in the presence of their president…but this slick PR crap will have a negative effect on morale.

    If Obama had even a hint of the kind of patriotism practiced by those on active duty, he would not be so afraid of the men and women he is charged with leading.

    this wet behind the ears president is really bad for US…can we survive his learning curve?

  • 2Hotel9

    So, spark and dinothefakehomo, AP is an “anonymous” source? Since when?

  • http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/ Reaganite Republican

    Some shocker, lol- the military has to deal in reality, and their life is on the line every day. They simply can’t afford a pollyanna, cafe-debate world view like Obama thinks is so hip.

    Regarding the Pentagon budget, Obama was, of course, vague on the campaign trail… but he has now signaled that cuts are on the way. Unsettlingly, Obama has attacked our greatest practical technology asset, missile defense- by stating that “unproven” systems will be cancelled. This comes at a time in history when missile shields seem like an idea who’s time has come, given Al Qaida’s quest for nuclear weapons, the instability of nuclear Pakistan, continued North Korean instragence, Russian beligerence, and of course an apocolyptic Iran.

    There is also a widespread suspicion in the US military that Obama’s election has emboldened radical Islam. There is a fear of a new terror attack being put into action to test Obama, who generally faces a skeptical rank-in-file. The Military Times found in a recent poll that 68% of active and retired service personnel backed John McCain in the Presidential race… while only 28% supported Obama.

  • jimmypop

    they all do this….

    No, they don’t actually. Not to this degree.

    If there’s anything I hate more than a blind partisan, it’s the people who pretend like they’re above the partisan political fray.

    yes they do….. you may not like it, but they all screen people. from media to visitors. as i said, ive never heard of it in a war thou.

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus Last Best Hope

    I truly believe Obama respects our military in this sense: with his socialist/communist agenda, he understands very well that the one American institution that cannot be “talked: into sureendering America to our enenimies is the Pentagon.

    And he knows that “radical political change” is always subject to military review. This is the historical fact dating back to the Roman Empire and is as current as the Pakistan situation.

    Obama treads lightly around Gates/Petraeus..as well he should.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/entry/homosexuality_is_wrong_-_a_compendium move_zig

    DISCIPLINE, SIR!

    They might not respect the man.

    They respect the Office.

  • 2Hotel9

    With that post you just prove what a stupid cunt you are. And it is not gender specific, as you prove every time you comment here.

  • djer

    The use of the C word is, I think I can say, is universally used in a derogatory way. Unless you can use it in a sentence where it would be acceptable vernacular to the general public, which I doubt exists; it is indeed vulgar and sexist in any use as the use of the term “wetback” is also vulgar as well as racist in any use.

    Hotelier just can’t seem to write without being vulgar. It’s too bad he has such disregard for women or any sex for that matter and I especially feel sorry for his wife.

  • docdave

    And DD, all those soldiers are being forced to smile and laugh and hug the president under orders for the photo op.

    Like hotel said, they were chosen because they were Obama supporters and naturally as such they would show enthusiasm for their Chosen One.

    I’m sure that Obama is grateful for your support too.

  • http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

    Han-Job just confirmed that it was staged.

  • 2Hotel9

    And notice djerk has totally running away from the fact that Barri had the audience loaded for his political gain. Why is that, me wonders?

  • 2Hotel9

    Again, you ignorant slut, they were chosen because they like Barri. You continue to illustrate you are this stupid.

  • http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

    or your lyin eyes?

    Look at the AP photos, braindead partisan hack Hannitwit! All those identical cameras!
    What are the odds that among all the troops in Iraq, only the ones who owned that one particular model camera ended up in the front row of this event?*

    Keep believing your own lies and spin, Wankertized, if that’s what it takes to get you through the night!

    *In case you were wondering, the question mark is in the right place! Heh.

  • djer

    Roid, you come all unglued when someone uses the term “wetback” but not when your buddy uses the “c***” word.

    Hmmmm, I think you were in better company with ponyman than hotelier.

    Hotelier, obviously your reading skill we know are lacking but now so are your comprehension skills. That word is gender specific and I hope your wife loves it when you use it on her at those special moments.

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus Last Best Hope

    “W” was/is a mega recruiting boost to our all volunteer military. ALL BRANCHES are meeting recruiting goals and RETENTION is at record levels.

    libs don’t get it (they never do) but young people love their country and are ready to fight for America. THERE IS NO DRAFT….yet our soldiers volunteer to defend US.

    this simple fact makes the lefty loons crazy as their hedonist philosophy is rejected in masse by men and women who want an America that their children will want.

  • 2Hotel9

    I mean to be derogatory to you, and you keep making it so easy!

  • http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

    The con troops would have been disruptive assholes.

    The flaming twit known as Dino has no personal knowledge of military decorum and a memory that is apparently shorter than “little Dino”.
    The last time Obama visited troops who were not overwhelmed by the sheer animal magnetism of The One, they were politely quiet.

    The only “disruptive” one is the lying, libelous asswipe from Portland whose wild, spittle flecked assertions disrupt the intelligent conversations of adults on this site.

  • Hannitized

    Those cameras aren’t even the same. Some are thin, some are fatter than others. Some have black straps, some have grey.

    This fake blogger who wrote in the comments will be proven to be a hoax in time.

  • 2Hotel9

    My vocabulary is limited? You can’t even spell or structure a proper sentence, much less articulate a coherent thought or communicate above a 5th grade level. You really are a stupid cunt.

    And here is a clue. Its called spell check. You can easily turn it on and leave active all the time, idiot.

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus Last Best Hope

    how could a blog roach ever understand the personal honor of those on active duty? an honor that would not ever allow some kinda CODE PINK outburst in the presence of their Commander In Chief.

    Obama didn’t understnd either so he killed the visit’s potential for him to be real in front of those he commands.

    sad & lost opportunity for THE ONE and a slap in the face to the troops

  • http://www.dartemis.net/blog/ sayanything-42

    Obama is not the first President with this problem.

    Way back when (97 or 98) the then President of the United States was in South Korea on a foreign tour. His advance team reserved the Field House on Yongsan South Post for a political rally, and started taking reservations.

    By the end of the first day they were offering a 24 hour pass to anyone who’d volunteer to show up.

    By halfway through the second day it was up to a 48 hour pass.

    By the end of that day it was up to a 72 hour pass.

    On the morning of the event they had to detail a unit to appear at the rally.

  • sayanything-4625

    Dino,

    I know its hard to believe, by you, not by anyone with any military experience, but the soldiers would be respectful of the President even if they hated him. Most people I know that are still in are in a benefit of the doubt mode of thought. IE we don’t know what Obama’s going to be like so we will give him the respect he deserves as President of the US. Later, affection may grow. I don’t know why you have such a hard time believing that, the military HATED Clinton with a passion and I don’t remember any large group of military people showing him disrespect.

  • Hannitized

    Funny.

    Not.

  • andophiroxia

    You cannot dispute the simple fact that Bush’s approach was a recruiting boon for the Jihadists.

    I noticed after Bush struck back in Iraq or Afghanistan for 9/11 they have not attacked any of our own interests.

    However, it seems that after Obama bowed to the Saudi King, the pirates felt emboldened to attack.

  • robert108

    If there’s anything I hate more than a blind partisan, it’s the people who pretend like they’re above the partisan political fray.

    I object to the false proposition that there is no difference between Obama and previous Presidents, especially the last President. A world of difference, not only in behavior, but in motive.

  • http://sillytroll.com/ Dino2

    You say “he has long resented” when in fact, he’s not been in office sufficient time to “long” anything.

    Of course they screened the attendees. The con troops would have been disruptive assholes. Your image and behavior precedes you.

    They could also have simply photoshopped in the troops as bush was prone to do.

  • andophiroxia

    Of course they screened the attendees. The con troops would have been disruptive assholes. Your image and behavior precedes you.

    I don’t think they would have. Even though they were visibly cold to Obama, they still treated him with respect as his Office was entitled to. They were absolute professionals.

    Oh wait, they’re conservatives you wish death upon them and suffering as well as cops.

    I hope this cop gets shot and killed.

    He’s a racist asshole who overstepped his bounds by emailing migshots that should not have been publicized.

    When I worked at a PD we were forbidden from talking about whose mugshots or private info we saw.

    Perhaps he’ll get taken down by one of the people whose photo he distributed. That would be justice.
    DINO on February 11, 2009 at 10:33 am

    Do you wish the same for our soldiers you piece of shit?

  • Mark

    Surprise, surprise.

  • jimmypop

    Why would the con assholes want to see Obama anyway?

    I wonder if the con troops continue to love the republicans when they come back broken and maimed and end up living in the streets of the liberal cities? That’s what happened to the disturbed Vietnam vets.

    The con/republican suburbs won’t have them.

    because hes our president. I would like to see him and i hate his policies. I have had breakfast with the clintons and gores, shaken bushs hand and even went to see ross perot as well. No matter what people like rob say, its ok to listen to and visit people of the opposite party.

  • http://www.dartemis.net/blog/ sayanything-42

    djer,

    Since we don’t know if you’re human, let alone male, female, or confused, it would be difficult to know if the word you object to is really a slur of any variety as applied. I will certainly agree that the word “cunt” is vulgar, and would almost certainly be sexist when applied to a female homosapiens.

    It would be hard to construe “wetback” as anything other than a racist epithet, though if spewed by one of our resident leftards I have no doubt whatsoever that several of our other leftards would make apologia for it.

  • http://www.dartemis.net/blog/ sayanything-42

    djer,

    if that’s the best you can do your handlers need to find a higher quality of troll to inflict upon us.

  • andophiroxia

    I wonder if the con troops continue to love the republicans when they come back broken and maimed and end up living in the streets of the liberal cities? That’s what happened to the disturbed Vietnam vets.

    Thanks to you asshole, because you undermined the war and allowed antiwar protestors to spit on them and call them babykillers and rapists. John Kerry testifying before Congress regarding blatant and rampant war crimes perpetrated by the US, anyone?

    Knowing and respecting a lot of my friends in the military, it’s a hard and tough job and it takes a lot of discipline and balls to complete it and your mission even though it means death.

    God bless the military, by the way. Thanks to all that have served and are serving this country. Really, you are much better people than I.

  • djer

    Nice try! Ha!

  • 2Hotel9

    You proved it again. Your good at this making an idiot of yourself thing! And no, in your case it is not. It is simply descriptive.

  • jimmypop

    If there’s anything I hate more than a blind partisan, it’s the people who pretend like they’re above the partisan political fray.

    i guess you and i are the opposite and im REALLY, REALLY cool with that. blind partisans like your boy hennen make me laugh. you point out how bad ed is, but at least he disagrees with some liberal platform items…… whereas scott, not so much. thats sad, dude. the only difference between ed and the hennen types is ed switched teams over-and-over as required. that said, it doent make the messages they send any different. the ‘one side can do no wrong’ message is not good…. its good for ratings maybe, but i couldnt imagine myself being a brainwashed sheep that thought that way.

    pointing out hypocrisy within a party is a GOOD thing. if enough people do it, we can hope they wake up and become conservative.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/entry/homosexuality_is_wrong_-_a_compendium move_zig

    Why would it matter if Obama gave cameras to the troops who support him?

    Let me guess.

    If the IPOD he gave to the Queen was pre-loaded with all his speeches, then all those cameras his handlers gave to the troops came pre-loaded with pictures of Obama already in their memory.

  • http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

    The con troops would have been disruptive assholes. Your image and behavior precedes you.

    They could also have simply photoshopped in the troops as bush was prone to do.

    Ever notice when you find the left less than truthful they accuse your side of doing the same thing?

  • djer

    Oops, Rob is wrong once again:
    http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/realpic.jpg

    yep, Rob, all those cameras look all the same. Perhaps you should not just print what ever you get from other rightie blogs.

    So it “appears” that whoever your source was, was wrong about the handing out of digital cameras.

    Might want to check out your facts Rob, next time. oh but why would you when you can get your “facts” from another blog whether they are true or not. Don’t let the truth ever get in your way!

  • docdave

    the military HATED Clinton with a passion and I don’t remember any large group of military people showing him disrespect.

    Respect is not in dinos dictionary.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/sparkiearbuckle sayanything-81

    jimmypop

    as i said, ive never heard of it in a war thou.

    are you freaking kidding man?

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/sparkiearbuckle sayanything-81

    also, we have yet another dubious piece of evidence given by an unnamed source to a rightwing, partisan blogger.
    that should give us all pause.
    the staged event is certainly plausible, given obama’s proclivities, but we do not know that it was staged, based on what rob has offered here.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/sparkiearbuckle sayanything-81

    oh my god it was staged.
    oh, wait.
    obama is a politician.
    it is a tautologous fact (entailed by the correct definition of politician) that it was staged.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com robport

    Nope, this one operates 24/7.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com robport

    they all do this….

    No, they don’t actually. Not to this degree.

    If there’s anything I hate more than a blind partisan, it’s the people who pretend like they’re above the partisan political fray.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/sparkiearbuckle sayanything-81

    jimmy.
    ‘politics’ is the height of ‘spectacle’.
    open your eyes and see the light.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/sparkiearbuckle sayanything-81

    raygun-ite

    There is also a widespread suspicion in the US military that Obama’s election has emboldened radical Islam.

    You cannot dispute the simple fact that Bush’s approach was a recruiting boon for the Jihadists.

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