Barack Obama: It's about priorities

Very good article!! Needs no explaination.

By Barbara Simpson October 19,2009


Last week, the president of the United States graced San Francisco with his presence. He was in town on Thursday to raise some $3 million in political money but not to mingle with the average folks – you know, the ones whose votes he solicited last November.

The Matier and Ross column in the San Francisco Chronicle on Oct. 14 headlined it accurately: "Obama to avoid the rabble on S.F. visit."

Avoid them he did – being whisked in by limo and escorted through back entrances so the only people who saw him were those from whom his presence extracted money – big money, at two fundraisers: a $500-$1,000 a pop reception for about 1,000 and a VIP dinner for some 160 supporters, each paying $30,500 or more for a pair of tickets that got them dinner, a handshake with the man and even a picture.

As the Chronicle headlined on Friday, "President visits city – lucky few see him."

Actually, the people who really "saw" him were those who ponied up money to refill Democrat coffers to fund upcoming elections.

The rest of us didn't count.

Last week, I received an e-mail from the office of Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., that contained a copy of his remarks on Thursday, Oct. 15, in the House Chamber, in tribute to Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt, U.S. Army:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt of Applegate, California. He is one of the fallen heroes of the Battle of Kamdesh – the remote outpost that was besieged and surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by more than 300 Taliban insurgents on October 3rd. No soldiers in the history of our nation have fought more valiantly or bravely than the defenders of Combat Outpost Keating that day. In the end, they held their ground, they defended their flag and the honor of their country."

The day Rep. McClintock spoke those words, the president was in New Orleans, for a four-hour pit stop – clearly a token visit to reassure the injured city that the president cares.

He made two quick stops while there, using the time to tell folks he would not "quit" New Orleans and went on to promote his medical plan and criticize insurance companies.

Obama told residents he wished he could write a check to solve their problems dealing with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. When a heckler challenged him to do that, he said that there's something called the Constitution and Congress to deal with.

What a surprise! Those "details" haven't deterred him from writing massive checks to other entities over the last months. It appears only the "big guys" warrant his check-writing skills, not the average citizens of this country. They only count when he wants their votes.

While Obama was in Louisiana, Rep. McClintock in Washington recounted what Sgt. Hardt and his fellow soldiers did at Kamdesh:

" … most importantly, they defended something fundamental and sacred and eternal that defines humanity itself. They defended something that can never be abandoned as long as humanity exists. They defended right against wrong – good against evil – freedom against tyranny – in its most stark and defining form."

Obama's second and last stop in New Orleans was one of those farcical "town hall" meetings – selected attendance and limited questions. He took just seven queries, one from a 4th-grade boy who asked the president:

Why do people hate you? They're supposed to love you, and God is love."

Obama's response was typically self-serving recounting the economic ills of the country and that the president has to get some of the blame, because "that's part of the job."

How noble of him.

Rep. McClintock spoke of real nobility when he recounted that Josh Hardt was 24, an outstanding high-school athlete who joined the Army three years ago. He rose to the rank of sergeant and was awarded many ribbons, including the Bronze Star. His mother said Josh joined the Army to make a difference, wanting us to be safe.

At home last year, after his first tour in Iraq, Josh told his football coach how excited he was to be marrying his love, Olivia, and planning a family. He said he loved the Army and looked forward to the future when he would return to the states and help other veterans.

Obama left Louisiana with some criticism that he gave them short shrift, but, after all, he had to get to San Francisco for the really important part of the trip – glad-handing, fundraising and more speeches promoting his political agenda. Then he returned home to Washington.

Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt returned home on Friday, for the last time.

Rep. McClintock continued:

"His family and friends and neighbors will come to mourn him and to honor him and to remember him. His community will hold him up as an example of all that is heroic and virtuous. His nation will record his name onto its most hallowed rolls that he never be forgotten. Centuries from now, flags will be placed on his grave every year as future generations gather to consider the cost of their freedom.

"And perhaps in Kamdesh, they will gather around a monument where Outpost Keating once stood and consider the measure of the men who paid everything to purchase for them so celestial an article as freedom."

It's pitiful that the man responsible for our soldiers being in harm's way can't find time to even mention those killed in the service of their country, to honor their ultimate sacrifice and to thank their parents for having raised such heroic children.

But then, Barack Obama has his agenda, and it's amazing how dead soldiers disrupt well-orchestrated political plans for changing America.