Bush's Staged Photo Op/Conversation with the Troops - Part 3

Oh, it gets even worse. Not only was the president's little talk to the troops 'News Event' completely staged and scripted (and caught), but see that Woman the Left? the Soldier?

Not so fast!

It seems The Village Voice is running a story that reveals this womans as Corine Lombardo. she's actually not even a soldier fighting in Iraq. she's a public affairs officer who works as a PR spokesperson to the media for the military. Even their military folks are just PR.

Is that what this war is about? made up PR stunts from the military PR team passed off as a give and take between the grunts and the President? Does that qualify for leadership now? turn a blind eye to any real military developments in the region over the last 2 years and just have the PR people make up a story to ask you about on national TV. I'm tired of our soldiers being sent to war so that bush can play soldier. These are peoples lives and this man treats them like they're in his personal sandbox.

Don't get me wrong, Bush has about 3 different earnest faces he puts on when he talks about our troops. he talks gravely about the burden we bear in bringing freedom to the region. the problem is that the earnest look and recycled sentence or two about his faith and respect in the military are just about all he DOES have for our troops. He certainly hasn't given them an attainable goal. he hasn't given them the gear they need for their job, and he's asking them to do this (much bigger) job with about 1/2 the troops we had in the 1991 gulf war.

These men and women have agreed to go, fight, and die if asked. The least he could do is treat them like human beings and not like playthings he sends to fight when he feels like playing war. The problem with bush is that he's spent 2 years telling us how much he loves our troops without doing one damn thing to actually provide them support. He knows he has the enduring love of many of these men and women and he just steps on that by using them for PR when his polls are down. They are nothing more than a tool for the president to try and make himself look good. the problem is that he's sent thousands to die for an idea that had never actually become a plan with a goal and an end.

I'm so tired of a president more concern with how things look than how they work. I'm no peace-nik and i'm beginning to think it's time to bring the troops home. I don't shy away from war and I might not have been against this one...if it weren't fought in the dumbest fucking way anyone could dream up. If this man and this leadership are incapable of fighting this war properly and successfully, we have no business fighting it at all.