Editor, Times-Union: If no one else will go into that dark night, I will. Don’t kid yourself, anyone who has a driving need to transform this great country, has no respect for America or anyone in it, including those who keep her strong and protect her shores.
One year on Memorial Day, Barack Obama flew to Chicago for a barbecue. Arlington wasn’t important to him then. He told a grateful nation that he could remember our veterans from anywhere. But, this year is different. You place a wreath in Arlington and bow your head in reverence. After all, it’s an election year, and that’s all Barack Obama needs to hear.
Suddenly, he feels a great need to insert himself into every memorial event he can find. But for me, it’s way to little, way too late, and way too transparent.
Reverence and respect come from your great pride as an American, and is deep inside your heart. It’s not something you drag out reluctantly for a photo op so it makes you look patriotic and may generate votes. You don’t stand in front of a nation, whose military you are about to gut, and pretend you give a damn. You don’t propose to cut military benefits and medical care, then stand, salute, and hope they believe you think they are important.
Mr. Obama, you’ve never shouldered a military weapon, walked a carrier deck, or filled the cockpit of a fighter jet. Don’t you dare use our troops as pawns for your re-election. When I look at the flag and the faces of our troops, and then hear of the path you have for America, I’m convinced this is the worst kind of dark night.
