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May 30, 2010

Do Real Presidents Show Up at Arlington?

By Michael Shaw

<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">President George W. Bush stands during the playing of the National Anthem during a Fallen Soldiers National Memorial Ceremony at the American Legion Post 121 in Waco, Texas Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007. White House photo by Eric Draper</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">President George W. Bush greets members of the audience after attending a Fallen Soldiers National Memorial Ceremony at the American Legion Post 121 in Waco, Texas Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007. White House photo by Eric Draper.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">Vice President Dick Cheney lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during Veterans Day ceremonies, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. White House photo by David Bohrer.<br /> </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">An U.S. Army Band bugler plays Taps during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. White House photo by David Bohrer.<br /> </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"> Veteran Warren G. King, Sr. of Nashville, center, salutes with fellow veterans Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007, during Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. White House photo by David Bohrer. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">Vice President Dick Cheney delivers remarks Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007, during Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. &#8220;Gathered as we are today in a time of war, we&#8217;re only more sharply aware of the nation&#8217;s debt to the members of the armed forces,&#8221; said the Vice President, adding, &#8220;They are constantly in our thoughts.&#8221; White House photo by David Bohrer</span></p>

Vice President Dick Cheney delivers remarks Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007, during Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. “Gathered as we are today in a time of war, we’re only more sharply aware of the nation’s debt to the members of the armed forces,” said the Vice President, adding, “They are constantly in our thoughts.” White House photo by David Bohrer

Might the grasping and “beyond petty” attack on Obama for not being at Arlington tomorrow actually have a message in it after all?

Today, right wingers have been attacking the President as unpatriotic because he’s sending Biden to do Memorial Day honors at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Both the Democrats and the media have shot back, however, focusing on the fact that Bush dispensed Cheney to serve the same duty in 2007 on Veterans Day.  (The images in the slideshow are from the Bush White House photo gallery that weekend.)

Thinking about it though, if Cheney was the shadow President and Bush was simply a figurehead, maybe Obama does have some explaining to do.

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  • DennisQ

    Public displays of patriotism have become more right wing over the past twenty years. I used to go down to the Armory every Memorial Day to remember the dead. Then, over time, local politicians would increasingly use the occasion to deliver militaristic speeches. The Chaplain would close his invocation with the words, Thru Christ Our Lord.

    Can we get back to remembering the dead? You don’t have to be a right winger to acknowledge how they died. Memorial Day could just as easily be a left wing observance as well.

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