Obama admin. knew about WWII veterans’ request and rejected it!

This isn't about the general outrage of memorials being closed or people being turned away. This is about the specific decision taken, questioned then REAFFIRMED to take after a chance to reconsider. This was 100% deliberate by design, given that.

Just in case anyone was under the impression that the World War II memorial had been closed by oversight, rigid following of the rules on everything else or just plain stupid coincidence? Well..... I hate to confirm what I had hoped wouldn't come up, but I had a feeling ...someone would have asked about this in a formal request, ahead of time. I wasn't going to assume it and I didn't yesterday, despite statements indicating it may have happened this way.

I was very good, IMO, about not piling on with speculation.

Now it isn't speculation. It's simply what happened, it seems.

The White House and the Department of the Interior rejected a request from Rep. Steven Palazzo’s office to have World War II veterans visit the World War II memorial in Washington, the Mississippi Republican told The Daily Caller Tuesday.

Palazzo helped the veterans commit an act of civil disobedience against the Park Service Tuesday, when the heroes stormed through barricades around the closed memorial.

It's entirely possible that some miscommunication happens. Wires get crossed..signals get mixed and stupidity happens. In Washington, they call that starting an average day, I believe. They had EVERY chance to fix this in embarrassed horror yesterday and even Obama would have gotten applause out of me for being big enough to see it done. (He outright ignores other laws which don't please him, why rigidly shove this one down our throats?)

Palazzo’s office was in touch with the heads of the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and the Capitol Police. He says all these officials rejected his request to allow the veterans, many of whom are octogenarians and some of whom are in poor health, to attend.

Source

I think people need to understand something in context to this and ONLY this Monument for a specific example. Many of these men...these veterans of the Greatest Generation...aren't there by their own travel money. They don't live around D.C. and they can't come back some day to catch it another time.

Many of those men are there by special trip and arrangement in once in a lifetime (at their age, let's not play games...) opportunity to see and experience what was constructed SO LATE ..in their honor.

This isn't a chance many will ever get a do-over for. So, this is NOT like the Lincoln memorial or the Washington monument. This is personal, deeply meaningful and unique for life experiences to be had by these old folks.

This is another headline story right now that explains a bit more about "Honor Flights" for these guys and what this is potentially screwing them out of if they force a shut down and force them out of THEIR monument.

Honor Flight to World War II Memorial in jeopardy due to shutdown

It's obscene, and it's a travesty.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Could it be this was turned down because one side wants to make the other side look bad? They all look bad at this point and I'm not falling for the taking sides of this fight. It's disheartening and unimaginable to see what is going on today with the US. Logic and reason has apparently flown the coop. It gives me hope that there are still those out there that will make a stand and you are absolutely right, for these men this is most likely a one time opportunity. I cannot imagine anyone in law enforcement arresting any of them, that would be insane.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


MY blood is boiling, no this is typical Obama spitefulness, this is how he and his team operates.

I truly believe he hates America.

They are putting up more barricades with fencing and ties.

OH I wish I could cuss right now.

TEAR DOWN THESE BARRICADES!!!!

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


They were probably denied because DHS considers them to be potential terrorists. sarc/

It's a outdoor memorial isn't it? How do you close the outdoors? So there aren't any guides, big deal. These don't need guides since they lived it.

reply to post by queenofsheba


I think you're right and in a very direct and ugly way. Yes, I believe it is entirely about making the other side look bad. However, that could be done in other ways that don't directly impact the lives of individual Americans like this. Real creative games could be played here about who is essential and who isn't on things which don't hurt lowly mortals like us. (Is the White House cleaning staff essential? The Official First Dog 'pooper scooper'? ...I'll bet he DOES have one, too). Lots of things could be played with to make it personal to the leaders...not us.

I think the idea here is the same as it was for sequester. Hurt the people as widely, badly and deeply as it's possible to do ..without so much as to cause long term injury from this one event. That might be remembered in a year for elections, after all.

Anything short of that? Well... If we bleed, they lead...figuratively speaking..and they seem to love it this way. "They" being both sides that play our pain to their benefit on a daily basis.

This example just happens to single out Obama and his people...and what a bad bad example too, eh? Just horrid.

reply to post by Stormdancer777


This is so sad. Just to spite a political party, he and others are hurting the veterans and their familes. Does he realize that their days are limited and this a trip of a lifetime for these folks. Disrespectful to say the least.

GOP is offering to talk and negotiate, but he will not. Wow! What a leader....

reply to post by GNOarmy


He certainly must hope to turn their wrath toward the republicans yes.


If it were a memorial for AIDs victims it would probably be open.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Is Rep. Steven Palazzo fighting to end the shutdown by stripping the CR of all non government funding items, such as the proposed modifications to the ACA?

If not, then he is a hypocrite and the closure of the WWII memorial is his own damn fault.

You can't close something down yourself, and then blame others for it being closed. This is the idiotic logic of the Republicans.

I honestly don't think they believe this themselves, it is an act, because they know the people that vote for them are stupid and will eat it up without even thinking.

reply to post by queenofsheba


But he isn`t making the other side look bad he is making himself look bad.
He has also said that he will veto any bill that would continue funding for veteran benefits during the shutdown.

This guy makes a valid point:

“How does the White House justify signing the troop funding bill, but vetoing similar measures for veterans, National Parks, and District of Columbia? The President can't continue to complain about the impact of the government shutdown on veterans, visitors at National Parks, and DC while vetoing bills to help them. The White House position is unsustainably hypocritical."

as the president he should be doing everything possible to ease the effects of the shutdown but instead he is deliberately and intentionally trying to exacerbate the effects of it.

Tardacus
as the president he should be doing everything possible to ease the effects of the shutdown but instead he is deliberately and intentionally trying to exacerbate the effects of it.

It seems the entire White House is proud to flaunt that fact.

Here's a tweet sent by deputy press secretary Eric Schultz:

Anyone ask the very GOPers upset w/ the WWII mem if they'd support a clean CR? EVERY memorial would reopen, as would the govt

@Schultz44

They don't care who they screw as long as they can be seen to holding the power. It's disgusting.

best quote from article:

“It actually requires more effort and expense to shut out these veterans from their Memorial than it would to simply let them through

The Dept. of Interior has some leeway in making decisions on how to implement contingency plans for dealing with the funding shutdown. They could have easily made an exception if someone from the WH made a simple phone call.

However, a feel-good story would not help the President in his effort to have the media show all the damages caused by the shutdown. The more stories like this, the more he can blame the other side.

Politically motivated? Oh, hell yes!

reply to post by OneisOne


I think the difference is that we have the money, through payroll taxes, to continue funding veteran benefits but they are going to sit on that money and defund veteran benefits as a non essential expense.
if fulfilling promises and obligations to disabled veterans is considered a non essential expense, then we`re all screwed,how can we believe any promises the government makes? even promises of continued tax credits for obamacare can`t be trusted.

reply to post by AlienScience


I'm sure I read somewhere, it takes two sides of Congress to either pass something or to fail in passage. It requires people on the House side and people on the Senate side. In this case? We have 100% firm control of the House by Republicans. We have firm voting control in the Senate by Democrats.

That is called a split Congress and with a Democrat White House? It's split entirely and beyond such clear and convenient lines of blame for public consumption. It takes all parties and all leaders in this mess to make it really go FUBAR like this....and all have played their part, it seems.


So, while I find the whole shutdown debate interesting, this is really focused on the choice the White House and other Executive agencies had here. They decided on one monument and one specific instance between inflicting pain on normal people or not inflicting pain. They chose to inflict pain. I can never respect such game playing with people's lives.

(All 535 Congressmen may be guilty beyond what words can describe. None of them refused this request for the vets. A few others did that on the Exec, not legislative side.)

reply to post by Tardacus

He has also said that he will veto any bill that would continue funding for veteran benefits during the shutdown.

What? do i understand this correctly -- you are saying the veterans disability checks are not being issued or retirement checks for vets?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


They didn't specifically target this one monument like you are suggesting.

All non-essential government services are suspended, that includes ALL monuments.

Republicans knew 100% this would happen when they shutdown the government, Obama has zero blame in this, this is all on the Republicans.

All the Republicans have to do is removed legislation modification inside a FUNDING bill, and this all goes away...in short, Republicans need to just do their job.

There should be no special treatment for anyone during this shutdown, Republicans can't expect that their favorite pet projects should be funded when they are the cause of the shutdown in the first place.

reply to post by undo

The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday to consider the three measures backed by House Republicans, which are aimed at reopening parks and monuments, continuing veterans’ benefits and allowing the municipal government of the District of Columbia to function.

The White House has also rejected the bills in advance.

www.foxnews.com...

Nancy Pelosi urges ‘no’ vote on funding for veterans’ benefits
twitchy.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by AlienScience


did you see the thread about the legalese of all this?
i tried to figure it out but it's very confusing. it goes something like this:
individual people are protected under several amendments. corporations were
ruled to be individuals. somehow, the dems required some legal wording that
contradicted prior rulings, particularly those of the president. so the repubs
asked them for clarification.
here's a quote from the thread

Now since the corporate mandate was delayed by Obama and corporations are people, then the mandate was also lifted on the individual due to equal protection. With the Senate tabling that specific wording of the amendment delaying the mandate in order to throw the CR back to the House, then either the corporate mandate (applied by Executive Order which the Senate cannot override with a simple majority vote) was also stripped or the mandate on individuals mentioned by the House remains intact despite a motion by the Senate to table.

and here's the thread in question
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by AlienScience


Alien, I appreciate your quick appearance on what seems like every other thread with a disparaging word about Obama. He must truly love the deep loyalty he gets from some people who seem to admire the man. Whatever the case and motives though, the consistency of approach and position is a defining one.

However, do me a favor and read my Ops before calling me misinformed.

The veterans were visiting the memorial as part of Honor Flight, a non-profit that provides veterans free transport to the nation’s capital to visit the memorials to the wars they fought in.

“We got the heads up that they will be barricaded and specifically asked for an exception for these heroes,” Palazzo told TheDC. “We were denied and told, ‘It’s a government shutdown, what do you expect?’ when we contacted the liaison for the White House.”

Source

Now I'll be happy to look up and post contact info for Representative Palazzo, if you'd like to take this up further with him, since the quote is to his words and his first hand experience. Not my own. Unless you have something as credible or more so (which..given a Congressman..shouldn't take too much) to contradict him with factual basis? I'll take his word on his experiences. Particularly as others are confirming it today.

I didn't even choose the word "specifically" in describing the narrow rejection of THIS request for the memorial as an individual case. The Congressman did.

Thanks for contributing tho. Diverse opinions are always welcome!

reply to post by undo


Yes, I commented on that thread, it is a huge logical fail.

The OP of that thread doesn't even understand that the individual mandate is not the same as the employer mandate, and that not all employers are corporations.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I'm not sure what you are getting at.

Yes, I understand he requested an EXCEPTION for these people...and exception to something that he caused.

Maybe the better solution was for him not to be part of the cause it in the first place.