Family of soldier on Obama's wristband had asked him not to wear it
Remember that bracelet Barack Obama flourished at the debate the other night- the one with the soldier's name on it that he somehow couldn't remember?
The family of the soldier whose name is on it had asked him not to wear it.
The mother of Sgt. Ryan David Jopek had given Obama the wristband "so that he would know my son's name." Apparently it didn't help.
When Obama began using the bracelet as a prop on the campaign trail, the Jopeks asked him to stop wearing it. He chose not to comply- and used it as a prop in the debate, with somewhat less effect than he had probably hoped.
I find it fascinating that the media haven't reported this. You can be absolutely certain that it would have been a front page item if a Republican candidate pulled a stunt this cynical and shameless.
ADDENDUM: I've been carrying on a spirited but I think rather civil exchange with an Obama supporter named Paul in the comments on this post.
Paul makes the case that McCain also used the bracelet as a political prop, and did so first. He is correct- but it isn't the use of the bracelet per se that is my concern. It's the very different context in which the two candidates used it.
He also points out that Mrs. Jopek has declared her position as "mischaracterized" to some extent, and that she was comfortable with Obama's use of the bracelet in the debate. She was concerned, however, that the bracelet not be used in effect as an anti-war statement.
Which raises the question of how specifically Obama could use it otherwise. But that, admittedly, is a distinction which is Mrs. Jopek's to make.
The family of the soldier whose name is on it had asked him not to wear it.
The mother of Sgt. Ryan David Jopek had given Obama the wristband "so that he would know my son's name." Apparently it didn't help.
When Obama began using the bracelet as a prop on the campaign trail, the Jopeks asked him to stop wearing it. He chose not to comply- and used it as a prop in the debate, with somewhat less effect than he had probably hoped.
I find it fascinating that the media haven't reported this. You can be absolutely certain that it would have been a front page item if a Republican candidate pulled a stunt this cynical and shameless.
ADDENDUM: I've been carrying on a spirited but I think rather civil exchange with an Obama supporter named Paul in the comments on this post.
Paul makes the case that McCain also used the bracelet as a political prop, and did so first. He is correct- but it isn't the use of the bracelet per se that is my concern. It's the very different context in which the two candidates used it.
He also points out that Mrs. Jopek has declared her position as "mischaracterized" to some extent, and that she was comfortable with Obama's use of the bracelet in the debate. She was concerned, however, that the bracelet not be used in effect as an anti-war statement.
Which raises the question of how specifically Obama could use it otherwise. But that, admittedly, is a distinction which is Mrs. Jopek's to make.
Comments
And from the article specifically about the radio interview where the Jopeks discussed the matter..
"She did, however, claim that she was "satisfied" with how Obama discussed the bracelet in the presidential debates last week."
Nice to have all the info, eh?
http://www.startribune.com/29863889.html?elr=KArksDyycyUtyycyUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
This point is in no way altered by Mrs. Jopek's pleasure in his having refered to it in the debate-while unable to recall the man's name.
Nice try at spinning the incident, though.
http://www.startribune.com/29863889.html?page=1&c=y
“She realized it could be interpreted as a protest against the war, a statement that made her uncomfortable because other military families who suffered losses still supported the conflict.”
“In an interview with Glen Moberg, National Guard Staff Sgt. Brian Jopek said his “ex-wife” asked Obama not to wear the bracelet at any further public appearances. But Obama was still apparently wearing it, he said.”
“Tracy Jopek said she didn't hear the interview but that her ex-husband, who is currently stationed in Cuba, mischaracterized her viewpoint."
And nice dodge of the point that in the single largest public event of the campaign thus far, it was McCain who first chose to use the wristband.
And it bears repeating, "She did, however, claim that she was "satisfied" with how Obama discussed the bracelet in the presidential debates last week."
Let's clarify a few things, eh?
1. There is nothing wrong with referring to a wristband. I did not criticize Obama for wearing a wristband What I criticized Obama for is wearing a wristband he had been asked by the mother of the soldier not to wear, and using a wristband he had been asked not to wear as a prop- precisely what Ms. Jopek was quoted as saying that she objected to.
2. What we've established is that-after the fact- Ms. Jopek was OK with Obama wearing the wristband and referring to it in this particular case.
3. You say that Ms. Jopek says that her husband "mischaracterized her position." Fair enough. How?
By implying that she wasn't OK with its use in the debate? Or by saying that she had asked Obama not to wear it?
In the second case, you have a point. But you haven't established that. Precisely how did he mischaracterize her position, Paul?
Can you produce a quotation from Ms. Jopek saying specifically that her ex-husband was wrong about her having previously asked Obama not to wear it?
If so, I'll retract what I said in the post.
None of which, of course, deals with the larger point. It took Sen. Obama literally months to admit that the surge had worked. After denying this all that time, he finally changed his tale and admitted that it had succeeded "beyond his wildest expectations."
Obama was wrong about the surge,
but even now, he won't admit it.
He continues to falsely claim that we are not succeeding politically in creating an atmosphere in which the Iraqis were cooperating with each other sufficiently to make their government viable.
Even the Iraqi government (which I trust you realize is not particularly anxious to voluteer to be beheaded or shot) feels comfortable with a deadline for our withdrawal. The war is all but won. A certain deadline for our withdrawal has even been agreed upon that even al Malaki is comfortable with.
Isn't it time for Obama to stop advocating an even earlier withdrawal, that might well bring the sacrifices of men like Sgt. Jopek to nothing? If not- if he really wants to be president that badly-it seems rather cynical for him to be wearing that wristband in any case.
“Mischaracterized” is her appraisal, not mine and that is the extent of Ms. Jopeks quotation so far as I am able to determine. So if/until she comments further anything more is conjecture on both our parts. I think that it is a safe assumption that the use of the wristband in the debate prompted the question to her ex-husband, otherwise how would the interviewer know to ask? The alternative is that her ex specifically made a point to discuss Ms. Jopeks request which, if true, would smack of an agenda with which Ms. Jopek clearly did not agree. Her initial concerns over its use are outweighed by her approval of how it ultimately was used.
It is also indeterminate whether the information in the E-mail she sent to Obama’s campaign ever made it to the candidate himself so we cannot say with any certainty that Obama knew of her misgivings. Campaigns of these magnitudes get literally thousands of E-mails. But we take Ms. Jopek at her word and so the title of this thread should stand, but not without all of the facts.
Still no acknowledgement that the first “prop” to make an appearance on stage came from McCain. Yes, that’s a bit “he started it” with raspberries, thumbed nose and all, but when one hits back in defense, it matters who threw the first punch. It makes no difference whether (hypothetically) McCain was expressly asked to use his wristband by the family. He used it as a tool and somehow he isn’t being held to the same standard.
I actually agree with the surge issue to some extent, but that’s for another page.
Once again, I did respond to the question of McCain having used the wristband first. I don't care who used the wristband first. I don't care who used the wristband at all. I did not criticize Obama for using the wristband- except insofar as it does, as Mrs. Jopek explicitly said, serve as a symbol of opposition to the war.
Whether it does so by being a prop enabling an anti-war candidate to evade responsibility for the consequences of his position or as an explict anti-war statement doesn't matter. There is a qualitative difference between McCain wearing the wristband and Obama wearing it. McCain supports the cause for which Sgt. Jopek died; Obama is seeking to undermine it.
That is my concern. There seems to be a clear cynicism about using the wristband as a tool to prematurely end the war. Indirectly, Obama's use of the wristband- but not McCain's- is precisely that.
Hence the relevance in Obama's case of Mrs. Jopek's concern, which does not apply in McCain's case.
Could it be that Obama never received her request? Yes, it could. Perhaps he did not deliberately disregard Ms. Jopek's intention at all.
But it still seems cynical to me for Obama to be using that wristband to promote a candidacy built in large measure around ensuring that Sgt. Jopek's sacrifice is in vain.
I think the campaign could be taken to considerably higher and more productive ground, BTW, if both candidates could stipulate that a deadline for our withdrawal has been agreed upon by the United States and the govenment of Iraq, that we will not withdraw our troops before that deadline unless the government of Iraq and that our military leaders agree that it is safe to do so.
Since you have been so kind as to concede the wisdom of the surge (at least "to some extent,") let me reciprocate by agreeing that, knowing what we know now, we should never have invaded Iraq in the first place.
But having invaded Iraq, we should have utilized troop levels high enough to achieve success years ago, and the war would be over by now. And we certainly have a responsiblity to the people of Iraq not to abandon them to the consequences of our having done so.
It's Sen. Obama's apparent failure to see the last point that gives me concern- and informs my view that a disconnect exists between Sen. Obama's position and the appropriate wearing of that bracelet- by Sen. Obama.
Incidentally, given the pass the media has given Sen. Obama on his own inexperience while playing such a vigorous game of "gotcha" with Gov. Palin, and ignoring Obama's and Joe Biden's gaffes on while dwelling lovingly on Sarah's, it's actually refreshing to learn that somebody believes that Obama has been the victim of a double standard in some respect! But I'm afraid that at this point I don't see the double standard.
For McCain to wear the bracelet and for Obama to wear it is apples and oranges.