Laura Bush leads rally for troops in small-town Florida

[PfcHammer]

http://www.gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040501/APN/405010810

Laura Bush leads rally for troops in small-town Florida

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press Writer

WINTER HAVEN, Fla.

Boy Scouts passed out American flags and Army helicopters dotted a baseball field where First Lady Laura Bush thanked troops for their service in Iraq during a patriotic, Norman Rockwell-toned ceremony Saturday.

About 5,000 central Florida residents joined Bush in honoring almost 150 area soldiers who had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months and were currently back in Florida. The first lady was joined by her brother-in-law, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and acting U.S. Army Secretary Les Brownlee at Chain of Lakes Stadium, the former spring training home of the Cleveland Indians.

<whack>

Laura Bush told the soldiers that they were the face of American compassion abroad.

"You will have more impact on people than you can ever know," she said.

[ijk]

1. I don't know what paintings Schneider's seen...

... but Army helicopters make no appearances in any of Norman Rockwell's work that I've seen. Rockwell painted images "life as I would like it to be", as he put it, and is often attacked for not touching darker subjects even in dark times. One of his more famous paintings was "Freedom From Fear". Do war-mongers get to hijack Rockwell's work just by picking up flags now?

[Supormom]

2. Perhaps this is what the author had in mind.

http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?aid=321345&c=a&search=Rockwell%2C+Norman

My favorite Rockwell print: Number 9 on page 2 "The Shiner".

[Katherine2]

3. Whoa. If our soldiers

are the face of American compassion abroad, we're in some big trouble.

[Moderator]

4. duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=524492