George W. Bush Secretly Visits Fort Hood Victims

[Are_grits_groceries]

Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura secretly visited Fort Hood last night and spent "considerable time" consoling those who were wounded in Thursday's shooting spree, Fox News has learned.

The Bushes entered and departed the sprawling military facility in secret, having told the base commander they did not want press coverage of their visit, a source told Fox News.

The couple was described as "deeply concerned" about military families on Fort Hood after Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire on soldiers and civilians, killing 13 and wounding 38.

The Bushes, who have a 1,600-acre property known as Prairie Chapel Ranch less than 30 miles from Fort Hood in central Texas, spent between one and two hours visiting the wounded and their families.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/07/george-w-bush-secretly-visits-fort-hood-victims/

This does not sit well with me. This is going to be reported everywhere, and it will just be used to beat Obama over the head with.

[Mari333]

1. How dare he! He who caused these atrocities, he and his neocon cronies

who created most of this mess and the reasons for it.
How DARE he.

[Turbineguy]

3. These people have no shame.

And less class than Ted Bundy.

[SammyWinstonJack]

29. +1 nt

[DemBones DemBones]

2. Well, Obama could have gone to Ft. Hood instead of Camp David.

He screwed up. I'm glad an ex-POTUS and FLOTUS visited the wounded and their families, though I'd rather Bill and Hillary had done it. The Clintons are probably in other countries now, though, and, much as I dislike the Bushes, they were nearby and they did a good thing.

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. Obama is going to visit the wounded.

If he had jumped down there Immediately, he would have been accused of using a tragedy for political gain. He sent the Secretary of the Army as a representative, and gave them time to start sorting out the effing mess.

His arrival a day or two after would have thrown the area into another uproar because of the security he has to have. People who are needed to look after the area, and just get a handle on things would have had one more stress factor.

He's damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't. He will be at the memorial on Tuesday, and I think he has chosen an appropriate time.

[DemBones DemBones]

6. Bush was heavily criticized for not going to NOLA sooner

so I think Obama probably should have learned from that, don't really think he'd have been accused of going to Ft. Hood for political gain. Presidents are expected to go to disaster areas. He did a poor job at the press conference Thursday, joking and giving a shout out at the start, then only talking about the shootings at the end. That was a politically tone deaf decision, like Bush flying over NOLA and the Gulf Coast without landing to see the damage and talk to the displaced people. Obama's going to have to make up for poor judgement on Tuesday.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

7. Katrina was ongoing when Bush was criticized.

Power wasn't back, supplies were short--the crisis was in progress. Same thing goes for the attempted 9/11 comparisons.

The Fort Bragg incident was over when the shooter was taken down. There was nothing that needed to be done other than grieve.

[DemBones DemBones]

10. Yes, it was safe to go to Ft. Hood, and therefore

Obama would have been smart to do so yesterday, if not Friday. He'll be attacked for this.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

13. He's attacked for everything he does

If he went immediately after the incident, he'd be accused of doing a photo op.

And Bush took massive amounts of vacation but because he didn't play golf during that time, he cleared brush, Obama must be the one in the wrong here.

[Mariana]

18. And Bush still wasn't widely criticized

until it became blindingly obvious that he didn't have the slightest fucking clue what was going on there.

[Raspberry]

23. Well, it was still a crime scene,

and probably the investigation was still proceding. If you had swarms of Secret Service, press people, etc., tromping around, the evidence could have been contaminated.

[Raspberry]

21. Sort of a "My Pet Goat" moment? n/t

[WilliamPitt]

5. He doesn't have a job anymore

so he has the time to do this. I say good; if it made the victims feel one iota better, then GWB has finally made himself useful.

[DemBones DemBones]

8. Come on, Will. If Bush were in office and had

gone to Camp David for the weekend without having visited Ft. Hood, as Obama did, we'd be raking him over the coals. Part of a president's job is to respond to national tragedies. Obama is reportedly playing golf this weekend and it's already been reported that he's played more golf in nine months than Bush did in twenty-four. This is not going to go over well with a lot of people and if he doesn't realize that, you'd think his political consultants would. Maybe they don't care about the military vote but they should care about the wounded soldiers.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. Not Going To Touch The Obama Aspect

But if I was in a military hospital , recuperating from wounds inflicted by a crazed gunman, I think I would be happy to have any former president show his concern by visiting me.

[DemBones DemBones]

11. Yes, I would, too,

even if it was Dubya.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

14. Obama has also played more basketball and killed more pirates in 10 mos. than Bush did in 8 years

Random facts don't really mean much.

[thunder rising]

12. THIS IS A LIE! It is a figment of Faux News imagination of what they want the public to think

[Are_grits_groceries]

16. It's in the Dallas Morning news

and the Atlanta JC. I don't think they are Fox minions yet.

[thunder rising]

30. No source...no fact. Bush doesn't give a shit about dead/injured GIs

[Are_grits_groceries]

31. Here:

Bushes visit wounded soldiers
http://breakingnewsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/11/bushes-visited-wounded-soldier.html

George W. Bush visits Fort Hood, wounded soldiers
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/george-w-bush-visits-189429.html

I am not claiming he really cares about anything. This may be a way to assuage his conscience. I don't know.

[thunder rising]

34. Sry Grits. The stories have no foundation, merely a statement that we must take as fact.

[tomm2thumbs]

15. that secret lasted 2 seconds after the press release by Bush PR

some secret - 'loose lips sink ships' never stopped Bush/Cheney

[Submariner]

17. Bush should not be allowed to "SOIL" any military installation,

hospital, or grave yard with his presence. He should be banned from ALL appearances with the military.

[midnight]

19. How interesting.....

[Are_grits_groceries]

20. Normally I would see it as a appropriate gesture by an ex-President.

However, these aren't normal times.

Bush hasn't stayed out of the political fray over the wars. He just came out and said that Obama should send more troops to Afghanistan.

You have the whole RW crew mucking about and making statements about a sitting President who has to make a big decision. This isn't anything but RW neocons putting the screws to Obama while tacitly supporting the military people who believe their should be more troops.

Anything any of them does concerning the military has the potential to be turned into another problem for Obama. By making the visit which he knew would be leaked, Bush has put the screws to Obama over how he is handling this crisis.

I don't trust any of them about anything they do anywhere at any time. They have proven themselves to be untrustworthy in any situation.

[Raspberry]

24. And Jimmy Carter had plenty to say about everything

Bush did. Whether appropriate or not, commenting is something ex-presidents do.

[Are_grits_groceries]

25. I don't remember Carter

Jumping in and sounding off to Reagan about Iran-Contra.

Imagine Eisenhower jumping in while Kennedy was handling the Cuban missle crisis?
Kennedy quietly consulted him behind the scenes.

I am talking about the unprecedented way that the ex-Bush admin people have jumped in with both feet to comment on current policy. Obama hasn't even finished serving a year.

When Bush was in office if anybody peeped about him, they screamed about people undermining a sitting President while there was a war on.

[Raspberry]

26. Carter (AFAIK) never criticized Reagan, but

he had PLENTY to say about W., and even made some trips that could have been construed as conducting foreign policy.

Reagan never publicly criticized Carter's handling of the economy, or the takeover of Iran by the Islamic funies, and there was probably room to do so.

As far as Cheney and the other criminals, remember that Pres. Obama's people are blaming that Administration for everything. That's unnecessary and low class. Personally, I think they should just clean up the mess without slinging shit about who caused what.

[Are_grits_groceries]

27. Reagan didn't want to peep about the hostages.

There was too much monkey business going on behind the scenes. If you think it was an accident that they were released the minute Reagan was sworn in, I have a bridge to sell you. As far as the economy, why get in the way of a horrible message.

Bush and company should have everything hung around their necks. Low class - MEH! If anybody is low class, it is those cretins out of office who are trying to run from every policy they put in place.

They need to thank their lucky stars that Obama hasn't let the DOJ go after them for all the shit they pulled.

Obama has been pretty moderate in his message while dealing with legislators who refuse to do anything. They are sitting in a big pile when they aren't fulminating against him.

[peekaloo]

22. Did he compare "boo boos" with the injured?

like the time he visited the burn unit (I think) in San Antonio and showed off a scratch on his head to people with missing limbs.

not feeling too gracious this a.m.

[lpbk2713]

28. Still shilling emergency no-bid contracts for Halliburton?

"Hey, we need to revamp the whole security setup here at Fort Hood. Oughtta run a couple of billion dollars or so."

[niyad]

32. are you sure this isn't from the Onion?

[Are_grits_groceries]

33. See post # 31. nt