Senate GOP Pushes More Tax Cuts, Kerry and Kennedy Attend Marine's Funeral

[Bob Geiger]

On August 2, Republicans in the United States Senate were all atwitter over the possibility of passing yet another giant tax cut for the wealthy -- it was defeated late Thursday night -- and I thought you should know where Massachusetts Democrats John Kerry and Ted Kennedy spent part of their day on that Wednesday.

The Senators -- who are both also Veterans -- were attending the funeral of 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Geofrey Cayer of Fitchburg, MA, who was killed on July 18 in Iraq.

Kerry and Kennedy greeted and consoled the family and placed white roses on the casket.




"Stories like this break your heart -- so young, so brave, so dedicated and so close to coming home." ~ John Kerry, August 2, 2006



"Apart from the obvious heart-wrenching sadness of that moment, I was struck, as I walked up to the graveside, by the number of new headstones, all of which read Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom." ~ John Kerry, August 3, 2006



"I have said it before and I believe it deeply, we in Congress have a special constitutional responsibility and a moral obligation to hold the executive branch accountable for making the right choices for our troops and our country. Frankly, that begins by demanding honesty when it comes to the war in Iraq." ~ John Kerry, August 3, 2006

You can reach Bob Geiger at [e-mail].

[rubberducky]

1. Wonderful post!!

Thank you for sharing the pics and the story!

[Timbuk3]

2. Thanks

That story didn't seem to make it into "the libruhl media" this weekend. I'd never have know about it without your post.

[Maccagirl]

3. I really don't have anything to add

to the extremely moving pictures and captions. My deepest sympathy to the Cayer family on their heartbreaking loss.

:cry:

[stevedeshazer]

4. *ding*

There's nothing to add here.

[rateyes]

18. Love the sig line Steve...

speaks volumes!

[Broken_Hero]

5. fantastic post...thanks for sharing...nt

[adnelson60087]

6. Where is the President?

He should be there, not 2 senators. It's his war this soldier died in, Bush should have been there. I am sad for the family...

[pstans]

7. The President is in the pictures

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Oh. Took me a minute. nt

[Island Blue]

13. Bingo.

K & R

[NovaNardis]

11. I think

I think the official excuse is that he can't attend them all, so he won't attend any.

Two parts of that sentence speak volumes.
1) He won't attend military funerals.
2) There are so many, he can't possibly be at all of them. Too many people are dying. Not counting 10s of 1000s of Iraqis either. Shame. Damn Shame.

[newyawker99]

29. Hi NovaNardis!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[iamjoy]

22. I Am Going To Disagree

Dubya should not attend the funerals, for multiple reasons.

Of course, if he can't attend them all, it would be unfair to attend any. And as another poster mentioned, there are too many for him to attend them all (!)

I know this sounds like right wing spin, but the President WOULD create a distraction. How would you feel if you were attending the funeral of a friend and you were delayed by the Presidential motorcade? Or, what if in their grief, some of the mourners decided to take advantage of the opportunity to give the president a piece of their mind? While Dubya would much deserve it, it is disrespectful to the deceased to do it there. The funeral itself should not be politicized, it should be about honoring the fallen. The next day we can deal with the larger issue.

Finally, the President should not attend the funerals because he is indirectly responsible for that person's death, and because he doesnt really believe the death is a tragedy, to him that soldier is a necessary sacrifice in the so called war on terror and has no individual value as a human being. I would like to believe attending the funeral would help Dubya see this person as such, but I doubt that would happen. Therefore, it would be hypocritical for him to mingle with other mourners, none of whom he knows or cares about.

[antonialee839]

25. Not to mention the fact that AWOL can't go

anywhere without one of those gigantic "message" billboards his handlers like to plop him in front of. Who in their right mind wants to see gigantic letters spelling out STAYING THE COURSE at a funeral?

[PinkyisBlue]

39. Your post makes a lot of sense.

If George went to the funeral, it would just turn into a photo-op. Photos of George hugging the grieving family would be paraded in the newspapers and on Fox tv for days. He would make some kind of statement saying something about how the kid died for Iraqi freedom and protecting Americans.

If the kid was my son or brother, I wouldn't want George anywhere near his funeral.

[bonito]

8. Thank you for posting this. K&R

Peace

[LibDemAlways]

9. Thanks for posting this. It is of course shameful, but

not surprising, that no representative of the Bush Crime Family was present. They have no problem sending other people's children off to Iraq, but don't want to bother their famously "beautiful minds" with the messy consequences.

Ted Kennedy has experienced so much personal tragedy that it's especially poignant to see photos of him graveside, taking the time to comfort another family in their grief.

[Tekla West]

12. Support the Troops

Bring them home alive.

[Maccagirl]

14. Welcome to DU Telka

You said it all.

[ps1074]

15. Thank you for the wonderful post

:cry:

[The Wizard]

16. For the criminal Bush

attending a military funeral would be admitting a mistake. The sociopath and all the scumbags pulling his strings need to be hauled off in chains.

[Totally Committed]

17. The difference between "us" and "them"? No other illustration is needed.

My heartfelt condolences to the family of Marine Lance Cpl. Geofrey Cayer. I can't imagine how it must feel to lose someone so young to the ugliness of war.

Great post. Thank you.

TC

[benny05]

19. The Other One Gone

Was Senator Max Baucus, whose nephew was killed in Iraq.

Yeah, the tax cut and spend war mongers don't understand our position, do they?

[MCMetal]

20. Pretzeldent can't make it ?

Why ? He's too busy clearing brush on his ranch during vacation again ? What does that make ? The 300th day the grinning braying jackass in the Oval Office has been on break ? Isn't the retarded simian doing a bad enough job without needing to take days off , too ? I wouldn't hire him to run a friggin' peanut stand at a carnival ....... :grr:

[et in Arcadia ego]

21. God help us..

Don't attend even a single Military Funeral unless you're going to attend them all, guys. Haven't you learned proper Wartime ettiquette from your President?

The last couple of years I've wanted to cry out, "What has happened to our Country?", but I keep getting this sinking feeling that the Country I recall may have never existed. When does the disillusionment end and hope return? The constant saturation of horror and grief have achieved the desired results a long time ago; if I didn't have my daughter to live for I'd have shot myself just to flee this disaster we call America.

People of the United States:

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?

[DAMANgoldberg]

31. Something else to think about...

While most people here won't agree with his politics, Mayor Rudolph Guiliani (R-NYC) made it a point to attend as many firefighter and policemen funerals he could after 9-11. Of course, he didn't get to all of them, however, he tried to show respect to the families for their sacrifice in helping others.

[globalvillage]

32. After telling convicted thief/bush* nominee Bernie Kerik

"Thank God george bush* is our president" as the towers were falling. And before repeating it at the repub convention.

I'm glad he showed for the funerals, but Rudy "I must be for family values cause I married my cousin" Giuliani is a disingenuous POS in my book.

Welcome to DU.

[ginnyinWI]

36. That America still exists in the hearts of many of us.

We're like the "book people" in Farenheit 451--waiting for the day we can come out into the sunshine again. ;)
When this horrible Bush Era finally ends--and it will. People were similarly oppressed during the McCarthy witch-hunts, and the country got through it then, too.

Hopefully the bushies and their followers will be thoroughly disgraced, enough so that even the MSM won't dare to prop them up. The thought of a country ever following the whims of the Fundie Few will be laughable. And everyone will know how hopeless the Neo-con agenda always was, even from the start.
America will lurch forward to make up for the delays in progress. How many good people are out there right now with great ideas in scientific fields just waiting for a chance? How many good things do the Democrats have up their sleeves just waiting for a majority?

[graywarrior]

23. And no big fanfare about it. Just doing what's right.

Thanks for posting. Love your writing.

[Vidar]

24. Kerry & Kennedy are a class act.

[Blue Fire]

26. Wow!

This should be seen by every American! Especially those who doubt the character of Sens. Kennedy and Kerry. Perhaps then at least a few more would realize whose 'character' brought another brave young real-life American hero home in a flag-draped coffin. My heart goes out to the family of Marine Lance Cpl. Geofrey Cayer. The loss and tragedy they and all the families who lossed loved ones in Iraq truly needs to stop! Bring our troops home now!

[Cobalt Violet]

27. Oh, it was 102 degrees in Massachusetts that day too.

Just so everyone knows.

[Joey Liberal]

28. Great post! n/t

[gademocrat7]

30. Moving and dignified.

[jwirr]

33. Giving the pubs enough rope to hang themselves. Do you really

think that every democrat has to stand up every time an issue must be dealt with? It sometimes is enough to stand back and let the idiots make fools of themselves and this is one of those issues. What more needed to be said than was already being said? The poor little rich guys needed a tax break so they stuck it onto a bill that would make the difference between food and starvation for the working poor. No one has to explain that to anyone. Better to attend the funeral of a brave soldier.

[WildEyedLiberal]

34. Wow. I wish I could recommend this

But I got here too late.

Your post really says it all. I am going to forward this to all my Bush voting friends and see if they have the balls to admit that they COULD have voted for an honorable man who REALLY supports the troops, but chose instead to vote for a cowardly fearmonger.

[UrbScotty]

35. The same two who are bashed by the GOP for 'hating' America...

...show that loving America and its defenders can't always be expressed with a catchy slogan, but only from the heart.

Thank you for posting this.

[redaestcyr]

37. WHERE IS BUSH ?

It really hurts to see this sean over and over again and Bush is no where to be found


Reda StCyr

[NicRic]

38. When lives are being lost ......

not a single day should go by where our Dems are not shouting out for us to withdraw from Iraq ASAP , I do not believe a move like this can do anything except give us back a litle of the repect thats been lost due to bush and his gangs stupidity ,and murderess policies ! Theats why i have been so very disappointed by many of our elected Dems ! What will it take for them to come together and demand an imediate change in our policy in the mideast. I believe most fair minded Americans could do a better job then who we have now. I know I could ! Kerry and Kennedy ,should be yelling from the highest Washington roof top ,exposing this poor excuse of a human being (bush) for the fraud that he and his gang are ! No more softly talking around the subject ,to the point ,get our young men and women out of this illegal war now ! B/4 they come how in a cheap casket on a cargo plane. See a dead inlisted person is no longer of any value to Chenneys friends tat et paid to feed ,and supply them with weapons. have you ever been on a cruise ship ,ver notice how on the last day when you are waiting to get off board of the ship ,how suddenly the service people treat you differantly ,they even stopped serving free coffee on the ship I was on .It was like you cruise is iver ,you already paid ,we are getting ready to board a whole new group of customers ,you are now unimportant to us. Well I feel this is how they treat our inlisted personel , once they are no longer with us, except these young people did not get to go on a pleasant cruise ,instead they where taken to hell and back !

[bluescribbler]

40. One more reason

This gives me one more reason to be proud that they are my Senators. Has Bill Frist ever attended a military funeral in Knoxville? Has Rick Santorum ever consoled a dead soldier's family in Altoona? Does Saxy Chambliss make the rounds in Macon?

Somehow I doubt it. Kerry and Kennedy have the right priorities in this.