Huffington Post is right. Their photos of Bush @ San Antonio's Brooke Army Medical Ctr. ARE graphic.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

I'm posting the link and echoing Huffington Post's warning:

"In Pictures: President Bush Visits Army Medical Center (Warning: Graphic Photos)"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/09/in-pictures-president-bu_n_71991.html

Make no mistake about it, you will have an immediate and deep reaction to what you're about to see.

[pnwmom]

1. That frat boy grinned of the Shrub's sickened me.

How he could like like that, in the face of so much suffering. He's not human.

[Mira]

2. I'm throwing up now - heartless - clueless and self centered buffoon

[Joe the Revelator]

3. This make me sick...

How he can go in there, and giggles and grins, while he knows these men are in this position because of his arrogance, is beyond me. I can't believe these men even gave him the time of day.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. You can bet...

They were screened. The Maladministrator doesn't amount to one good shit from any of those men.

[zulchzulu]

4. The Giggling Murderer thinks it's all a little schoolboy game he'll walk away from

Who in the hell do you think you are
A super star
Well, right you are

[Amerigo Vespucci]

6. Or as Ian Hunter once put it, in similar fashion...

"You ain't the Nazz...
You're just a buzz..
Some kinda TEMPORARY..."

One year, 2 months, 14 days until the rootin' tootin' frat boy rides into the sunset.

:toast:

[scarface2004]

12. this pic should be the bush christmas card this year

what a mutha fucken asshole!!!!!!!

[Snarkoleptic]

7. * has no sense of what he's caused.

His handlers must be cringing in horror that he's giving these poor souls the frat-boy-glad-hand treatment.
The juxtaposition and irony are overwhelming in those pics.
Chimpy McFuckstain should be ashamed of himself...oh wait, that would require self-realization.

[jillan]

8. How does he live with himself??

[dflprincess]

9. Brian Williams showed Bush visitng Brooke at the end of the evening news tonight

at the end of the story he said something along the line of the soldiers being "heartened* by the visit of their commander in chief". I can't remember the word he used - it was worse than heartened and I nearly went through my TV at him. I'm sure my whole apartment building heard me scream when Williams said it.

[Historic NY]

10. Ghastly injuries that didn't have to happen.........

I told one of my Repuke friends that my wish for Bush is that he never have a moment of peace. He thought that was mean, I told him to go @!%&(%#

[avrdream]

11. For some reason, only the first picture would load for me.

But that was bad enough. What an absolute dickhead Bush is! He is literally LAUGHING in front of 2 injured soldiers who will carry amazing disabilities for the rest of their lives because of his shithole policies. He is LAUGHING people......what the hell is wrong with him???

For me, that was the immediate and deep reaction to what I saw.

Focus, Democrats, focus.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

13. That's pretty much the reaction I was referring to...a matter of irreconcilable extremes.

I see photos like that and my first thought isn't that these people may not be physically "whole" again...I wonder what's happening on the inside. That's the real dark side of this war, darker than anything that's regularly shown or discussed in the MSM. Bush goes about his "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Zip-a-dee-ay, my oh my what a wonderful day" frat boy life and some of the people in those photos will probably wake up screaming many times before they can put his war behind them...if they can at all. There will be divorces and suicides and more as Bush leaves office and "gives some speeches, just to replenish the ol' coffers."



President Bush waves as he arrives to greet German Chancellor Angela Merkel upon her arrival at his ranch in Crawford, Friday, Nov. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

[HardWorkingDem]

14. I'm sorry, but there is something many Du'ers just don't get....

I know I'm going to get slammed for this, but the replies to this thread show there is something that some Du'ers just don't get and it also illustrates how difficult military issues are for the Democratic Party.

To be clear - I have been completely against the Iraq War from before it actually started. I absolutely hate it and feel those politicians who allowed this madman to start it are as equally to blame. However, remember, for these injured soldiers to feel like many of those who have replied here, it must take them admitting to themselves that their lives and what they have sacrificed is meaningless. (Anthony Swofford wrote an excellent article a couple of years ago in Details magazine that describes this.)

Many of these injured soldiers believe in what they are doing and believe what they are doing does have meaning.

Also, while most likely all of them want to get the hell out of Iraq, they also have a great, deep kinship to their fellow soldier. It's like being a cop on the street - you are brothers and sisters in arms and your surrogate kinfolk hold your life in their hands like you hold theirs in your own.

And even though Bush and his Iraq policy is a shambles, if just ONE of these soldiers takes comfort in having a visit from an American president, then who are we to find fault in that?

[windbreeze]

15. Not going to slam you...but I just have a question or two...

isn't that exactly what is so sickening about the whole damned thing??? That these soldiers believed in what they did, and that it had a cause...that they do feel they are brothers in arms..that this fool who never served honorably himself, sent them into harm's way unnecessarily...and NOW they, those who served with such personal honor...are pleased because he donated an hour of his time, to visit them....how absofuckinglutely noble of him...imo he isn't fit to spit shine their boots...

Do I find fault with this...YES, and I don't care whether it's right or wrong... the fault I find is not with the soldiers, but because those who are so horribly injured deserve so much more than a visit from this, this, sick excuse for a man...This liar and cheat, who caused their injuries by lying them into a war that cheated them out of living with whole bodies, the best years, and the rest of the years of their lives....I find it shameful that he had the balls to enter their presence, and it makes me sad to think that these young men have been so brainwashed that they believe they should be thrilled by his presence, or that it should give them comfort....we should all feel shamed...wb

[HardWorkingDem]

16. ...."brainwashed"......This is what I mean...

I agree with so many of your points and observations, but here's where it gets tricky. Sadly, those in the military do not have the option of opting out when it comes to missions or what they may or may not agree upon. I knew when I was in, that the first Gulf War was based on lies, but still I went (often times people I talked to after could not understand when I would tell them that Bill Clinton had more courage protesting the Vietnam war, than I had in going to the first Gulf War - he spoke out, while I went even though I disagreed with that war).

Unfortunately, when it comes to us on the left, how Bush and Cheney react to the dead and injured is a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" scenario. People aren't happy if they visit the injured in the hospital or don't go to funerals, but if they do, it's for "craven" political purposes.

Soldiers on the whole are not "brainwashed." That is a terrible over-simplification and common misperception of many. They do what they are told to do, make the best of it and try to accomplish it in any way they can. And yes, many of them do believe in the Iraq War. So for them that do, again, how is it wrong for an American president to visit them in the hospital?

Some day their views might change, but until then, if it helps them in their recovery and their future, then isn't that what is important?

[windbreeze]

20. I know

I was a military wife for many years...so I do know how it works...and yes, the troops are conditioned, if you will...that's exactly what boot camp is all about....to break their independent will, and make them recognize the only will they have from that point, is the will of their superior officer/s, or the CIC....they know they have NO options once they are a GI..."Government Issue"...and they give up the right to express opinions about anything political/military while in a uniform, or while in a military setting...which is exactly what a Veteran's hospital is...A military setting...When I was a military wife, my husband could be held responsible for anything I or our children did also, if it were behavior contrary to the standard conduct the military demanded from it's men and their dependents...

I support the troops, but I sure as hell do NOT support unnecessary war, and I can do both simultaneously...I don't figure I was lied too...I knew invading Iraq was a mistake...I also realize that when young men opt to go into this voluntary service...they don't always realize that it could very well mean, they are going to have to serve in a war...in fact, I would venture to say, that a great amount of them never give it a thought beforehand, or at least spend some time hoping it never happens...I DO understand why they want to go back to their units...after all, the guys they served with prior to being injured, are their family....and the mindset is purposefully instilled in them...that every one is responsible for the safety of the others...and trust of each other is tantamount to the safety and security of the whole unit...they feel as though by being in hospital that they are getting an undeserved break and leaving the others in their family to fend for themselves...

OK...I will not begrudge the troops a moment of "pleasure", but I'd far rather see them get the best medical attention possible for their types of injuries....after all, the money it cost for "the man" to travel there, could have been put to better use to benefit those same troops...I guess what I am trying to say, is...he doesn't deserve to be in their presence...and I am sorry that they derive any pleasure from his being there...I don't know how else to say it...and I can't help but wonder, how they can feel pleasure at meeting "the" man who was responsible for their current condition(oh wait, go back to boot camp)...and "the" man who cuts their nose off to spite their face, every damned chance he gets..."he" doesn't care one bit about them..the politician, and con man is only using them for his own ends, or for an ego boost...but hey...you are right...his past actions, make him damned if he does and damned if he doesn't...right now and in the past 7 years...he hasn't done much that pleases me, so I agree..he can't win at this point...he had his chance and blew it...wb

[Amerigo Vespucci]

17. All valid points. Here's my response.

Since I'm the original poster, please allow me to respond.

Yes, many of the soldiers believe in what they're doing.

Yes, if any of them were comforted by Bush's visit, more power to them.

In "our" world (DU and elsewhere), Bush is not universally acknowledged and / or accepted as "our" president. It's more of a "how could this have happened" and "when will this be over" situation and less of a "George W. Bush is my president" thing. I think back on all of his little pissy temper tantrum moments with the press and the photos of him on the fishing boat with his daddy and on his "movie set" fake ranch doing "manly" work like clearing brush (he's had what, ONE YEAR'S worth of vacation days?) and I don't see "my" president. I see a cheerleader from Yale.

I understand how you could feel that "some Duers just don't get it," and my response is that more of them get it than you think.

I'm encouraging you to do two things:

1). Take one more look at the Huffington Post photos

2). Go to YouTube and watch the clip of Bush at the Radio & Television Correspondents Association Dinner, joking about WMDs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yJF13BS-hE

It's not about the soldiers. I can probably count the posts I've read on DU that showed disrespect or a lack of caring toward the soldiers on one hand and still have fingers left.

Watch that YouTube clip and see if you get a little deeper insight into what is being said by the posters on this thread.

:patriot:

[HardWorkingDem]

18. Still missing it....

I wish I could find that Swofford piece on line because it really defines the point I'm trying to get across (if you don't know who he is, he wrote the book "Jarhead.")

Believe me, I have seen, watched and read probably more things on military members and this war than probably 95 percent of DU'ers. I've also seen the WMD clip and countless clips of Busy doing things that show unfavorable behavior.

And I disagree that a lot of DU'ers get the thinking of the military members when so many of these soldiers, many horrifically injured, have been interviewed and state how they want to go back to Iraq and their fellow soldiers. And again, to ask them to think like some of the posters in this thread would force them to completely deny what they may feel has been a worthy cause or to disregard an entire belief system.

Unfortunately, Dems often have a strike against them when it comes to military issues and Rethugs always have a step up (unlike many here, I happen to work in an occupation where I am one of the few liberals amongst a large number of republicans, so I have been "lucky" enough to get plenty of the insight into the minds of conservatives and republicans).

And yes, not too many Du'ers say they don't support the troops, however, I have read many posts that claim you can't support the troops and be against the war and posts that are quite ignorant of military culture and prove this by thinking those in the military are simpletons, people who blindly follow and easily persuaded.

And this is not a defense of Bush, the Iraq War or what is going on, but many of these replies are based on the perceptions of the DU member, not the soldier. And again, if the soldier receives comfort, then what is wrong with that?

[otohara]

19. All This Attention & Care These Guys Are Getting Now

won't last. They have many years ahead of them and once the VA shoves them out the door and Bush is long gone - the anger, depression and realization that their lives are fucked will kick in, most will end up homeless, just like the vets before them.

Employers are not kind to persons with disabilities, and you know the VA won't give them enough money to live properly.