West Point and President Obama's desire for the public's support of his military plan : Not every backdrop is a stage.

President Obama is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States of America. 

As such, he has every right and privilege accorded to such a man or woman in that position, to speak at any service academy under his command. The US Military Academy (USMA) at West Point is a service academy that primarily trains young men and women to become Army officers for combat service.

 The United States Military Academy at West Point will host the President on December 1st as he addresses the nation regarding his immediate plans for the war in Afghanistan. The Commanding Officer of the war in Afghanistan is a Member of the USMA Class of 1976. My call is that he will most likely be with the President for the speech, if only in the audience.

I do not dispute the legitimacy of President Barack Obama's position of leadership, nor his opportunity of speaking at any of the Academies. Presidents have spoken at West Point graduations regularly since its inception in 1802. Each speech gave value to the cadets' years of strenuous effort to reach that graduation day. In a sense, the graduation was the center stage "star", the President often was merely only a "co-star".

I do, however, question his staff's use of West Point as a "backdrop" for his policy presentation on national TV. The stage may be the President's, every time he speaks, but West Point is unlike any supposed stage in the world; it hardly doubles as a "back drop" for any occasion. The halls of the Academy forbid the blending of politics and soldiering, the hallowed cemetery of USMA points heavenly, not towards Washington DC.

The community activist staff of the President may believe that his speech will work well in front of the pitted gray walls, burnished timbers and  and castle-esque architecture of West Point, but they would be wrong.

West Point stands high on the Hudson, far above any particular President's policy decisions and should not be used as a "backdrop" for any such political speech.

Den

Comments

[Dennis Mansfield]

You may be correct. It will be interesting to watch the Ds react to the war as 30K more soldiers enter in...

[Tom von Alten]

There are certainly Ds who aren't sanguine with escalating the war. The Democratic Party has never been about unanimity.

[Dennis Mansfield]

Tom, what do you think of my most recent posting/observation that the 30K new soldiers may well cause a fracture within the Ds?
Den

[Tom von Alten]

Thanks. I think we probably agree on a significant number of things, Dennis. Doesn't look like this is going to be one of them, though.

Bush's landing and speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln was perhaps the epitome of political theater, and with the benefit of hindsight, an utter debacle. I find no basis for comparison to Obama's speech tonight.

We may look back at this speech and say that Obama was wrong. We will not look back at it and say that it was an embarrassment and a cynical political maneuver.

In spite of my outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq, and what seemed even then to be a premature conclusion, I did hold out some hope that the mission, however misguided, might have been "accomplished," as it had been so quickly (but not that quickly) in the first Gulf War. It was pretty much all a lie.

[Dennis Mansfield]

Thanks, Tom, for your perspective. I always enjoy hearing from you, although we probably have never agreed (have we?). Am I feeling what you were feeling when President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier in his flight suit? Maybe...

I wonder how many other Presidents have used West Point or any of the other service academies for a press backdrop, when it wasn't a graduation service.

Anyone know? My call is that this may well be the first time. If that's the case, where will this elected official (or any other elected official) go next, to make a policy point on our fight against another politically dividing issue

Again, some backdrops fail to make effective and appropriate stages. I stand by my comments.
Den

[Tom von Alten]

I have to disagree, for a simple reason: this is not a political speech. This is a speech by our President in his capacity as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.

It is absolutely appropriate for him to give it at West Point.

While everything the President does can be analyzed from a political angle, the fact of the matter is that he's doing his job, and this is an essential part of that work.

[Dennis Mansfield]

Thank you, Priscilla. Please feel free to let others know of this posting. I would be honored.

Den

Member
Class Preesident
USMA Class of 1978

[Priscilla]

This is a wonderful comment on West Point and Obama's speech.I, and many other Americans, do not approve. You have expressed my feelings.
BEAT NAVY !!