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"From our perusal of news reports and news databases, we could not find any contemporaneous evidence that Obama spoke about such calls or that the White House announced he had called families"
"From our perusal of news reports and news databases, we could not find any contemporaneous evidence that Obama spoke about such calls or that the White House announced he had called families"
And you know they were desperate to label Trump a liar
Of course, you neglected to copy the next sentence:
"Generally, of course, this is not something the White House would necessarily talk about."
I do not recall, going back to at least Reagan, that the White House would issue a press release or such about the President calling families of the fallen. Only in rather extraordinary circumstances would such be reported.
Of course, you neglected to copy the next sentence:
"Generally, of course, this is not something the White House would necessarily talk about."
I do not recall, going back to at least Reagan, that the White House would issue a press release or such about the President calling families of the fallen. Only in rather extraordinary circumstances would such be reported.
Gee, I wonder why Dockside "forgot" to post that next sentence?
And the reason why this is not generally talked about is because no previous president saw the need to make these condolence calls about about HIM, the way this president does. First he lies in a press conference and then he doubles down and keeps the issue alive by tweeting about it afterwards, and none of that blather was about the fallen soldiers at all. It was all, and only, about Donald Trump.
Of course, you neglected to copy the next sentence:
"Generally, of course, this is not something the White House would necessarily talk about."
I do not recall, going back to at least Reagan, that the White House would issue a press release or such about the President calling families of the fallen. Only in rather extraordinary circumstances would such be reported.
Why would any POTUS announce that they had called the grieving widows?
Trump has lied about what he's said in phone calls before.
For example, transcripts of calls with President of Mexico Peña Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull revealed that things had not gone as swimmingly as Trump had claimed.
Why would any POTUS announce that they had called the grieving widows?
Why would the surviving family members claim Obama never called? Are the liberals going to smear them as liars as they did with Pat Smith and others whose children died in Benghazi?
It is an odd thing anyway, when you think of it, of the current expectation of a President to contact the families of fallen soldiers.
Of course, during WWII, the families were sent a telegram. There were simply too many deaths on a daily basis. No one would have expected President Roosevelt to personally contact each family. The same went for Korea.
From the US Army Manual (as it exists now):
"The Next of Kin will be notified promptly in an appropriate dignified and understanding manner by a uniformed service representative. He/she will wear the Class "A" uniform and present a soldierly appearance when making notification.""
"Families used to learn of their loved one’s fate in terse “regret to inform you” telegrams. That changed in Vietnam, when the Army began dispatching casualty-notification officers and chaplains to deliver the sad news personally.
The service now gives its casualty-notification teams four hours to get to that front door after the Army’s personnel shop has received word of a death. These days, they’re in a race to that door with Facebook and Twitter. They usually, but not always, win."
It seems to have become an expectation, now that deaths in the field have become less common (thankfully), that the President will personally call the families.
However, I do not 'expect' it from the President. Mr. Trump did, during his first few weeks in office, go out to witness the arrival of some fallen soldiers, which was nice. However, I do not expect him to literally call every family for the rest of his term.
Of course, Mr. Trump made it an issue, by referring to the practice of prior Presidents. I doubt that Mr. Obama, or Mr. Bush, personally called each family, nor would I have that expectation.
Indeed, save for rare exceptions, I would rather they did not, and that the notification be as per official protocol. If a President calls 8 families out of 10, that implies a 'slight' against the other two families. Better to not call at all.
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