First he skips Scalia's funeral... now Nancy's? To attend
- Thread starter Mntneer
- Start date
The decision was made before Nancy died. Having Michelle there will make it enough of a security nightmare. Having the president there would turn what's supposed to be a "private funeral" into a circus. But hey, whatever gets you out of bed in the morning.
The story I read made no mention of Nancy having nixed the idea. If that's her wishes than so be it. But IMHO former Presidents and First Ladies should have the sitting President attend their funeral.
Personally, I'm hoping he's playing a round of golf while the funeral is taking place just to see the reaction from the kook fringe.
Wrong! That was the Clintons. Consistent with their MO. Obama only kills with drones and SEALS.
I looked up the last four First Lady's that died (prior to Nancy).
Betty Ford died in 2011 and Obama did not go to the funeral.
Lady Bird Johnson died in 2007 and W did not go to the funeral.
Jackie Kennedy died in 1994 and Clinton did go to the funeral (and gave the eulogy).
Pat Nixon died in 1993 and Clinton did not go to the funeral.
Betty Ford died in 2011 and Obama did not go to the funeral.
Lady Bird Johnson died in 2007 and W did not go to the funeral.
Jackie Kennedy died in 1994 and Clinton did go to the funeral (and gave the eulogy).
Pat Nixon died in 1993 and Clinton did not go to the funeral.
The air traffic controllers and their families disagree.
All the mental health patients that were kicked out onto the streets, the mental health workers and the families of both, disagree.
Those nuns that his allies killed (which he and ollie North illegally funded in El Salvador) also probably disagree. Maybe the 250 marines's families killed in beirut disagree. How about US Congressman Larry MacDonald's family who the Russians killed and weak Reagan did nothing about. I bet they disagree. Wonder if the Israeli's who are threatened by the arms Reagan gave Iran in exchange for releasing our hostages disagree. By the way, Reagan was the best President ever. And the strongest. He deserves to be on Mt Rushmore.
Be sure to get back with me when Don and Melania spend Jimmy Carter's funeral weekend in Palm Beach rather than Plains.
I would. Frankly I don't care who is the President. IMHO the President should attend the funerals of passing Presidents and First Ladies. Whether it's Obama, W or Clinton.
But I'd like to believe we won't face a scenario where Don and Melania would be in a position where they should attend Jimmy Carter's funeral, and I can only assume you believe (incorrectly so) that I'm a Trump supporter because I have a stance on this issue.
Well, you're in the minority, and it just looks like more reaching for **** to nitpick Obama about. In the past 75 years, the sitting president has attended a first lady's funeral exactly twice -- Clinton attending Jackie Onassis's funeral as mentioned above, and JFK attended Eleanor Roosevelt's funeral. Traditionally that's the role of the current First Lady, as Michelle is doing.
Not attempting to nitpick. Quiet frankly I'm shocked so few Presidents have attended funerals for First Ladies, and I find that disheartening to an extent.
This is a perfect example of nitpicking Obama. Just like the right nitpicks the amount of vacation Obama takes but refusing to acknowledge that W, Clinton and Reagan took more. Same with executive orders. You'd think that based on the outrage from the right, Obama invented the EO. Obama ifs the devil to the right. they look for every possible piece of evidence, no matter how ridiculous, to show it.
Others may nitpick Obama's vacations or use of EO, but I haven't. I've taken exception to some of his interpretations of individual EO's, but not his use of it.
“Nancy Reagan once wrote that nothing could prepare you for living in the White House,” Obama said in a statement.
“She was right, of course. But we had a head start, because we were fortunate to benefit from her proud example, and her warm and generous advice. Our former First Lady redefined the role in her time here…As somebody who is lucky enough to have an extraordinary partner in my life as well, I know how much she meant not just to President Reagan but to the country as a whole. He was lucky to have her. She will be missed.”
The only problem is that he is hardly the first president to skip a funeral for a former First Lady.
For instance, President Clinton did not attend Pat Nixon’s funeral in 1993 and President Bush did not attend Lady Bird Johnson’s funeral in 2007. President Obama also did not attend Betty Ford’s funeral in 2011.
Jimmy Carter didn’t attend Mamie Eisenhower’s funeral in 1979 and Franklin D. Rooseveltdid not attend Lou Henry Hoover’s funeral in 1944.
And if conservatives seriously want to refer to Obama as “President Petty,” they should know that Ronald Reagan did not attend Bess Truman’s funeral in 1982, and keep in mind that she was First Lady when her husband President Harry Truman ushered in the end of World War II by ordering the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and was the longest lived First Lady in American history.
As far as I have been able to research, the only First Ladies whose funerals have been attended by a sitting President in the last 70 years was Eleanor Roosevelt in 1962 and Jacqueline Kennedy in 1994 by President John F. Kennedy and President Bill Clinton respectively.
Roosevelt had wanted a small private funeral but Kennedy attended anyway because at the time of her death, Eleanor had been known as the beloved First Lady of the World who served as First Lady during the Great Depression and World War II and is still the longest serving First Lady in American history. Jacqueline Kennedy brought grace to the White House and became a symbol of strength for a traumatized nation after the assassination of her husband in 1963. President Clinton attended her funeral because he was a friend of the family and even delivered remarks at the burial.
http://kstreet607.com/2016/03/09/wh...esident-obama-skipping-nancy-reagans-funeral/
There's no reason for Obama to go, sending Michelle gets her out of DC and Obama on the golf course. A win/win! I never voted for him, big surprise, but he doesn't need to go. First Ladies are not part of the govt per se. Now, if Hilliary were to die tomorrow, I hope all the presidents would attend! Just a joke.
It's strange. I don't know if it's Obama specifically, or just that he's the president during the "boom" of social media. I've never seen so much outrage towards a president for not doing things that other presidents didn't do either. Or for doing the same things that others have done.
It will be something to watch with the next President. Now that everybody's uninformed voices are all over the place, maybe this is just the new normal?
There are reasons to criticize some of the things he's done, or not done. It's disingenuous to criticize him over this when pretty much none of the other presidents ever did either.
It's a combination of ignorance, hypocrisy and racism. It makes up today's GOP base.
I think it happens to every president but we just forget about it.
You are probably right that social media plays a role too.
You started a thread comparing Trump to Hitler. All those adjectives you used describe that silliness.
Just because we abhor his policies don't make us racist. Most real Americans do not like socialism and want to be free to chose how they live their own lives.If you are talking about ignorance, how about all the inner city illiterate people that vote exclusively for the dems? It couldn't be because they keep giving them free stuff and don't want them to work and have a better future.
I have a lot of problems with his policies. Whether he goes to Ms Reagan's funeral isn't one. Sending Michelle is appropriate. His first lady to a former first lady. He's been a lightning rod for conservatives because we feel that he isn't proud to be an American. He talks down to people and gives you that "I'm better than you" feel.
It happens to every president, but it isn't as in your face all the time as it is now ... at least that's my theory.
And then defended it. You are every bit the nutjob as the people you decry. Its ok. I dont think it makes you a bad guy. I am just pointing out the obvious.
Did you have fun in Ashville? That double T killed the Bucs and the kid was right because he got hammered.
Those T's did turn the momentum. He did get hammered. That happened right in front of me. But Cromer deserved the T. The coach did not. That ref sucked.
My problem with the T's was that he had to know he blew the call so he should have swallowed his whistle for the abuse too.
On the opposite ESPN channel at the same time, an official in the Wright State vs Wisc Green Bay game tried to throw the WGB play by play guy out of the game for "showing him up" and if you listen to the audio of the game he never questiioned a call. It was a bad night for the refs.
Actually it appears that it didn't happen in the past. I've been digging and digging and could only find one reference critical of W not attending Lady Bird Johnson's funeral, and that was from a message board like this one -- nothing in the media, and certainly no headlines of Bush "skipping" the funeral or my personal favorite "snubbing", as if Obama had been asked to attend and said no.
You are right about social media, but most people are only repeating what they've heard from politicians and pundits. I had a long exchange on Facebook yesterday with someone railing that Obama's decision to honor his previous commitment to SXSW shows "a lack of respect for the office." [eyeroll]
I think it precipitates from his not going to Scalia's funeral. I'm not sure how many HOS have gone to previous SC justices funerals. Sending Michelle is enough.
To be fair to Dave, at this point the topic wasn't specifically the attendance of the funeral, but just everything in general. Obama hasn't issued as many executive orders as many presidents, but it accused of abusing his power and that somehow EO's are now unconstitutional. Basically it seems like he is held to a standard that no other president has ever been held to.
My premise is that it's not really that much worse than in the past, but that it's just a constant barrage of these things because of the proliferation of social media. We live in a time where it has been easier than ever to disseminate information, but unfortunately misinformation as well.
Going back to this particular topic ... I've seen tons of posts around that people are "outraged" or that he is a huge "pos" because he isn't attending this funeral. Most seems fueled by "memes" on Facebook or someplace else. People see that stuff and snap to judgment without questioning the accuracy or legitimacy of the claim being made. It seems like it's always the same with just about everything he either does or does not do.
He did attend a service following Scalia's death, but not the funeral. But what gets spread is simply that he didn't go to the funeral with no acknowledgment at all that he did actually attend a service.
I'm not arguing with you ... I completely agree that this probably has a lot of carry over from not attending Scalia's funeral. It's just that him not attending the funeral is only half of the information.
I know it seems like I'm defending him all of the time, and I guess in a way I am. However, I'm not a fan or supporter and he never got my vote, I just think that if we are going to make judgments about people (especially the POTUS, I think the position deserves at least that much respect) they should be consistent and fair.
I used a similar argument in a different Facebook thread yesterday when a woman asked me why I was such a "hater" for pointing out that Obama is following precedent in not attending Nancy's funeral, as if he were the first. My reply was that the only thing I was "hating" on was the heedless spreading of misinformation. I wouldn't put Obama in the top 10 list of presidents, but if you're going to be critical, base it on substance.
2 things.
I think people are harping on the EO stuff because he and the left in general railed against EOs and made the claim they aren't constitutional when Bush was doing them. He basically ran on the platform of returning power back and respecting the 3 equal branches of Government.
I personally see no issue with it and understand the necessity of them. Hell, I would like to expand powers somewhat for the sake of eliminating "pork" by authorizing line item veto capacity. Obviously some additional checks would need to be put in place but from a purely fiscal perspective I think it is becoming a necessity. To reiterate, this argument is one that I'm not in agreement with the hard liners on.
It does amuse me to see the hypocrisy of both sides and I'm with you on just because the other side did it doesn't make it right. We need to begin holding politicians accountable not enabling them based on party lines.