The above is a picture of the reception President Obama received upon his “surprise visit” to Baghdad last week. I remember thinking when I first saw this picture that our troops in Iraq were showing great respect for the president, and I even said so on my radio program. But I also found the above photo to be a striking contrast to the cool reception Obama received from the Marines on a visit to Camp Lejeune:
Turns out, however, that the photo in Baghdad was staged by Obama’s handlers.
From RedState.com comes this interesting revelation: a sergeant who was there says:
“We were pre-screened, asked by officials ‘Who voted for Obama?’, and then those who raised their hands were shuffled to the front of the receiving line. They even handed out digital cameras and asked them to hold them up.”
Take a close look at the cameras in the photo and notice that they are all the same model. Coincidence?
It’s rather surprising that no one on this site recognized that the marines were standing at the position of attention. They would have been violating orders if they clapped.
If I were cynical in nature, I would think that so much effort is being taken to show the President being approved of, that perhaps they are trying to make those who disapprove believe that they are wrong.
I agree with Tim. I don’t like the idea of staged photo ops–Bush notoriously did it as well in Iraq several times and I’m sure every single President has had the crowd vetted. . . even town hall questions have to be approved to make sure they’re not too controversial. Again, this isn’t so much a pox on Obama as it is proof that he’s just as political as every other President.
This kind of staging has always made me sick. Many politicians have stooped to this kind of thing in the past (both parties), but isn’t it better to earn the genuine honor and excitement of your constituents by being a great leader rather than having to fabricate a staged image of excitement? If an elected official is doing a good job, he or she won’t have to muster up some excitement for a photo op. It will take care of itself. This kind of thing says alot about Obama.