Report: Obama Speech To Soldiers Met With Silence

President Barack Obama was greeted with fleeting applause and extended periods of silence as he offered profuse praise to soldiers and their families during an Aug. 31 speech in Fort Bliss, Texas.

His praise for the soldiers — and for his own national-security policies — won cheers from only a small proportion of the soldiers and families in the cavernous aircraft-hangar.

The audience remains quiet even when the commander-in-chief thanked the soldiers’ families, and cited the 198 deaths of their comrades in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The audience’s reaction was so flat that the president tried twice to elicit a reaction from the crowd.

“Hey, I hear you,” he said amid silence.

The selected soldiers who were arrayed behind the president sat quietly throughout the speech.

CNN and MSNBC ended their coverage of the speech before it was half-over.

The president’s speech to the soldiers is part of his constitutional duties as commander-in-chief.

But Obama and his wife are also trying to reach out to military families in several critical swing-states, including Virginia and Florida. (RELATED: Obama warm to scientists, cold to soldiers)

That outreach, however, has been damaged by repeated flubs from the White House, including its public emphasis on soldiers’ wounds rather than on their accomplishments, and Obama’s effort to distance himself from the anti-jihad campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/31/obama-speech-to-soldiers-met-with-silence/#ixzz25H4QFC8i

Wow, I had no idea this was the president's THIRD visit to Fort Bliss. WTG!

Tweets from 1st Aviation Support Battalion Hangar:

There are 5,000 soldiers and family members waiting in the heat for President Obama to speak.
Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division are sitting on the risers. These soldiers are expected to deploy to Afghanistan in fall.
The soldiers have been on their feet for about 3 hours. After hours on their feet, some sat down on the floor. Women in heels took off their shoes. More than 200 soldiers outside the hangar are sitting on tanks. There are also a few soldiers sitting in a helicopter nearby waiting for the President.

Obama also talks about providing better access to higher education: "When you take off that uniform, we will help you participate in our economy," he said. "...If you've been a medic in theater (action) you shouldn't have to start at nursing 101 if you decide you want to go into the medical profession here in the United States. If you've been a mechanic on a multimillion-dollar piece of equipment, you shouldn't have to come back and start all over again in getting credentialed to work on a car here in the United States."

Obama then transitions to speak about assisting soldiers into the civilian work force: "After fighting for America, you shouldn't have to fight for a job in America.

Soldiers respond to his remarks with "Hooah."

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_2144 ... liss-visit

http://director.elpasotimes.com/p.php?a=ZWB3cnpubn1wVWRgcmlgVHB4ZFg9JWByYCo8ODQ%2BPiUiPjQnOicjKDM%2BLiIoNDsuPyYrOSc6LjIqPDE%3D&m=1346463210

Video of his speech and soldier's comments after:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_21449234/ ... as-address

Apparently his visit to Fort Bliss wasn't near as bleak as some would have you think.

Hey! How did they get those phones and cameras in there? I thought he put a stop to that when someone recorded him, where was that? Oh! His own fundraisers! What's up with that? Wait a minute. Don't I see these guys with him everytime he goes somewhere?

I think you're confusing him with Rmoney.

You mean that guy that says "I'd LIKE to tell what I'd do, but there are reporters present"..... THAT guy?

You must be thinking of someone else. I'm talking about the paranoid one who wants the phones banned so no one can record his gaffs like "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion…”

No, I'm talking about the one that bars reporters from all of his private events... You know, the one with the dog on the roof..... and the offshore bank accounts...and the tax-returns that are kept in lock-boxes.

Well, you are definitely a democrat. Let me rephrase.

Did Obama say "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion”?

And then there's Joe Biden. Well, not even you can argue that case. There's a lengthy list of his statements where he shot off his mouth before his brain could check it first, not that it would have helped. Heaven help us if he should ever inherit the presidency. Just sayin.

Why would I care?...The title of the thread is: "Report: Obama Speech To Soldiers Met With Silence" As usual, that has been shown to be an outright lie by the usual TeaLiban...

You want to start a thread on something else, be my guest...

I happen to agree with the idea that there is a cadre of people out there who turn to "god and guns" when they don't have anything else in their little world to fall back on. It doesn't much matter to me what the source of the comment was.

And, for the record, I'm a LOT more terrified of an anti-abortion, anti-woman, religious and economic AynRandroid zealot getting into the Oval office than Joe Biden.

Still no direct answer. I really didn't expect it. Just wanted to see how long you would go before blowing the O-ring. I've got to hand it to you - you've stuck to your guns, er, I mean your rose colored glasses. The people in my county went from 20% republican to 80%and the numbers were semilar in the sourrounding counties. Before you go doubting me on that figure I know what I'm talking about. I work elections every year. I have never seen a mass exodus from a party like this before. Thankfully most people are not so bound to a party that they can't see the writing on the wall. But keep those glasses on!