July 21, 2008
I really am very pleased that BHO (I apologize for using the H but it would be disrespectful to leave it out and use only the first and last initials) is finally getting to Iraq and Afghanistan. But like everything else, every action stimulates questions. Here are some of mine:
1. Since the plane is his private campaign aircraft, who is paying for the trip?
2. Since the trip includes a Congressional Delegation (CODEL), is the Air Force providing fighter plane coverage in critical areas?
3. Are the other two Congressmen paying for their own transportation?
4. Why is press coverage being controlled under "campaign" guidelines instead of CODEL guidelines?
5. How can the BHO campaign claim that he is on a CODEL when his plane is a traveling billboard with campaign slogans and website address?
6. Is BHO so afraid that he will look like Mike Dukakis in a camouflage shirt that he is going to continue to wear a white shirt and necktie in all of the series of lunches and "photo-ops" with the troops?
7. When BHO returns, will he have the basic honesty to give a real evaluation of the situation NOW (six months after the surge), or will he continue to repeat his mantra that he was against the war at the very beginning? It should be not be forgotten that BHO was serving in the Illinois legislature as a Senator there in 2002, not in Washington, when he made his evaluation without having any access to Intelligence/Military Briefings.
8. Just to be sure, did he get any approval of his "carbon foot print" for the trip from Al Gore? With whom did he trade?
Others are invited to add their own serious and thoughtful questions and/or to provide answers to mine.