Schedule snafus happen.
But this…
SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that Obama has canceled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The visits were planned for Friday. “Barack Obama will not be coming to us,” a spokesperson for the US military hospital in Landstuhl announced. “I don’t know why.” Shortly before the same spokeswoman had announced a planned visit by Obama.
coupled with this…
Obama noted that in a break from his whirlwind schedule, “we’ve got some down time tonight. What are you guys gonna do in Berlin? Huh? Huh? You guys got any big. plans? …I’ve never been to Berlin, so…I would love to tour around a little bit.”
and this report of Obama using the fitness room of the Berlin Ritz Carlton suggest that Obama and/or the people around him have egregious sensibilities on what his priorities ought to be.
You just don’t cancel on the troops. You just don’t.
You particular don’t cancel on the troops, but go on with other events like the rally. He’ll get tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Germans to chant his name? Terrific. Too bad he’s not campaigning to represent them. Let him immigrate and run for Chancellor if he wants.
UPDATE: Obama, on the plane to Berlin:
Aboard his plane early this morning, someone asked what was the high point of the trip so far. “This,” Obama deadpanned, referring to his 15-minute appearance in the back cabin with reporters. “I had to earn it,” he said. “I said, ‘When do I get a chance to go back and talk to the press?’ “
Amid laughter, he was asked for his second-favorite moment. He paused. “You know I really get a kick out of spending time with the troops. Their morale is high, but they really appreciate acknowledgement of what they’re doing,” Obama said. “You know, everywhere we went in Afghanistan and Iraq they were just really eager to tell their story, what they were doing. And it was moving. And it’s neat to see the mix. You have a bunch of 20-year olds and then you’ll get a 40-year old or 50-year old who’s in the Guard; a Missouri banker who’s helping to try to set up a agricultural project. You know, that’s pretty spectacular.”
Who decided that Obama had spent enough time with the troops?
UPDATE: A very interesting email from a source I must protect suggests that Obama’s visit to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center had the green light until a campaign staffer raised a stink about going with Obama. (There are rules meant to ensure candidates do not use soldiers or military bases for campaign purposes, and they state that personal and committee staff may accompany a sitting senator on a visit but campaign staff may not.) I am told that when one of Obama’s campaign staff was told he or she would be denied access, the visit was canceled.
The last-minute cancellation speaks more poorly of this unidentified staffer than of Obama himself. But in the end, shouldn’t Obama have been able to say, “fine, the staffer stays in Berlin (or where-ever) and I’m going to Landstuhl? Can he still say so?
ANOTHER UPDATE: A reader who presumably objects to this post writes in, “Obama is not on a USO tour… So stop whining about how many hours he spends with the precious troops.”
I hope this reader expresses that sentiment as loudly as possible in front of as many voters as possible.