I’m sure you remember the Obama Debate bracelet debacle. Well, it turns out there is more to the story.
The family of the fallen Soldier, the one that Obama fumbled around during the Presidential debate to remember his name, had asked Obama not to wear their son’s bracelet any longer.
Back in March 2008, the father of Sergeant Ryan David Jopek, the Soldier whose name is on the bracelet that Obama bragged about having, told a Wisconsin Public Radio show that he and Jopek’s mother had been upset that Obama had been using their son’s name and that bracelet as a campaign prop.
The radio show, ‘Route 51‘ was hosted by Glenn Moberg. On the show, Brian Jopek, the father of Sgt. Jopek, had said that his ex-wife is an Obama supporter and had given the Presidential hopeful the bracelet because she wanted him to know her son’s name. She was upset when she started hearing his named being used as a sound byte. She has refused interviews because, her former husband says, she doesn’t want her son’s death used in a media feeding frenzy.
TRANSCRIPT via Newsbusters.
Brian Jopek: Because of some of the negative feedback she’s gotten on the Internet, you know Internet blogs, you know people accusing her of… or accusing Obama of trying to get votes doing it… and that sort of thing.
Radio Host Moberg: Yeah
Jopek: She has turned down any subsequent interviews with the media because she just didn’t want it to get turned into something that it wasn’t. She had told me in an email that she had asked, actually asked Mr. Obama to not wear the bracelet any more at any of his public appearances. Which I don’t think he’s…
Moberg: It has been a while since he’s brought it up.
Jopek: Right. But, the other night I was watching the news and he was on, uh, speaking somewhere and he was still wearing it on his right wrist. I could see it on his right wrist. So, that’s his own choice. I mean that’s something Barack Obama, that’s a choice that he continues to wear it despite Tracy asking him not to… Because she is a Barack Obama supporter and she didn’t want to do anything to sabotage his campaign, so, if he’s still wearing the bracelet then, uh, that of course is entirely up to him.
Moberg: Maybe there’s a difference between wearing it and making a point to bring it up in your speeches?
I was taken aback during the debate when Obama responded to McCain talking about his Soldier’s bracelet, by saying ‘I have one too’. It was so childlike that it was startling. Then he fumbled around when he started saying the name and looked down at the bracelet before saying the Soldier’s name. It was an embarrassing moment and it angered me. It appeared so contrived and insincere.
Yet the media has not played that on a continuous loop like they do everything real or fabricated that Sarah Palin has said or done.
Now we find out that the family had asked for Obama to show their son enough respect to stop wearing his bracelet and using his name for Obama’s own political gain. And Obama still used it in a nationally televised Presidential debate.
Its despicable.
September 28th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Obama is turning out to be The Big Let-Down of ’08.
Obama kept insinuating that He is The Second Coming but every time we’ve held our breaths waiting for him to change water into wine, we’ve been disappointed. Obama kept telling us to ‘tune in next week!’ and he never delivers, the miracle never comes. There is nothing there.
Obama’s has a problem with clarity. I have systematically studied both his autobiographies and I still don’t know what kind of man I’m dealing with. When he was first showcased on TV, my interest was aroused. I used to find Obama enigmatic, but now he just comes off as vacuous, empty.
Obama’s two books address the questions of “Journey of Discovery to Where?” and “Who Am I?” We can all relate to such pondering. But Obama does not give us an answer. If he has found the answer since publishing those two books two years ago then he hasn’t told us yet.
McCain has been on a longer and harder personal journey. There can be nothing more extreme than surviving daily torture for five years. Can you imagine that? To be beaten day-in and day-out, starved, your hands and legs bound by chains? McCain already knows what he can take, and humbly knows where he breaks. Every man and woman has a breaking point. It is very human. McCain already knows his, even though he held out as long as he could.
What trials or stories of human devastation has Obama endured? I can’t imagine being Black in America is an easy thing. But Obama was raised in Polynesia by white grandparents and then went on to Harvard, community service, the Senate, and now the presidency. Obama’s journey seems to have been very easy. His skin color opened all the right doors for him instead of slamming them shut. Obama didn’t march against segregation. Obama didn’t fight for affirmative action. He planted no tree. He carried no water for that tree. Obama has just come along and picked the fruits. That is easy street. This is not a great American story. This is not a triumph of will over adversity. This is a story of baby-boomer entitlement. This is the story of the yuppy next door. These stories are a dime a dozen on aisle 3 at Whole Foods.
You may agree or disagree with McCain but at least you know where he stands. He has a long track record to judge him by. McCain has a long list of hits and misses. He has made mistakes (like us all) but that is because he had been trying to do things and change things all his life. Obama markets himself as the candidate with an unblemished record, but that is only because he doesn’t have a record. We have nothing to judge Obama by. All he gives us is his word and we are supposed to put all our trust in his future promises. But these promises keep changing: Obama has produced two contradictory promises on Iraq, two contradictory promises on NAFTA, and two contradictory promises on taxes. Are we supposed to judge him by the original promise he made, or by his most recent one? The candidate who flows with the changing winds of polls is the lightweight. That much we know.
I feel very embarrassed for buying into the Obama phenomena. Maybe now that the weather is changing I see things in a new light. I feel sheepish for falling for the marketing pitch. Where do I go to get a refund?
I think that many voters like me are looking for clarity in our next president. I feel I know what kind of man McCain is, and that I can trust him. McCain gets my vote.
September 29th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Mike
You are so right, “can’t imagine being Black in America” what is so bad he is some time hated by both group of people but more so by black hater such as your self. Thank God there are good and bad people in this world. It must be because Obama have friends in both race of people. Try not judging Obama by the color of his skin and you will see he is just as human as you are. Look for some good in a person and just maybe you will find some.
September 29th, 2008 at 7:24 am
If the mother did not want Obama to wear or talk about the bracelet, why did she give it to him?
Most of the time when a black man speaks, all of a sudden some Caucasian people become deaf. But this is one black man you had better listen to, if you make under $250,000. I watch the groups that attend McCain’s rallies and they don’t look rich to me.
If they are just voting for a Caucasian body, they are in trouble. Obama, this particular black man, is an offer you can’t refuse if you earn under $250,000 a year. Little Billy Bob needs the electricity to stay on so he can do his homework. Bobby Jean has to have food to put in her lunchbox. With McCain in office they will have much less than if Obama is in office. McCain keeping talking about the bottomline. Well that’s the bottomline. A vote for McCain is less money in your pocket. If you make under $250,000 a year, that is. It is only common sense that a man who has 13 cars and 7 houses would want to help rich people. Regardless of his color, he is not going to help you if you make less than $250,000.
September 29th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Hey CODESENSE,
It doesn’t matter to them…its all about voting against the Black guy…its like when they say 95% of Blacks are voting for Obama because he is “Black”..none of them take into account, in their “little” bigoted minds, that Blacks ALWAYS vote for the Democratic ticket…NO MATTER WHO IS RUNNING…so 95% of the time that means that Blacks vote for the WHITE GUY..Those “few” Blacks that claim they are Republican, such as that idiot “Rev.” Joe Watkins, seem to think that Blacks living under the poverty line is a “good” thing.. But Watkins’ church, like most Black churches, is probably made up of “POOR” SINGLE Black women who pay their tithes and offering, so that he can go on MSNBC and extol the attributes of John McCain who is, in fact, a lying, conniving, devious OLD man…so much for the “Jesus IS my SAVIOR” theme..also, I am assuming, but maybe wrong, that we, as Black voters, are all taking note of how the “Clinton” crew is out about creating havoc for Barack Obama…I know the strategy….they send Hillary out to “campaign???” for Barack…or so it seem…while Bill plants seed of discord among white folks concerning Barack. These are the “white” folks who say they are “on the LINE” concerning voting for Barack….they haven’t, as yet, made up their minds who to vote for, hint? hint?..they think we, as Blacks, are dumb, to dumb to see what they are doing and that because we have been so faithful to the Democratic Party we, in essence, have no where to go..Hillary, like Bill by his words alone, does not want Barack to win, anyone with commonsense can see and hear this…she is only out there because IF Barack loses “they” will be able to say(and try to “persuade” Blacks, in 2012) that Hillary tried “ALL she could” to help get Barack elected..while “BILL” was out there “stabbing” Barack in his back with all this “McCain is a great man, nonsense”, yeah right…any Black who votes for Hillary in 2012, if Barack loses this year, would be an idiot…deviousness is not cute or transparent…
September 29th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Heads Up: Straight from the Associated Press:
Tracy Jopek of Merrill told The Associated Press on Sunday she was honored that Obama remembered Sgt. Ryan David Popek, who was killed in 2006 by a roadside bomb.
Jopek criticized Internet reports suggesting Obama, D-Ill., exploited her son for political purposes.
“I don’t understand how people can take that and turn it into some garbage on the Internet,” she said.
Jopek acknowledged e-mailing the Obama campaign in February asking that the presidential candidate not mention her son in speeches or debates. But she said Obama’s mention on Friday was appropriate because he was responding after Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, said a soldier’s mother gave him a bracelet.
Ms. Jopek told the AP she was “ecstatic” when Obama made the reference.
In all the time that’s past, even since before the invasion, some right-wing bloggers STILL haven’t learned not to demagogue the service of our troops.
Denise says: People need to stop with the nonsense. This lady is a “proud” MOTHER…the Republicans would use their Mother if they thought it would win them this election..as I speak John McShame is dragging his mother onto the stage at a campaign rally…MOM saying..”Let Me go John, I don’t want to speak at this rally, all you see is “people like me.” “I told you I was voting for Obama”…Republicans think John McShame can “RUN & HIDE” from the last eight years…but Bush is right behind him yelling…HOLD ON JOHN HERE I COME! JOHN,HOLD UP WAIT A MINUTE! I’M RIGHT BEHIND JA!
September 29th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Beth - as Denise points out, the soldier’s mother has supported Obama’s story. It was not a “me too” moment, but rather an important moment that reveals there are soldiers and mothers of soldiers who don’t support McCain and HIS constant manipulation of a soldier’s memory for political gain.
Sgt. Jopek’s father is divorced from the mother. And the father is a McCain supporter. And the father lied about the mother’s true feelings.
You really should correct your story, and perhaps reexamine your opinion of Obama, at least with regard to this event.
September 29th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Creeker, I’ve read the story and the mother did ask Obama to not continue to use the bracelet and her son’s memory in his stump speeches. After the fact, after the debate, she said she was glad he was able to do the ‘me too’ moment. But that did not change the fact that she had asked him to quit using the bracelet and he didn’t do as she asked.
I have examined Obama’s politics and don’t have any desire for my country to be under the power of a Marxist or for my son to be subjected to a ‘Commander and Chief’ who hold the military in contempt. Ms. Popek has every right to believe whatever she wants to believe. I want to have the same right, which is why I don’t want to see Obama as our President. His beliefs don’t leave room for opposition.
September 29th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Denise, the headlines of those stories are misleading. They declared she was ‘thrilled’ and the story went on to say that she had asked Obama not to wear the bracelet any longer.
BTW - your comment about the ‘invasion’ is evidence that you have no respect for our Troops or their mission. You really shouldn’t comment about things that you don’t understand.
September 29th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Denise - your bitterness is showing. Is that really the only reason someone might not vote for Obama? Is it? Can someone judge him on the content of his character rather than the color of his skin? Or is that all that matters to you?
I don’t care about his race - I DO care about his politics and I deeply recent the accusations you make based on my dislike of Obama. THAT doesn’t help your guy. Its divisive and creates some real resentments among ppl who can’t say anything about him without being accused of being racist.
September 29th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
CodeSense - What happened to when Obama had said he would raise taxes on families that brought in $75,000 or higher - that was ‘rich’. That’s a husband and wife who make $40,000 each. Most ppl who make that kind of money don’t consider themselves ‘rich’.
How sad you can’t see beyond color of skin. That makes me sad for you - but your comment makes it obvious that’s all you see.