Predictably, Obama singles out this one vet for praise during Vietnam visit

Predictably, Obama singles out this one vet for praise during Vietnam visit

It’s been a red-letter Monday for America’s veterans.  VA Secretary Robert McDonald compared their long waits for medical care to waiting in line for rides at Disney parks.  And on the other side of the world, Obama managed to praise them in perhaps the least gratifying way possible.

Visiting Vietnam this week, the POTUS-in-Chief took time out from dining with epicure-curmudgeon Anthony Bourdain to address some remarks to the locals.   Never fear: the gustatory event will be featured in an episode of Bourdain’s show on CNN in September.

Obama also managed to replicate his feat in Cuba — being photographed in front of a humongous depiction of Che Guevara — by being photographed with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang in front of a gigantic bust of Ho Chi Minh. (H/t: The Last Refuge)

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

Meanwhile, Daniel Greenfield at FrontPage took special note of this passage from Obama’s aforementioned comments:

But today, Vietnam and America show the world that hearts can change and peace is possible.  And we thank Secretary Kerry and all our veterans here today, both Vietnamese and American, who had the courage not only to fight, but, more importantly, had the courage to make peace.

I think oftentimes our veterans can show us the way.  One American veteran came here and described meeting a former North Vietnamese soldier.  “He came up and shook my hand, and now we’re friends,” this veteran said. “Without the high-powered politicians, people can just get along as human beings.”

Daniel’s focus – a worthy one – is on the final sentence.

Obama not only fails to acknowledge their sacrifice, but he effectively erases it and replaces it with a Zinnian insistence that the Vietnam War was the work of politicians. But then when you form common cause with Communists, you can’t acknowledge that Communism might be an aggressive and murderous ideology. And that fighting it might be justified.

Indeed.  It’s also quite noteworthy that those complaining the loudest about “high-powered politicians” are always…high-powered politicians.  What a bunch of kidders, huh.

But a simpler point bears making, if only for the “who saw that coming” eye roll.  The Obama who’s in Vietnam to lift the U.S. arms embargo on that socialist sclerocracy didn’t disappoint.  Not only did he make a mockery of war, peace, and politics in the space of a few sentences.  He managed to mock an entire generation of American veterans by commemorating just the one who came home and told monstrous lies about them, for political gain, before Congress.

The significance of Obama’s framework for praising Kerry should not be missed.  Kerry, he implies, “had the courage not only to fight, but…to make peace.”  Presumably by doing what Kerry did in 1971: slander his fellow veterans as well as advocate immediate surrender in the war.

Here is Kerry brokering a lasting peace.
Here is Kerry brokering a lasting peace.

The socialist regime of Vietnam certainly sees it that way.  In 2004, the organization Vietnam Vets for the Truth documented a remarkable exhibit in Vietnam’s Communist War Remnants Museum: a photo of John Kerry displayed in a room dedicated to the work of anti-war activists.

John Kerry exhibit in Vietnam's war museum. (Image: Bill Lupetti via wintersoldier.com)
John Kerry exhibit in Vietnam’s war museum. (Image: Bill Lupetti via wintersoldier.com)

The photograph, displayed in a room dedicated to foreign activists who contributed to the Communist victory over America in the Vietnam War, shows Senator John Kerry being greeted by Comrade Do Muoi, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Jeffrey M. Epstein of Vietnam Vets for the Truth acquired the photograph during the Memorial Day weekend in response to a general request for photographs and records detailing Kerry’s activities on behalf of the enemy.

Vietnam Vets for the Truth has now further documented the photograph. Photographer Bill Lupetti returned to the War Remnants Museum in Saigon on June 2 at the request of Dr. Jerome Corsi, co-author of the original article, and photographed a current edition of the “Viet Nam News” next to the display honoring John Kerry.

The same room has a photo displayed of Jane Fonda.

In 2008, Kerry denied to Jason Mattera, in an ambush interview, that the photo exhibit was dedicated to him (Kerry).  It would be correct, of course, to say that it wasn’t dedicated solely to him.  He was among those prominently commemorated.

From Vietnam’s perspective, slandering American soldiers and advocating surrender by the U.S. was the way to “make peace.”  That appears to be Obama’s perspective too.

J.E. Dyer

J.E. Dyer

J.E. Dyer is a retired Naval Intelligence officer who lives in Southern California, blogging as The Optimistic Conservative for domestic tranquility and world peace. Her articles have appeared at Hot Air, Commentary’s Contentions, Patheos, The Daily Caller, The Jewish Press, and The Weekly Standard.

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