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Obama's Bracelet
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Family Told Obama NOT To Wear Soldier Son's Bracelet... Where is
Media?
By Warner Todd Huston (Bio
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Archive)
September 28, 2008 - 03:53 ET
UPDATE - 09/28/08 PM |
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Barack Obama played the "me too" game during the Friday debates on
September 26 after Senator John McCain mentioned that he was wearing
a bracelet with the name of Cpl. Matthew Stanley, a resident of New
Hampshire and a soldier that lost his life in Iraq in 2006. Obama
said that he too had a bracelet. After fumbling and straining to
remember the name, he revealed that his had the name of Sergeant
Ryan David Jopek of Merrill, Wisconsin.
Shockingly, however, Madison resident Brian Jopek, the father of
Ryan Jopek, the young soldier who tragically lost his life to a
roadside bomb in 2006, recently said on a Wisconsin Public Radio
show that his family had asked Barack Obama to stop wearing the
bracelet with his son's name on it. Yet Obama continues to do so
despite the wishes of the family.
Radio host Glenn Moberg of the show "Route 51" asked Mr. Jopek, a
man who believes in the efforts in Iraq and is not in favor of
Obama's positions on the war, what he and his ex-wife think of Obama
continually using their son's name on the campaign trail. (h/t D.
Keith Howington of www.dehavelle.com)
Jopek began by saying that his ex-wife was taken aback, even upset,
that Obama has made the death of her son a campaign issue. Jopek
says his wife gave Obama the bracelet because "she just wanted Mr.
Obama to know Ryan's name." Jopek went on to say that "she wasn't
looking to turn it into a big media event" and "just wanted it to be
something between Barack Obama and herself." Apparently, they were
all shocked it became such a big deal.
But, he also said that his ex-wife has refused further interviews on
the matter and that she wanted Obama to stop wearing the reminder of
her son's sacrifice that he keeps turning into a campaign soundbyte.
This begins at about 10 minutes into the radio program. (Download
radio show
HERE)
TRANSCRIPT
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?
Even the snow job that the radio host tried to pull off to cover for
Barack's refusing the wishes of the family of the KIA soldier who's
bracelet he wears doesn't pass the smell test. After all, now that
Obama has made it a big point in the debates, I guess the silent
observance of Sgt. Jopek is no longer so silent and Obama is back to
exploiting the death of a soldier even when he was asked NOT to do
so by that soldier's parents.
To pile insult onto injury here, the Mother doesn't even want to
force the issue of telling Obama to stop exploiting her son because
she wants to see him win the election. Obama is not only taking
advantage of this brave soldier's death, he is taking advantage of
the good wishes of the man's Mother who doesn't want to hurt the
campaign.
And, why is the media not playing this story? The radio show on
which this interview is heard happened all the way back in March.
How is it the media missed this? Is it because they are also don't
want to hurt Obama's campaign?
I can only say that if the parents of the soldier whose bracelet
John McCain is wearing had said in public that they want him to stop
wearing their son's bracelet the news would have been coast to
coast, and wall to wall, not just ignored in Madison, Wisconsin.
Obama's use of this soldier that fell in the line of duty is tainted
by his ambition and callousness. And the media is letting him get
away with it.
**UPDATE**
Jopek Mother Confirms She Asked Obama NOT To Use Bracelet in
Campaign
This afternoon the Associated Press was at last able to contact
Tracy Jopek, mother of Sergeant Ryan David Jopek, the KIA soldier on
the bracelet that Barack Obama is using on the campaign trail.
Ryan's Mother is confirming that she gave the bracelet to Mr. Obama,
but is also confirming that she asked him to stop using her son's
name on the campaign.
After Tracy Jopek gave Sen. Barack Obama a bracelet in honor of her
son who was killed in Iraq, she asked Obama not to mention the
bracelet on the campaign trail.
She did, however, claim that she was "satisfied" with how Obama
discussed the bracelet in the presidential debates last week.
But, we have another little mystery with these AP reports. The
original headline for this report was "Soldier's mother 'ecstatic'
about Obama's bracelet," released at about 7PM the evening of the
28th. But a few hours later, the AP changed it to "Soldier's mom
defends Obama's mention of bracelet."
Apparently, Jopek's mother did NOT say she was "ecstatic" about
Obama continuing to use her son's name on the campaign trail even
after she told him to stop. The AP had to change its headline to
reflect the truth.
The fact remains, the woman has repeated that she asked Obama not to
mention her son on the campaign trail and this AP report confirms
that. Will Obama stop using her son, now that we are sure she said
she wanted him to stop?
(Photo credit: Washington Post)
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| This page last updated on
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 07:19:30 PM
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