RIGHT-WING LOGIC: SEEKING TO IMPROVE THE TROOPS' LIVES = DISRESPECT FOR OUR MILITARY

John Hinderaker at Power Line:

...Memorial Day honors those who have died in our nation's military service. Is it possible that Obama does not know this? Sometimes the things that come out of his mouth defy understanding.

What was really offensive about Obama's New Mexico appearance, however, was what followed his very brief, but generally appropriate, tribute to America's war dead. He continued with a town hall-style question and answer period that cast veterans in the only role with which the Democrats are comfortable--victims--and sought to politicize the holiday....

So, if I understand this correctly, the dead in war aren't victims, and it's patriotic to talk about them on Memorial Day, but those who were raped while serving or who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder for other reasons or who can't afford to better their lives upon returning from overseas because of an inadequate GI Bill -- all of whom Obama talked about in his Q&A -- are victims, and it's unpatriotic to mention them on Memorial Day.

Obviously, of course, for Bush end-timers like Hinderaker, the difference is that dead troops are silent and don't talk back, and silence is the only acceptable response to the doughty deeds of King Bush other than lavish praise.

Here's Hinderaker's conclusion:

All in all, a shameful performance. President Bush, meanwhile, gave a moving Memorial Day speech--not a partisan stemwinder--at Arlington National Cemetery. You can read his speech, and watch a video of it, here. The contrast is not, to put it politely, favorable to Obama.

As Thers notes, the man the president has endorsed, John McCain, followed up his Memorial Day speech with a partisan political attack on Obama's patriotism, in an AP interview. As for Bush himself, he often abstains from making partisan attacks himself not because he opposes them but because he has people to do these things for him, and, in fact, he had his press secretary do his dirty work for him -- she slammed a New York Times editorial on the GI Bill.

All that, for Hinderaker, respects the troops, for a simple reason -- it doesn't question the utter perfection of the Bush administration's pursuit of foreign policy.