As far at I can tell, the date of the funeral for Polish President Lech Kaczynski and the others killed in the plane crash has not yet been set.
Undoubtedly, this will be a monumental event with dignitaries from around the world, and millions of people in the streets.
The statement issued by Obama today was appropriate.
Obama needs to attend the funeral for the leader of a nation which has fought beside us in Iraq and Afghanistan, and whose people have a special affinity for the United States because of our shared history of opposing communism.
I am not going to politicize this funeral.
I expect Obama to do the right thing as the President of this country. If he can fly to Copenhagen on short notice to try to win the Olympics for Chicago, he can fly to Warsaw to help bury a true friend of the United States.
Until proven wrong, I am going to assume the best.
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Related Posts:
A Great Friend of the United States, Freedom, and the Jewish People
Tragedy Upon Tragedy As Polish Leadership Killed
Remember Katyn Forest
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Comments
Also, the House of Representatives and United States Senate must pass a resolution honoring President Kaczynski for the Patriotic, Freedom loving Westerner he was.
Boy I hope he doesn't send Slow Joe there or we're gonna regret it.
With all respect to the people of Poland, it will be an insult to them for Obeyone to go.
He would spend more time sucking up to the cameras looking for someone to bow to, and somehow apologizing for America for causing the crash. Or blaming Bush.
I'm not holding my breath that he will attend.
I hope Pres. Obama attends. I can't even imagine what might happen if Biden were sent and allowed to speak to anyone.
Whether Obama should attend is arguable, but he should definitely send George W. Bush. A public display of bipartisan support for Poland is essential, so Bush + Obama, or Bush + Clintons (both of them), or both Bushes + both Clintons + Obama would all work. (But Carter definitely needs to stay home.)
Prof Jacobsen:
With all due respect, I did not find Obama's response appropriate, I found it offensive and self-serving.
I am currently visiting family in Canada. Prime Minister Tusk was scheduled to visit here for his first state visit on Wednesday; that has now been indefinitely postponed.
Prime Minister Harper immediately issued the following statement:
"On behalf of the government of Canada and all Canadians, I wish to express my deepest sympathy, and my sincere condolences, to the government and people of Poland on this very sad day,” Harper said.”
Even NATO, which is not a state, issued this statement:
"“On behalf of all of NATO, and myself personally, I express my most profound condolences to the people of Poland…."
What was Obama's statement?
"….“Today, I called Polish Prime Minister Tusk to express Michelle’s and my deepest condolences to the people of Poland ”.
He is so helplessly self-absorbed and narcissistic he can not grasp that his role as Head of State is to issue not his PERSONAL condolences, but condolences on behalf of ALL the people of the United States to the people of Poland.
This man is beyond embarrassing. I am so ashamed that he is the face of the US to our allies.
@stopshouting – yeah, I picked up on the personal language. Maybe I'm just hoping this time it will be different.
Also, here is a website of most Polish churches listed by state in the US, if people want to send flowers or wreaths. I know many churches had already planned on special masses in honor of the Katyn massacre; tomorrow's masses will be especially heart-wrenching. My husband will be taking flowers with him tomorrow when he goes to Mass.
http://www.polhome.com/church-p.html#maryland
Many people are also choosing to call the embassy in DC to offer their condolences and/or send a card.
Embassy, Republic of Poland
2640 16th St NW
Washington DC 20009
1-202-234-3800
Many prayers and condolences to the people of Poland.
Prof:
I understand. I always keep hoping too, but continue to be disappointed and disheartened.
I am also very worried for Israel. I remember before the election trying to explain to our Jewish friends my concerns and they just dismissed them. I wish that they had been right, and my concerns had been proven to be unfounded. There is nothing more I would have liked — to have been profoundly wrong.
That is a bet I cannot take right now. The man is without any character at all. And he tosses our allies under the bus with alarming regularity.
Obama will screw this one up just like every other opportunity he has had to do the right thing. Hope all you want. Better to get a clue.
Between the article itself and the comments I see that if Obama doesn't go he'll be disrespecting a valued ally and if he does he'll be cynically exploiting an opportunity to mug for the camera.
Nice tautology you all have worked up.
assumption is the mother of all screw ups…. nothing Ear Leader has done so far gives me even the vaguest hope he recognizes anything other than whatever occupies his own small fevered brain at the split second he makes what passes for a decision on his planet.
in short, he will make a hash of this as he has every other challenge he's faced since the beginning of his regeime and whatever tacky self indulgent and utterly clueless move he makes will just add another layer to the rich tale of incompetence that will be the story his "presidency" in the dregs of history.
You have got to be kidding! I seriously doubt if going to the funeral even occurred to him.
And, he always uses the personal when referring to what should be on behalf of the entire country.
My guess is that he will send Hillary, just like he did for the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down. Of course, he will also send a video of himself to be played at the funeral.
If I were advising the Poles, I'd tell them not to invite him.
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Common Cents
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I doubt that Obama will attend. He only goes where he can be the center of attention. He also will be going into a situtaion where he is not nevermind loved, he is even greatly disliked. He abandoned the Polish people when he gave into Russia' demands to end the missile shield. Poland was only one more ally that Pres-Zero betrayed.
I say let him send Hillary and Bill. At least they will know how to comport themselves properly. Hey maybe a former President that the Polish people really admired, you know former President Bush.But that is hoping for some actual thought out of the Obama White House.
As bad of a president as Obama is, I agree with Prof. Jacobson here. I think that in the end, Obama will do the right thing and go to the funeral. Whether that turns out to be a mistake is a different story, but I do think he will go.
I strongly suspect that Obama will not attend. This will be something to watch very closely, and one needs to look beyond the merely political. There's a move afoot on the international stage to destroy the religion of President Lech Kaczynski, of which he was a devout adherent. A no show from Obama will be very revealing, indeed.
If he does go to Poland, he could pack up the new missile shield he says Poland will have to wait to get until 2018 (to please the Russians) and take it with him as a gesture of commitment. I mean, it's supposed to be more flexible and mobile than the Bush shield that had been promised and lord knows Obama will need protection while he is there. Poles don't suffer fools gladly.
PS Question re Obama's phrase "deepest condolences" – can condolences be deep?
The whole world owes a lot to Poland. Good G-d! Stuck in between Russia and Germany, this scrappy little country helped stop the Muslim-Ottoman horde from overtaking Europe in the decisive Battle of Vienna, 1683.
Yes, after giving the big ef you to the Poles by denying them the missile defense President Bush promised, the least he can do is attend the funeral. If he does not, his absence will be felt, not by the Poles, but by the enemies of freedom the world over.
It seems like the press-created godling seems to not like "Bush people" like Karzai [Afghanistan] and Uribe [Columbia]. President Kaczynski was an unabashed admirer of the USA. So it wouldn't be surprising to see Obama send a video of himself like he did during the anniversary of fall of the Berlin Wall, instead. And it also would not be surprising if somehow he "weaves" himself into the event just like in his stupid video!