More veterans removed at Vietnam War Memorial
posted at 2:31 pm on October 5, 2013 by Jazz Shaw
When I first saw this story, I assumed that it almost had to be a hoax. After the previous incidents with veterans and the added expenditures involved in closing open spaces to keep veterans from paying their respects to the Honored Dead one would assume that even a novice politician would move to staunch the bleeding. But instead, it seems that the White House is doubling down, as reported at The Weekly Standard.
Via William Jacobson, NBC’s affiliate in Washington, D.C. reports that police ordered tourists and Vietnam war veterans who were visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall to leave the memorial at one point on Friday.
After one group of veterans went around the barricade, “the park ranger told them the wall was closed,” NBC’s Mark Seagraves reported. “Later another group of vets showed up and moved the barricades. At that point, the memorial filled with vets and tourists. That’s when police came and moved everyone out.”
As usual, it sounds like our veterans accounted themselves in a professional dignified manner, but were not going to put up with any nonsense.
Segraves described the exchange as pleasant and respectful.
The veterans then moved the barricade and walked down to the wall to pay their respects. But a flood of tourists followed even though the memorial is closed to the general public.
“The consensus among the group of Vietnam veterans was we’re going to go anyway. We’ll go through the barricade,” North Carolina resident Reid Mendenhall said.
U.S. Park Police arrive to the scene, asked everyone to leave and put the barricade back into place.
Conflict over the closure of D.C.’s war memorials has drawn a lot of controversy this week.
Yes… a lot of controversy is putting it mildly. The President can pick all the battles with congressional Republicans that he likes and probably not draw too much political fire from the middle. But if you wanted to conduct a poll of who is least likely to be blamed for anything in this country by the general public, veterans visiting war memorials would have to come in somewhere near the bottom of the list, behind possibly only puppies.
How many more of these stories can the administration sustain before the “no compromise, no negotiations” crowd realizes that they’re going to have to come to the table? Assuming, that is, that the stories actually make it onto the national news.
Update: (Jazz) A bit more thoughtful perspective on this than I managed on short notice from Doug.
Quite honestly, the closure of the open air memorials on the National Mall has been among the more bizarre post-shutdown moves that those in authority have taken. Ordinarily, these memorials are open all day and night every day of the year. To the extent that they are staffed, it is typically by National Park Service employees giving guided tours, not by Park Police (although there may be regular patrols of these memorials at night by officers as part of their regular rounds). The fact that these employees, who are essentially just tour guides aren’t around doesn’t really detract at all from the experience of visiting the memorials themselves…
Many on the right have accused the Obama Administration of doing things like closing these memorials in an effort to inflict the most pain in a public manner as part of an effort to put pressure on the GOP. Frankly, I have no doubt that there might be some truth in that, and that the choices of what has and hasn’t been closed may well have some political motivation behind it. However, it strikes me that some of these choices were made without considering of the public relations of doing so. The pictures of open air memorials that have always been open to the public being surrounded by barricades, or of World War II veterans having to essentially force their way in to the memorial to the war that they fought, doesn’t really make for very good television or photography.
I’d probably have had to use a lot more curse words inappropriate for this site if I’d written that much about it but well said none the less.
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Not Over
Bmore on October 6, 2013 at 9:55 AM
Nice… families throwing off cones and entering parks. LOL!
http://twitchy.com/2013/10/06/families-throw-off-the-cones-at-badlands-national-park-in-south-dakota/
JellyToast on October 6, 2013 at 10:01 AM
“This land is our land…”
Skywise on October 6, 2013 at 10:57 AM
davidk on October 6, 2013 at 10:58 AM
Also – if the government can throw this “temper tantrum” with open air memorials it can AND WILL do the same with hospitals and doctors offices.
Even more of a reason to repeal Obamacare.
Skywise on October 6, 2013 at 11:00 AM
https://twitter.com/NoelleBruno/status/386668968888369152/photo/1
davidk on October 6, 2013 at 11:04 AM
“AND WILL”
davidk on October 6, 2013 at 11:05 AM
Oops. I should have clicked on your link before I posted.
davidk on October 6, 2013 at 11:07 AM
davidk on October 6, 2013 at 11:09 AM
Down here in the fab Fla. Keys the park service closed down the ENP(everglades nat. park). Much,not all of Fla. Bay’s 650 square miles are located within the Everglades Nat. Park which is a favorite fishing destination. Especially, this time of the year.
We get fishermen from all over the world that love to sport fish in the back/everglades for bonefish,trout, snook, tarpon, redfish,and all kinds of fish that really get rolling as water temps drop this time of year. As the water temps drop baitfish like pilchards, mullet, glass minnows, ballyhoo and other fish migrate from the North to the South and the sport fish follow the migrating schools of bait. It’s a wild time for fishermen.
Economy wise it goes like this: Families come to town to fish. They charter guides to take them, rent motels, hotels, eat in our restaurants, the ladies shop in our stores and the economy survives. This time of year all we do is survive since Sept., Oct. an Nov. business drops 50-70% from the rest of the year. When zero takes away our right for fishermen to fish and it really screws up the economy. People go elsewhere. We hope they come back but never really know,we get nada.
It’s really sad since the federal govt. has more than enough money some 250 billion per month coming in to pay interest on the debt which is 20 billion. There is no way to default with those numbers.
But, its hard to buy votes without the other 15% that we borrow.
IF the truth of what the regime is doing ever gets out they will sink like the lead balls they are carrying around.
rodguy911 on October 6, 2013 at 11:44 AM
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/10/06/NYT-Tells-Half-the-Story-of-Shutdown
davidk on October 6, 2013 at 11:59 AM
Oh, my, here we go!
‘Occupy America:’ Visitors at Utah’s Zion National Park defy cones and Barrycades
INC on October 6, 2013 at 12:39 PM
Sick but O and his cronies do not care. They are so busy “getting even” with every perceived slight and hate America so much, this shows they’ll do anything and do not care. (Yes, I repeat myself)
Only solution – have legitimate people go to the mall and just keep going. Our youth don’t know what our soldiers have done for us either. We need to continually push back.
MN J on October 6, 2013 at 2:20 PM
Agreed the Federal government needs it’s wings trimmed. When the President can use government like this to punish his political opponents the country is in jeopardy of a split.
Kjeil on October 6, 2013 at 2:59 PM
Open for all, not only vets.
IrishEyes on October 6, 2013 at 4:20 PM
Maybe in a movie plot.
Nutstuyu on October 6, 2013 at 5:15 PM
OUR current military is watching the wrong decisions by the Obama administration, and many wonder if they will still be committed to his future orders. I would doubt it.
Amazingoly on October 6, 2013 at 7:18 PM
I bet if the word went out that the barricades were made out of copper, they’d all be stolen overnight.
olesparkie on October 7, 2013 at 12:19 PM
Yet they let illegal aliens use the mall???
Pomai on October 8, 2013 at 4:26 AM
http://standwitharizona.com/blog/2013/10/07/outrage-park-service-oks-illegal-alien-rally-on-national-mall-thats-closed-to-the-public/
Pomai on October 8, 2013 at 4:27 AM
JUST what did you expect from F#*%ING LEFTIST?
Pole-Cat on October 8, 2013 at 12:16 PM
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