Ryan's father Brian -- who is no longer married to Tracy -- told Wisconsin Public Radio that his ex-wife had misgivings about Obama wearing the bracelet and mentioning their son on the campaign trail. It seems as though just as Tracy Jopek supports Obama and wants to end the war, Brian Jopek has a different take on what should happen in Iraq and may be more inclined to support McCain.
(You can listen to Brian Jopek about 10 minutes into THIS CLIP.)
After pointing out that he and Tracy are not married anymore, Brian says that "from what I understood from email exchanges with Tracy....she wanted to put a name, she wanted Sen. Obama to know Ryan's name...She wasn't looking to turn it into a big media event...She just wanted it to be something between Barack Obama and herself."
Bryan Jopek went on to say that "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, she has turned down any subsequent interviews with the media because she just didn't, she just didn't want it to get turned into something that it wasn't. She had told me that in an email that she had asked, actually asked Mr. Obama to not wear the bracelet anymore at any of his public appearances."
Conservatives are now criticizing Obama for exploiting a fallen soldier whose mother has asked him to stop wearing the bracelet or mentioning her son's name. I'm not sure what the reality is behind this story -- I have a call into the Obama campaign and Tracy Jopek to find out more about this story, and will let you know what they say.
Obviously, this is going to heat up. Whether it will become MSM news is another matter.
What seem not to be getting much attention are the dead soldier's thoughts on the war. What did Sgt. Ryan Jopek think?
Who knows?
When I read that Ryan Jopek's father had also served in Iraq, I just found myself wondering. Obviously, there's a family quarrel underlying this story, and if there's one thing I've learned, there are always two sides in a family dispute.
If Obama has weighed in on the mother's side, and she has changed her mind, it doesn't make his campaign look any better.
But any better than what?
Considering what Obama's friend Bill Ayers and his Weatherman group had in mind for Army NCOs back in 1970, I don't see how anything could make his campaign look worse. I'm not a member of the military, but according to Wiki, all grades of sergeants are NCOs. Which means Sgt. Jopek (the guy whose name is on Obama's bracelet) was an NCO.
In less than the blink of an eye, the blast of eight tightly-bound sticks of dynamite shattered the brittle wooden shell of the building hastily constructed during the Second World War, adding jagged splinters and rusting nails to the shrapnel that ripped through cheap tables and chairs, taffeta and chiffon, uniforms, and flesh.
Before the concussive shock waves reverberated off nearby buildings, half a dozen human beings closest to the outside wall of the NCO Club became mist.
The roof, lifted skyward by the explosion and suddenly absent a supporting wall as it returned to earth, crashed down on the dead and dying. Leaking bottles from the shattered bar fed the rapidly spreading flames, and deafened, dazed and bleeding survivors crawled or stumbled towards escape in ones and twos.
As soldiers from nearby buildings ran to help the bleeding and burned, a carefully-crafted 12″ pipe-bomb studded with roofing nails hidden in a nearby trash can went off, turning rescuers into additional victims.
Just outside Fort Dix confused onlookers sat in stunned amazement, as a pair of nondescript young women nervously laughed and counted ambulances for a half hour before losing count and heading back to the townhouse in Greenwich Village. The message had been sent.
Though he would have no way of knowing it at the time, the Weatherman's attack on the non-commissioned officer's dance would stand as the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil for 25 years, 1 month, and 13 days, until Timothy McVeigh drove into Oklahoma City and infamy.
Fortunately, that did not happen, as the anti-personnel bombs didn't go off at Fort Dix. Instead, they blew up in a Greenwich Village townhouse, killing three of the bombmakers. One of them, Diana Oughton was at the time romantically involved with Bill Ayers, who will never forget her as long as he lives. Touchingly, they met while working for CCS -- an educational program of the sort to which Ayers has dedicated his life:
Oughton dedicated herself to the school and teaching and designed a fund-raising button that read, CHILDREN ARE ONLY NEWER PEOPLE.[13] It was at CCS that Diana Oughton met Bill Ayers. The two fell in love and soon began living together. In 1968, when the school ran into severe problems and lost its funding, Oughton and Ayers sought to become active elsewhere in the community.
This led the lovebirds to the SDS, the "Jesse James Gang" and ultimately, to the Weathermen (and of course the failed Fort Dix bombing which killed Oughton instead).
I'm sure Ayers considers his deceased ex worthy of a bracelet; I don't. However, I find irony in the wearing of a bracelet to honor an American NCO killed by an improvised explosive device, by someone who befriended a guy who believed passionately in killing American NCOs by an improvised explosive devices.
Should I? Am I making more of this than I should? I realize that Obama was just a kid when the improvised explosive device failed to kill the NCOs, and took out Ayers' girlfriend instead.
But Ayers has expressed a lack of remorse, and has said he was sorry he and his group didn't do more, has he not?
My question is simply this:
Should someone who worked closely with a guy like that and may have been his protege be elected president?
I can't believe it's necessary to pose a question like that. But it's a damned serious question, and it isn't being asked. Seriously, of all the reasons Obama should not ever be elected president, I think the Ayers issue is Reason Number One. It's why I keep writing post after post after post about it.
Forgive me for saying this, but I'm seeing more irony than sincerity in Obama's wearing of the bracelet with that NCO's name on it.
MORE: Here's Joe Trippi (who thinks the election will be a rout for Obama):
In my view McCain may have sounded more dangerous to voters as he tried so blatantly to make them think Obama wasn't a safe bet in this very "scary" world.
If he's right, then McCain needs to turn up the volume on Ayers. (And on Obama's lack of respect for dissent.)
Anyone who thinks McCain is scarier than Obama needs a dose of reality.
posted by Eric on 09.28.08 at 02:14 PM
Comments
I mhave been out of the military for a very long time, but as I recall it the enlisted grades go from E1 to E9 or E10 (I forget).
In the United States Army, United States Air Force and United States Marine Corps, all ranks of Sergeant are termed NCOs, as are Corporals in the Marine Corps. The rank of Corporal (E-4) in the Army is considered a junior NCO, and is to be shown the same respect as an NCO. In the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, all ranks of Petty Officer are so designated. Junior NCOs function as first tier supervisors and technical leaders.
I think we need to hear from Ryan's mom before calling this any sort of scandal.
Despite having what I believe is a clear-eyed view of the media's bias in favor of Obama, I am nevertheless stunned at how uninterested they are in important questions in his background. They rooted for Kerry and they rooted for Gore, but neither time were they this irresponsible. They are willing to sacrifice their entire industry on the altar of Barack.
The problem with most theories attempting to pinpoint blame on specific ideas which emanated from named individuals is that they're a distraction from what people are doing now. I think in the short time that remains in this campaign, focusing on Ayers is a lot more productive than "connecting the dots" and trying to educate people about a "Cloward-Piven Strategy" which few have heard of and would be easy for the other side to ridicule.
Regardless of how true they might be, conspiracy theories shift people's focus from the known and provable to unknown, the speculative, and the complicated.
Yes, Senator Obama is wearing a HeroBracelet in the name of SGT Jopek. The bracelet was presented to him by his mother.
I am with HeroBracelets.org and Senator McCain and President Bush have both been presented HeroBracelts by the mothers of fallen soldiers. Recently, other members of the Jopek family have ordered HeroBracelets to "read exactly like the bracelet Senator Obama is wearing."
So, from my direct experience, this is a non-issue.
Thousands are wearing HeroBracelets to honor the memories of soldiers and Marines they have never met and they do so out of respect.
HeroBracelets.org is a non-political organization that raises money through the bracelet sales for both the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the Military Order of The Purple Heart.
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
I mhave been out of the military for a very long time, but as I recall it the enlisted grades go from E1 to E9 or E10 (I forget).
E1, E2, and E3 are not NCO's.
http://www.militaryconnection.com/articles/military-pay-grades.html