It seems that one wears his to remember and the other for a prop! Last night’s presidential debate demonstrated yet once more how Barack Obama will pander to any group for the vote even our beloved military. Read about “bracelet debate” below and see a video of the battle of the bracelets moment.
Bracelet Debate
Both John McCain and Barack Obama wear “hero bracelets” engraved with the names of fallen soldiers in Iraq.
John McCain wears the bracelet of Army Specialist Matthew Stanley, who was killed in combat outside of Baghdad just before Christmas, 2006. It was given to him by Matthew’s mom, Lynne Savage. During the Presidential debate, John McCain used his bracelet and the memory of Spc. Stanley to drive home his point that he would not withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq based on arbitrary timelines.
Barack Obama, intrepidly, seized on that moment in the debate to show that he too wears a bracelet of a fallen soldier. There was just one small problem… he couldn’t seem to remember the soldier’s name!
Well, the soldier on Obama’s bracelet is Sgt. Ryan David Jopek who was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb, Aug. 2, 2006. That bracelet was given to him by Sgt. Jopek’s mom on the campaign trail so that he would never forget the sacrifice of families across the country to war.
“She asked me ‘can you please make sure that another mother is not going through what I’m going through,’� Obama said. “No U.S. soldier ever dies in vain because they are carrying out the missions of their commander in chief.�
It’s really quite shameful that Obama could not pay homage to Sgt. Jopek’s service and sacrifice by remembering him before the entire world. You would think his 3 days in Debate Camp would have covered that. A ‘Bush looking at his watch’ moment in the debate for sure.
Bracelet Debate Video
September 27th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
McCain was presidential. Obama was childish, arrogant & rude. Obama constantly interrupted McCain, called him John, the “Pakeestan” pronunciation, and the defining “I have a bracelet too but forgets the soldier’s name moment” That was so appalling! Obama wearing Ryan Jopak’s bracelet in vain and had to look down for the name. That’s disgraceful. He doesn’t understand the sacrifice of our troops and wears the bracelet of a slain soldier for political theatrics and not even remembering his name is unbelieveable and is not comparable to John McCain’s service and sincere commemoration to our fallen service men and women.
September 27th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
McCain looked down several times at his bracelet before going on with his story. I’m not convinced that he remembered the name either.
September 27th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Yes but McCain had no flag pin ha ha ha!
So it is tit for tat, and a tie on the silliness front.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
I noticed that Obama flubbed the bracelet thing as well, but it was because he was correcting himself. He was saying he got it from Jopek and then caught himself and said it was from Jopek’s mom. If he said it was from Jopek, people would have been screaming “liar liar pants on fire.”
I hate these phony issues. The real issue is: McCain has no plan to leave Iraq. Obama has a plan to leave Iraq but its stupid.
Why doesn’t McCain have a plan to leave Iraq? It’s so obvious that people maybe overlook it. You don’t need much of a plan to leave a friendly country. What you need is a plan to turn a hostile country into a friendly one. That’s what the Marines and Army are doing and so far so good.
September 28th, 2008 at 12:39 am
obama is not wearing his on letterman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkM66VEfJYk
mccain was wearing his on the view
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTfFEyAHonA
September 28th, 2008 at 4:44 am
Looks that Jopak’s parents had asked Obama not to wear the bracelet anymore, not to use it for political purposes:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2008/09/28/family-told-obama-not-wear-soldier-sons-bracelet-where-media
September 28th, 2008 at 5:40 am
I’m sorry, I’m not seeing anything controversial here other than a double standard. McCain used a fallen soldiers honor to excuse himself from responding to a point, it was a well polished political prop. Obama clearly hadn’t practiced the point and so it came off far less smoothly but the context of his interruption was to get McCain back on point.
It’s not okay for either of them to seek political gains from a fallen soldier but, if anything, McCain is a vet who should of known better though I don’t feel any ill will toward him for saying it.
If you can’t find a legitimate issue with the debate, perhaps you should just accept it for what it was; a tie.
September 28th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I think it is a shame that the Soldier’s bracelets are used for political purposes. Almost every Soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan wears one to remember a fallen friend. They don’t wear them to remember their friends, trust me they can’t forget, and they don’t wear them so other’s to think that they care. It is a way grieving. I think it is a shame that Obama would use that as a way to try to connect to our service members.
Anyone that knows Barack Obama knows that he is no friend to the military. He is willing to waste the efforts and scarifies of our Soldiers and Marines by forcing a hasty withdrawal from Iraq and allow our enemies to move in and entrench themselves there. Liberals are also notorious for chopping up the military budget and leaving Soldiers under paid, under equipped, and under supplied. The Clinton years were a very dark period for our military and no one that wore olive drab through that time wants to relive it.
At the end of the day, Obama still doesn’t know the name on the bracelet, nor does he care to. To Obama it is just a black bracelet that he hopes will gain him some recognition. The name and date in writing on the bracelet isn’t important, as long as a camera saw him wearing it. He should be ashamed of himself. God forbid we see Obama’s true feelings towards our military if he gets elected, it wouldn’t be long before our Soldiers were hungry and out of fuel. Take off the bracelet Senator Obama and start being honest with us about your true intentions!
September 28th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I hope that you guys can both see and watch the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGuUfb5LLWY
In the debate, McCain remembered the name of the dead soldier - he said that it was “Matthew Stanley” - but CLEARLY he had INTENDED to use this line; it was PRE-MEDITATED.
Obama’s spectacular comeback was IN REACTION to McCain - he TOO remembered the name of his dead soldier and called it as “Seargent Joe Kopek” - and it is MOST UNLIKELY that he would have used that line IF McCain had not used it. That is why he almost flubbed the line as coming from the dead soldier himself rather than from the mother.
That was an AUTHENTIC moment rather than one to criticize him over.
As to those who said that the mother asked him NOT to be wearing it, Obama did not say that he was wearing it, but that he “had” it.
That is a distinction with a big difference. The mother has not said that she asked for it back.
Case closed.
I think that Republicans are grasping for straws out of desperation.
September 28th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
You’ve got to be kidding me. Obama is the one pandering when McCain brings it up?
I guess mourning of fallen soldiers is a Republicans-only benefit, along with 9/11 am I right?
We should be able to equally mourn and remember those who have fallen no matter what party you’re affiliated with.
September 28th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Tina… Pakistan is indeed pronounced the way Obama said it. The pronunciation you are used to is actually incorrect. And how can you possibly call him rude or arrogant. He went out of his way to give credit to McCain several times by saying “John is right” in a very conciliatory manner. If anyone was rude that would be John McCain. He did not have the decency to look at his opponent straight in the eye when he was speaking.
Finally this whole bracelet thing is such a phony issue. First McCain brought that up to pander to the military families. Clearly Obama had no intention on bringing it up, but was forced to mention it when McCain brought it up. I am sick of people actually falling for this crap and making a big deal out of non issues like lapels and bracelets when they have nothing substantive to talk about. Seriously is that the best you can do?
September 28th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
“And how can you possibly call him rude or arrogant”
first moment of the debate … obama attacked mccain
mccain wished ted kennedy well
September 28th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
It is amazing to me how so many could gather at this one site to post so many foolish arguments. To blame Obama for politicizing the bracelet when his comments followed McCain having spoken of his bracelet first, this is pure stupidity.
Also, McCain’s argument, by itself, is ludicrous: “We need to stay in Iraq until we win, because Mrs Stanley made me promise I would.”
In my opinion, Obama’s response was made primarily to point out why this argument is so dumb: why should McCain make foreign policy decisions for the country that heed Mrs Stanley’s wishes but ignore Mrs Jopek’s?
If anyone can answer that question in a sensible way, especially given most of the posts already here, I’ll be amazed.
September 28th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
When you PLAN to exploit the solider on your bracelet, then you rehearse what you’re going to say (McCain).
But more to the point YOU ARE DISRESPECTING RYAN JOPEK’S FAMILY. This is disgraceful. You are completely misrepresenting things.
You don’t care about troops, you’re just delighting in twisting what really happened. I’ll recap, so you can understand.
McCain made a calculated move to use the name of a dead soldier to bolster his political position. Obama wanted to point out that many American’s hold a different viewpoint about the war, and sincerely looked at his bracelet.
Here’s what Sgt. Jopek’s mother had to say about it in the Minnesota Star Tribune:
“[Quoting Tracy Jopek, the fallen soldier's mother]
‘His response in the debate was exactly that, a response, after John McCain put it out there first,” she said. “I think it was an appropriate response — he was just saying there’s another side to the story, there’s two different viewpoints.’
[Obama's] was an answer that Tracy Jopek said made her proud.
‘His response in the debate was exactly that, a response, after John McCain put it out there first,” she said. “I think it was an appropriate response — he was just saying there’s another side to the story, there’s two different viewpoints.’”
I think you owe Obama, and more importantly, Tracy Jopek a huge apology. Or are you just trying to prove a political point and exploit the whole concept of hero bracelets?
September 29th, 2008 at 12:44 am
well, your premise is wrong … mccain will not make the decision based solely on either of those two people. rather, he will make it on the basis of what is best for the usa. currently violence has subsided and the iraqi army has greatly increased their capabilities. soon they will be able to control all of baghdad without our troops. at that point our troops will be withdrawn.
since iraq is a major supplier of oil to the world market, and since we were the ones who overthrew sadam it is not only in our economic interest to wait until the iraqi army is ready to take over baghdad, it is also a moral decision. if we withdrew now there is a moderate likelihood that iraq would devolve into civil war.
this would result in:
1.) perhaps millions and certain hundreds of thousands of innocent iraqi civilians being killed
2.) the possibility of another islamic regime established in iraq, similar to the one established in iran under carter.
3.) an increase of iranian power in the region
4.) a greater threat to our ally israel, the one solid democracy in the region
5.)higher energy costs, hurting our economy which has been hurt already by high oil prices caused by the no drilling policies of the dems.
6.) greater world hunger and food deprivation for more people in the world due to high energy costs — a subject which dems ignore, but it turns out that world agriculture heavily depends on low oil prices for the production of fertilizer and pesticides (you can’t make pesticide out of wind power, but you can out of oil. over 30 countries are currently at extreme food shortage risk due to the dems oil policies)
soooooooo … it really has more to do with what is the best decision for our country and the world than it does with the bracelets.
of course … you may believe that if we withdraw today everyone will play nice or that the consequences will not concern us.
history does not support this however.
September 29th, 2008 at 12:51 am
you would be amazed at how many people do not know food production is tied to oil.
while the usa uses roughly half of its oil for energy … like gasoline, it uses much of the other half in food production including plastic containers.
the usa is the world’s biggest food producer and really the only one that is a large food exporter.
sooooo … if farmers grow less or raise prices to offset higher oil prices … who suffers?
mostly africa … and parts of asia and the caribbean.
September 29th, 2008 at 5:07 am
Now I am reading that the mother of the fallen soldier, specifically asked Obama NOT to use her son’s name in the political arena. Ruthless politicians.
September 29th, 2008 at 6:22 am
Look, The mother of Sgt. Jopek asked Obama not to wear it or mention his name during campaign events or debates. It does not matter if she says its ok now, he went against her wishes and the wishes of Sgt. Jopek’s father for his own political gain without there permission. This not acceptable for a anyone and definatly not for the President or Commander and Chief.
September 29th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Both McCain and Obama neutralized one another with the debate/bracelet comments at the expense of the memory of the respective soilders. However, this blogger’s interpretation and petty attack on Obama reflects the desperation and panic of McCain-Palin supporters.
September 29th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Todd
Who are you to say the mother in this case does not have a right to her opinion? Obama was responding to McCain and that is different than holding it up on the campaign trail or initiating the exchange.
The mother said:
“His response in the debate was exactly that, a response, after John McCain put it out there first,” she said. “I think it was an appropriate response — he was just saying there’s another side to the story, there’s two different viewpoints.”
She added
“I think he knew my intention, he understands it was a gesture between me and Sen. Obama,” she said. “It was just little piece of peace for us. I don’t understand how people can take that and turn it into some garbage on the Internet.”
September 29th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
[...] Obama Bracelet Debate [...]
September 29th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
[...] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r_jTgGeVU4] Obama Bracelet Debate [...]
September 30th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Who care about the issues on a BRACELET. The real issues are WHO is going to change our economy. And McCain/Bush/Palin is not it. O.K after this election if Bush:(/McCain:( wins dont be mad when you can not afford to feed your families or live a comfortable and content life likewe did when Clinton was in. Since the republicans been in office everything is going up but our salaries. If that has not been noticed then all of you are stupid. You all need to stop looking at race and look at reality. One thing is for sure you cant fix stupid or ignarance and all of your statement are both. Get it together and vote for someone that cares about us all and not just the RICH. Because the rich is getting richer and the middle class is, “well I dint think they exhist anymore,” is getting poorer.
WAKE UP PEOPLE
September 30th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Obama supporters, you guys are willing to vote for a man that will not place his hand over his heart during the National Anthem and sport a slain soldiers bracelet not even knowing his name on the biggest televised event of the year. WOW thats all I can say! Go ahead and vote for Obama and we shall suffer for 4 years as a result.
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