First Lady's Trip to Camp Pendleton Sparks GOP Criticism

This is a pretty appalling thing to do considering Michelle Obama has been visiting bases since the beginning, even before she became First Lady and has taken and active interest in meeting with Military Families! When political figures do something wrong, then yes, complain but when they do something good, for the right reasons, at least be honest if you have to say anything at all.

Denis Poroy, AP
First lady Michelle Obama speaks to troops and their families during a visit to Camp Pendleton on Sunday.

First Lady's Trip to Camp Pendleton Sparks GOP Criticism
Julie Watson

AP
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (June 13) -- After meeting with wounded Marines, first lady Michelle Obama told thousands of troops and their families Sunday that she is launching a national challenge to Americans to find ways to support them.

Since her husband took office, Obama has been visiting bases across the country as part of her mission to improve the quality of life for military families. She called Camp Pendleton and the surrounding Southern California cities a model for community support of troops.

But California Republicans called the event a publicity stunt to help Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who is running for a fourth term and has been criticized by opponents for not doing enough to support troops. President Barack Obama flew to California last month to support Boxer's fundraising efforts for her campaign.

The first lady said she came to Camp Pendleton for a simple reason: "To help the rest of our country better understand and appreciate the incredible service of you and your families, and to make sure your voices are heard back in Washington and that your needs are met."
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First Lady Trip to Camp Pendleton Sparks GOP Criticism

for the rest of this story, this is what else went on

First lady at Pendleton: Take care of families
By Gretel C. Kovach,
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER


CAMP PENDLETON — First lady Michelle Obama brought her national call to action on behalf of military families to Camp Pendleton on Sunday, where she challenged each American to find a way to support service members and their loved ones.

Obama met privately with injured service members and their families at the Marine Corps base and then addressed a crowd of about 3,500 — most of them troops from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force headquartered at the base near Oceanside.

“Given all that you and your family do to take care of America, America needs to take care of you,” she said. “Not just now, but for decades to come.”

The Camp Pendleton visit was one in a series of appearances by Obama to highlight one of her signature issues as first lady — the challenges military families continue to face during nearly a decade at war.
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First lady at Pendleton

First Lady announces study of military families

First Lady announces study of military families

By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 12, 2010 14:53:13 EDT

More than 100,000 service members and their families will participate in a “landmark” study to help the administration understand the challenges these families face, First Lady Michelle Obama announced Wednesday.

She said the president has also ordered a 90-day review among 20 federal agencies to develop a coordinated governmentwide approach to supporting military families. Helping service members and families is not just the responsibility of the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, she said.

And more than the federal government needs to be involved, said Obama, speaking to the National Military Family Association’s summit. She issued a nationwide challenge to help American military families.

“This has to be all hands on deck,” she said. While there has been an outpouring of support for military families over the last eight years of war, she said, many military families are still not receiving the support they need. Spouses need better mental health services, and children need more support, she said.
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First Lady announces study of military families

Volunteering Marine family wins award

Volunteering Marine family wins award

By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Oct 30, 2009 13:52:00 EDT

Thirteen-year-old Jordan Leanes fixes up broken bikes and donates them to charities. His twin sister Syvannah organized a project to help wounded warriors through their church.

The twins, along with the other five members of their Marine Corps family — volunteers all — were named the National Military Family Association’s family of the year in the association’s 40th anniversary celebration Oct. 28.

It was all about military families, from first lady Michelle Obama’s videotaped message honoring and pledging support to military families, to videotaped messages from each service’s senior leader describing the accomplishments of the nominated families. And while members of Congress and a number of senior defense and civilian officials attended, the stars on stage and the constant focus were the military families.

Before he presented the award to the Leanes family, Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, recognized military families “past, present and future.”
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/military_familyaward_103009w/

First lady offers a White House welcome for Hampton Roads sailors

First lady offers a White House welcome for Hampton Roads sailors

By Hugh Lessig

247-7821

10:30 PM EDT, July 31, 2009


NORFOLK - First lady Michelle Obama on Friday pledged the administration's continued support for military families in addressing homecoming sailors, their spouses and children at Naval Station Norfolk.

"I will use every ounce of my power in this position to highlight the sacrifices that you make, and to rally the country around you," she said. "It won't stop today."

Mrs. Obama addressed military families in the 2008 presidential campaign and has maintained that theme during her husband's first months in office.

Hampton Roads offered her a built-in audience.

Some 6,000 sailors arrived home this week with the return of the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower from supporting coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Also this week, the USNS Comfort arrived in Norfolk, bringing home 42 staff members of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth from a four-month humanitarian mission in the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Speaking directly to an audience of about 250 on a wind-whipped pier, the first lady praised the crews of the Ike and the Comfort and highlighted areas of President Barack Obama's budget that benefit service members. That includes a pay raise and more permanent forces to reduce the stress of long deployments.
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First lady offers a White House welcome for Hampton Roads sailors

Michelle Obama begins military advocacy

Michelle Obama begins military advocacy

By Mike Baker - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Mar 13, 2009 11:50:05 EDT

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The nation owes not only gratitude but tangible assistance to the nation’s military and their families, and she’ll make that a focus of her time in the White House, first lady Michelle Obama says.

Underscoring her commitment to the plight of America’s military families, Mrs. Obama used a trip to Fort Bragg as a stage for her first television interviews since the inauguration. One with ABC’s “Good Morning America” aired Friday.

In the interview she said she wanted military families to know they have a friend in the White House.

“It hurts. It hurts,” Mrs. Obama said of hearing about military families on food stamps. “These are people who are willing to send their loved ones off to, perhaps, give their lives — the ultimate sacrifice. But yet, they’re living back at home on food stamps. It’s not right, and it’s not where we should be as a nation.”

ABC released an excerpt of the interview late Thursday.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_firstlady_031309/

Michelle Obama shows how important military families are

I admit it, I may be bias toward our First Lady, but I can't think of the last time a First Lady took such and interest in military families. As a matter of fact, I can't think of the last time when a President cared as much as President Obama does. I keep thinking of the time when his web site had the trip he took to visit the Montana National Guard, how deeply he touched my heart. He wanted to see what their program was in addressing PTSD and suicides because of Spc. Chris Dana.

You have to keep in mind that this is one of the programs I've supported from the start and I've taken a look at most of them. This is the one I thought held the most promise. With that in mind, had then Senator Obama not been paying attention and just trying to get some publicity, he would have opted to take a look at the most popular programs instead of the one with the most promise. When he showed up picking this program, it not only proved he cares about the troops and but has been paying attention. He also cares deeply for the veterans and when he had the chance to pick any committee to serve on as a Senator, he wanted Veterans Affairs.

The military families and veterans families have a strong advocate in the White House this time and it's about time. Ok, ok, so I adore both of them. It's not as if I will never complain about them but they have not done anything to complain about except for the time when Obama wouldn't show up at Fort Hood to debate McCain on military families. I was angry he couldn't change his plans until I found out that he was going to see his Grandma for the last time. After she passed away, I was glad he went there instead so that he could have a chance for one last memory of her. I felt so bad for him when she did not live to see him take the oath of office. Anyway it just goes to show that this man has a heart and a mind using both to the fullest.

First lady visits soldiers, families at Bragg
By Mike Baker - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 12, 2009 20:34:09 EDT

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — First lady Michelle Obama, venturing away from Washington to define her White House role, called on the American people Thursday to embrace the military families in their communities.

In her first major advocacy mission, the wife of President Barack Obama spent the afternoon visiting with soldiers and their families at North Carolina’s sprawling Fort Bragg. She then told a crowd of community leaders in nearby Fayetteville that Americans need to reach out to members of the military.

“Our soldiers and their families have done their duty — and they do it without complaint,” Mrs. Obama said. “And we as a grateful nation must do ours — do everything in our power to honor them by supporting them.”
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Michelle Obama's duty in the kitchen

,,,,at homeless shelter, that is. What a wonderful woman she really is! First she adopted military families and now the homeless.

March 5, 2009, 2:24 pm

Michelle Obama Serves Lunch at D.C. Nonprofit
By Rachel L. Swarns
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press First Lady Michelle Obama served lunch at Miriams Kitchen in Washington on Thursday.

The homeless men and women gathered at Miriam’s Kitchen as they often do on a Thursday for a cup a coffee, a hot meal, a hair cut and some help finding a job or a place to stay.

But on this day, they received an unexpected greeting from an unexpected visitor. First Lady Michelle Obama was in the kitchen, serving up mushroom risotto and a warm welcome.

“How are you doing?” Mrs. Obama asked the astonished patrons as they lined up for risotto, steamed broccoli, fruit salad and apple-carrot muffins. “My job here is to serve you.”

Miriam’s Kitchen was the latest stop on the first lady’s getting-to-know Washington tour.

“My purpose here is to listen, learn and scoop some risotto,’’ Mrs. Obama told the group of about 50 homeless men and women. She said she hoped her visit would also encourage Americans to volunteer to help the needy during these difficult economic times.

“There is a moment in time when each and every one of us needs a helping hand,’’ Mrs. Obama said. She described Miriam’s Kitchen as “an example of what we can do as a country and a community to help folks when they’re down.”

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First Lady praises military women

First Lady praises military women
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 3, 2009 18:59:08 EST

Will First Lady Michelle Obama have military women in for tea at the White House?

That challenge was laid down Tuesday by retired Army Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught at an event marking the start of Women’s History Month at the Women In Military Service For America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Do they still serve tea in the White House?” she asked. “And if they serve tea at the White House, are there any service women who would be willing to go?”

Most of the more than 150 people in the audience were military women, and virtually all of them cheered and raised their hands.

“You’re all invited. I think that’s an excellent idea,” Obama said, singling out one of her staff members who would be the point person.

The First Lady praised the women’s memorial, and the women it honors who are serving and have served around the world. She included those who have been wounded, and those who have lost their lives in service.

“I can’t think of a better way to begin Women’s History Month than coming here to the women’s memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to honor our nation’s service women,” she said.
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Michelle Obama, Cyrus entertain military kids

Michelle Obama, Cyrus entertain military kids
By Samantha Critchell - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 20, 2009 6:46:42 EST

WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama challenged the audience at Monday night’s teen- and tween-filled “Kids’ Inaugural: We Are the Future” concert to serve their country.

She got a response from the audience at the Verizon Center that surpassed even the appearance of teen star Miley Cyrus.

“You kids are the future of this great nation,” Obama said to the crowd largely made up of military families and their charged-up children.

“We need every American to serve their community including our young people,” she added.

What can kids do? she wondered aloud: Volunteer in a homeless shelter, visit an elderly person or write letters to U.S. troops.

“For many of you, they’re you’re moms and dads, right?” Obama said. “Barack, Malia, Sasha and I are so grateful for the service and sacrifice all our military families make to help keep this nation safe.”

Cyrus, who performed for the first time her inspirational song “The Climb,” returned the compliment to the Obamas’ daughters, well-known fans of Cyrus’ Disney TV alter ego “Hannah Montana.”
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Michelle Obama preps her family for D.C.

Michelle Obama preps her family for D.C.
Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images file
Newsweek: Soon-to-be first lady calls the pending move "daunting" and talks about the projects she'll work on in Washington.

You ' ve obviously become engaged with military families and their plight during this campaign. How would you continue with that?

I don't know yet, but when I was having these conversations, I would always have military officials along with me. I know a lot about the issues that families face, but I didn't know as much about the military structure. One former senior official there talked about the past and how the military, because of its flexibility, was often the place that provided the platform for trying new things with regard to family life and family leave. That's not the case any more ... I want to figure out how we explore ways to be creative in terms of support and then use some of those models in the broader society.

These conversations with military families—they were an outgrowth of the conversations we were having with women in working families. I periodically would come across the spouse who was living alone out there, the wife or the husband of a reservist living in the regular community, struggling with the same economic, childcare, education issues that everybody else was. But on top of that, they were living alone with a loved one that was shipped away for years on end, with no one around to really support them. Their bosses didn't understand, so they didn't get any extra support time when their loved one was being deployed. There were no support systems. The first thing I'd like to do is to continue those conversations, because it was a shock to me, just as a civilian, to know that these support systems weren't there … I think there are many other families out there who would be shocked and outraged to know that our troops' families are not being taken care of while they are fighting and dying for us … How you take these conversations and come up with real, concrete recommendations that can be turned into change?

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Michelle Obama will focus on her family and military families

Michelle Obama, first lady 1:55
CNN's Brooke Baldwin takes a closer look at the next first lady of the United States.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/11/05
/baldwin.michelle.obama.first.lady.cnn

What does not get enough attention is that Michelle has been meeting with military families since the campaign began. This is just one of the reports and there are many more. Just Google Michelle Obama meets with military families and find all the reports on this.

Michelle Obama Focuses On Military Spouses
Politico: Candidate's Wife Often Meets With Military Families In Swing States, Could Be A Prelude To An Agenda As First Lady
Comments 304
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Oct. 20, 2008


Once portrayed as unpatriotic, Michelle Obama has quietly carved a niche on the campaign trail as a sounding board for military families, taking up a cause that could define her agenda as first lady.

Every few weeks, Obama meets with military spouses in swing states, where she presents herself as a kindred spirit and Barack Obama as the best choice for their families. She attended the two debates with military family members. And at the Democratic National Convention, she led a day of service on behalf of Blue Star Families for Obama, a two-month old group with the tagline: “Pro-Military, Pro-Obama.”

Obama aides say her work with military families has nothing to do with the controversy created by her February comment suggesting that the presidential campaign made her proud of the United States for the first time. But the effort could be viewed as an exercise in counterprogramming, serving as a rebuttal to criticism from Cindy McCain and others for a comment that Michelle Obama insists was misinterpreted - and the notion that her husband, a Democrat with no military service, cannot peel off voters from John McCain, an ex-Navy pilot and war hero.

“Barack and I know that too often it feels like you are alone, on your own,” Obama told military spouses last month in Santa Fe, N.M. “I know you become everything. In a small way, I have experienced that over the course of this campaign, but in no way does it compare to what you are going through.”

Michelle Obama's focus on military families puts her at the leading edge of the Democratic nominee's campaign to reclaim some of the military vote from Republicans - an effort that brought Barack Obama here Sunday for a rally near Fort Bragg, where a military wife introduced him and he touted his endorsement from Colin Powell, the retired four-star general and President George W. Bush's first Secretary of State.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/20/politics/politico/main4531538.shtml

Military families meet with Michelle Obama

Obama's point woman with military families: his wife, Michelle Obama
Craig Lassig / Associated Press
MICHELLE OBAMA: Like military spouses, she juggles multiple roles — wife, mother, working woman — she says.
The voting bloc, which traditionally goes Republican, could prove crucial in swing states like North Carolina.
By Dahleen Glanton
October 26, 2008
Reporting from Jacksonville, N.C. -- As a major component of his presidential bid, Democratic nominee Barack Obama has deployed his wife on a mission to win over military families, many of them traditional Republicans. She has targeted the group with whom she hopes to forge an alliance -- wives of servicemen.

In a series of round-table discussions and rallies in North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and New Mexico -- all battleground states -- Michelle Obama has discussed how she, like military spouses, juggles work and family. On the campaign trail she describes herself in simple terms -- a mother, a lawyer and a wife who grew up in a blue-collar family in working-class Chicago. (Educated at Harvard, she earned more than $300,000 in 2005 as a hospital executive.)

Wives vent to her about the difficulty of raising children while their husbands are away. They share stories about the loneliness, financial challenges and fears that come with being a military spouse.

"We all have some fundamental things in common," Michelle Obama recently told a crowd of veterans and relatives of service members from Camp Lejeune, N.C., from which nearly 60,000 Marines are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. "We share a vision of a system that does more to support military families, both when your loved ones are deployed and long after they return.

"We've all been touched by this economic crisis that our nation is facing. . . . You feel it when you pay for groceries . . . and when you fill up your tank," she said.


But the military is not a voting bloc that John McCain, the Republican nominee, will give up without a fight. He has enlisted a former Navy buddy and fellow prisoner of war in Vietnam to appeal directly to veterans. McCain's wife, Cindy, also has spoken to military groups.

Military voters in 2004 favored President Bush over Democratic challenger John F. Kerry, 57% to 41%. A poll released this month by the Military Times showed active-duty service members supporting McCain over Obama, 68% to 23%. However, the Military Times pointed out that the respondents were subscribers who were older, held more senior ranks and were less ethnically diverse than the military as a whole.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-michelle26-2008oct26,0,6927360.story

On more huge point is that the bulk of military donations went to Obama and Paul. When it comes to voting with their wallets, they did not pick McCain. They understand that just because someone is a veteran, it does not mean they support veterans. They understand that while McCain has not served on the Veterans Affairs Committee, Obama has and since he added his weight to the issues for veterans, things have been changing for the better in the last couple of years. Before that, veterans were pretty much left out of the thought process of the congress. No matter what the Democrats tried to do to help veterans, they were blocked by people like McCain who said when it came to Jim Webb's GI Bill, it was "too generous" instead of wanting to do all that was possible for the sake of the veterans. McCain's record stinks when it comes to veterans and they understand this as well.

Michelle Obama supporting the troops when it counts, not just with words

CNN exclusive: Michelle Obama 4:02
Michelle Obama talks one-on-one with American Morning's John Roberts.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/08/27/intv.roberts.michelle.obama.cnn

For more of this story go here
DENVER - AUGUST 27: Michelle Obama, wife of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama,, and Jill Biden wife of Barack Obama's running mate, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden and Colorado first lady Jeannie Ritter help kick off the 2008 Democratic National Convention's Delegate Service Day by assembling care packages for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan at Curtis Park on August 27, 2008 in Denver, Colorado. Obama will be officially be nominated as the Democratic candidate for U.S. president on the last day of the four-day convention. http://news.aol.com/elections/article/does-biden-complicate-mccains-choice/150220?icid=200100397x1208132307x1200471758

Michelle Obama meets with military spouses

Michelle Obama meets with military spouses

By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Aug 6, 2008 18:33:51 EDT

NORFOLK, Va. — When Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, held a roundtable with military spouses and retirees here on Wednesday, she got an earful — and said that if her husband is elected, he has a plan to help them.

Six military spouses and three retired officers participated in the roundtable with Obama on the campus of Old Dominion University here, with about 200 invited retirees, veterans and spouses in the audience. Most were invited because they were volunteers with the Obama campaign, or were invited by someone in the Obama campaign, said campaign officials and some of the attendees interviewed by Military Times.

Editor’s note: Military Times has a standing interview request with Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona. To read a transcript from an earlier roundtable meeting between McCain and Military Times reporters and editors held last October, visit http://www.militarytimes.com/mccaininterview

The issues that members of the roundtable brought up spoke to the pressures that military families face, especially in wartime.

An Air Force wife said she had to give up her job when her husband deployed because she couldn’t find child care.

A Marine wife, a former executive, said she home-schools her children because she couldn’t find a public or private school that could meet her children’s needs.

A Navy wife described the pressures of taking care of her husband’s father, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, while also caring for her infant and her teenager — all while her husband was deployed.

This was the third roundtable Michelle Obama has held this year with military family members, following sessions at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Campbell, Ky.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/military_michelleobama_families_080608w/