Romney didn't plan on speaking about the troops

Most of you know I finished taking classes at Valencia for Digital Media. I know how a teleprompter works and that speeches are done way ahead of time. They are not only written days before the event, they are practiced and then practiced some more so that the feed on the computer program for the teleprompter is timed to the "natural" speaking flow of the speaker. If someone normally talks slow, that requires a slower speed and if they talk fast, the teleprompter has to feed faster.

Now, unless you are President Clinton, everything is timed out so Romney had plenty of time to think about what he was missing if he wrote the speech himself, or if someone else did it, if he really cared, he would have made sure troops risking their lives in Afghanistan were at least given some kind of message of appreciation.

Romney excused this by saying he talked about Afghanistan at the American Legion convention the day before. As if that helps. Doesn't he think the troops are worth taking about in more than one place? Really! Ok, but this man wants to be Commander-in-Cheif but he can't value them enough to talk about them?

What makes all of this even worse now is that someone was at the American Legion convention and wrote about it.

In a 16-minute speech, he devoted, at most, 15 or 16 seconds to Afghanistan.

Is this all they deserved from him? Where are all the organizations on this? Why aren't they screaming about this?

Romney exaggerates meager comments on Afghanistan
Josh Gerstein
POLITICO
9/9/12

While GOP president candidate Mitt Romney suggested in a TV interview aired Sunday that he laid out a detailed policy plan for Afghanistan in a recent speech to the American Legion, his comments to that group late last month said nothing about what substantive policy the U.S. should follow in the decade-plus-long conflict.

In an interview for NBC's "Meet The Press," host David Gregory pressed Romney about his failure to mention Afghanistan during his Republican National Convention acceptance speech. Romney said in reply that too much focus was being put on his rhetoric and on that single high-profile address.

"I find it interesting that people are curious about mentioning words in a speech as opposed to policy. And so I went to the American Legion the day before I gave that speech," Romney said. "I went to the American Legion and spoke with our veterans there, and described my policy as it relates to Afghanistan and other foreign policy and our military. I've been to Afghanistan, and the members of our troops know of my commitment to Afghanistan and to the effort that's going on there. I have some differences on policy with the president. I happen to think those are more important than what word I mention in each speech.” (Emphasis added.)

A casual viewer of the NBC interview would likely think that Romney laid out a detailed policy prescription on Afghanistan in his August 29 speech to the Legion. However, as I and my colleague Reid Epstein noted before, the GOP nominee did not. In a 16-minute speech, he devoted, at most, 15 or 16 seconds to Afghanistan. Even then, it was only a note that U.S. troops are in harm's way there. That's important to point out, but doesn't substitute for a substantive discussion of how many troops should be there, for how long, to do what, etc.
read more here

This is Romney's speech at the American Legion. It made me sick. It was more about a campaign speech than it was about the troops and taking care of our veterans.


Romney starts speaking at 2:29

At 3:44 he talks about "practicing and polishing his speech" for the RNC Convention.

"When our nation called you answered and I consider any opportunity to address our nations' veterans an privilege not to be missed."

Unless he is delivering his speech the next day to a national audience and didn't think he needed to talk about the troops two days in a row!

"This president's greatest failure is he has not delivered those jobs."

Never once mentioning what Obama has done to put veterans back to work.

"Of course we're still at war in Afghanistan. We still have uniform men and women in conflict risking their lives just as you once did. How deeply we appreciate their sacrifice we salute them we honor them we respect and love them.

Appreciate and love them? Really?

Budget cuts for the military did not include that these cuts came from Paul Ryan, his running mate. Then he talked about the hardship this will bring.

Romney did not mention the fact that Obama increases VA spending while Ryan's budget cuts it by $11 million.

Romney talked about the backlog of claims but did not mention the fact the door was opened to older veterans for PTSD and Agent Orange.

He talked about the increase in TRICARE fees but did not mention these fee hikes came from again, Congress and Paul Ryan's budget.

President Obama's speech delivered via video.

This is what President Obama had to say.

.22 seconds in

"On the 50th anniversary I want to give a special salute to all of our proud Vietnam Vets."

The rest was about what he's been doing for veterans.
UPDATE
From Beau Biden

I wanted to make sure you saw this: When Governor Romney accepted his party's nomination, he failed to mention Afghanistan or our troops overseas even once.

And when asked by Fox News if he regretted not mentioning the troops in his acceptance speech, Romney replied:

"I only regret you repeating it day in and day out."

Unfortunately, Governor Romney is consistent in his failure to account for our veterans or troops while making major addresses. Nowhere are veterans mentioned in his 59-point economic plan or his foreign policy white paper, and now, he's neglected to mention our troops in Afghanistan in front of millions while accepting his party's nomination.

We deserve a leader who acknowledges with words and honors with deeds the sacrifices our brave men and women in uniform -- past and present -- have made. President Obama has increased funding for Veterans Affairs, ended the war in Iraq, and increased employment opportunities by fighting for tax breaks for companies who hire unemployed veterans. That's exactly what he told us in Charlotte on Thursday:

"Tonight, we pay tribute to the Americans who still serve in harm's way. We are forever in debt to a generation whose sacrifice has made this country safer and more respected. We will never forget you. And so long as I'm Commander-in-Chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known. When you take off the uniform, we will serve you as well as you've served us -- because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job, or a roof over their heads, or the care that they need when they come home."

Since he took office, the President has never wavered in his commitment to both our military and our veterans.

Let President Obama know you've got his back like he's had ours:
Thanks,
Beau
Beau Biden
Attorney General of Delaware

This picture says it all.

Joshua Bunce