On Thursday President Obama told the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum how proud he was to personally award the Congressional Medal of Honor, in person, to one of their own. Except, the soldier in question was awarded the medal posthumously, making the president’s touching story totally bogus. The Military Times:
As President Obama addressed troops at a Fort Drum, N.Y. DFAC, he reminisced about how as a senator and as president, in Iraq and Afghanistan, “I’ve always run into you guys. And for some reason it’s always in some rough spots.”
“I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously,” Obama said, according to the White House official transcript.
Except that Monti was receiving it posthumously. At a White House ceremony in 2009, Obama presented Sgt. 1st Class Monti’s parents with the medal for his heroic actions in Afghanistan. Monti, 30, was leading a scouting mission along the Pakistan border when a resupply helicopter blew the unit’s cover; Monti twice ran into gunfire to retrieve a wounded comrade before he was killed by an enemy grenade.
And the reaction from the big three network newscasts? Nothing. Via Newsbusters:
Big Three Networks Ignore Obama’s Medal of Honor Screw-Up
Imagine if any of the 2012 GOP candidates had made such an error? The coverage would be apocalyptic. But with President Obama, the big nada.
This is yet another — and maybe the most telling yet — example of a media covering for the president because they agree with him. Palin tells a version of Paul Revere’s ride that doesn’t fit into the Schoolhouse Rock version of history known by most reporters and it’s a week’s worth of news. President Obama mangles one of the most sacred of his duties, and it’s not worth a mention?