Quote:Below is an excerpt from The President’s Devotional by Joshua Dubois, the former head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He’s recounting events that occurred Sunday, December 16, 2012 — two days after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and 6 adult staff members. Dubois had gotten word the day before that the President wanted to meet with the families of the victims:
I left early to help the advance team—the hardworking folks who handle logistics for every event—set things up, and I arrived at the local high school where the meetings and memorial service would take place. We prepared seven or eight classrooms for the families of the slain children and teachers, two or three families to a classroom, placing water and tissues and snacks in each one. Honestly, we didn’t know how to prepare; it was the best we could think of.
The families came in and gathered together, room by room. Many struggled to offer a weak smile when we whispered, “The president will be here soon.” A few were visibly angry—so understandable that it barely needs to be said—and were looking for someone, anyone, to blame. Mostly they sat in silence.
I went downstairs to greet President Obama when he arrived, and I provided an overview of the situation. “Two families per classroom . . . The first is . . . and their child was . . . The second is . . . and their child was . . . We’ll tell you the rest as you go.”
The president took a deep breath and steeled himself, and went into the first classroom. And what happened next I’ll never forget.
Person after person received an engulfing hug from our commander in chief. He’d say, “Tell me about your son. . . . Tell me about your daughter,” and then hold pictures of the lost beloved as their parents described favorite foods, television shows, and the sound of their laughter. For the younger siblings of those who had passed away—many of them two, three, or four years old, too young to understand it all—the president would grab them and toss them, laughing, up into the air, and then hand them a box of White House M&M’s, which were always kept close at hand. In each room, I saw his eyes water, but he did not break.
And then the entire scene would repeat—for hours. Over and over and over again, through well over a hundred relatives of the fallen, each one equally broken, wrecked by the loss. After each classroom, we would go back into those fluorescent hallways and walk through the names of the coming families, and then the president would dive back in, like a soldier returning to a tour of duty in a worthy but wearing war. We spent what felt like a lifetime in those classrooms, and every single person received the same tender treatment. The same hugs. The same looks, directly in their eyes. The same sincere offer of support and prayer.
The staff did the preparation work, but the comfort and healing were all on President Obama. I remember worrying about the toll it was taking on him. And of course, even a president’s comfort was woefully inadequate for these families in the face of this particularly unspeakable loss. But it became some small measure of love, on a weekend when evil reigned.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
The hard time I have with conspiracies is deciding which source is less credible, the government or the blogger/Youtuber. At the very least, conspiracies make me critically think about something from an entirely different viewpoint, even if it is just to disprove a false claim. The official explanation that guy in tactical gear in the woods at the time of the shooting was an unnamed off duty cop who was there and dressed that way by coincidence just sounds ridiculous, true or not. The video of two cops appearing to chase an unidentified 3rd person through the woods is also odd enough to take note of when there isn't an explanation for what was going on. Operation Northwood and MK Ultra were real, and that's no conspiracy, so it's hard to not question everything that happens at this point.
In order for it to be a hoax then the entire town and all the surrounding communities would have to be in on it.
The victims families were all real people. There are records of them in schools and jobs long before Sandy Hook. if it was a hoax by the government then it had been been set up for 40 years and thousands and thousands of regualr people are in on it.
And considering that the government got NOTHING after Sandy hook it kind of begs the question why they would have gone to so much trouble.
(12-13-2015, 12:45 PM)fredtoast Wrote: calling Sandy Hook a hoax is ridiculous.
In order for it to be a hoax then the entire town and all the surrounding communities would have to be in on it.
The victims families were all real people. There are records of them in schools and jobs long before Sandy Hook. if it was a hoax by the government then it had been been set up for 40 years and thousands and thousands of regualr people are in on it.
And considering that the government got NOTHING after Sandy hook it kind of begs the question why they would have gone to so much trouble.
I don't think the government is competent enough to successfully pull something like that off, but there are definitely people behind the scenes who wouldn't be against doing something like that. I'm not a Sandy Hook hoaxer, but I believe official story is more so shaped how the government wanted the public to perceive it and not 100% open. Saying there's bias and the always opportunistic "not letting a tragedy go to waste" is a different perspective than saying the government did it/faked it.
it cracks me up that usually the people who say sandy hook or 9-11 were done by the government are the same people who say they're too inept to do taxes, healthcare, fight a war, etc.
people want to think sandy hook isn't real because they can't deal with the truth.
(12-14-2015, 12:24 AM)Benton Wrote: it cracks me up that usually the people who say sandy hook or 9-11 were done by the government are the same people who say they're too inept to do taxes, healthcare, fight a war, etc.
people want to think sandy hook isn't real because they can't deal with the truth.
And they generally believe every other conspiracy. Bad people never do bad things. Accidents never happen. It's always a plot.
“History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure.”-Thurgood Marshall
(12-14-2015, 11:54 AM)michaelsean Wrote: And they generally believe every other conspiracy. Bad people never do bad things. Accidents never happen. It's always a plot.
FWIW I don't buy into much.
I was mildly concerned over the scale of Jade Helm, but SH is a different animal.
(12-14-2015, 01:50 PM)Rotobeast Wrote: FWIW I don't buy into much.
I was mildly concerned over the scale of Jade Helm, but SH is a different animal.
No of course there are exceptions, and I would pay more attention to someone who doesn't have a history of conspiracies. But usually if someone is claiming conspiracy, and you can look into their history, it isn't the first or second or third time.
Anyone from Cincy remember Bill Bosheers?
“History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure.”-Thurgood Marshall
(12-13-2015, 09:57 AM)6andcounting Wrote: Operation Northwood and MK Ultra were real, and that's no conspiracy,
Both were rejected ideas.
I don't blindly believe everything the government says. I know about the Gulf of Tonkin scam and, of course, the WMD in Iraq. But the claims that something like Sandy hook was set up by the government is just ridiculous. It would be way to complicated.
But some of these conspiracy theorists are real nut jobs. There have been several playgrounds built with funds raised in the names of victims of Sandy Hook and dedicated to their memories. Some of these conspiracy theorists go around and vandalize the memorials to these victims and often even steal the markers from the sites. Some of them even post pictures of the dedication plaques and markers they have stolen on their Conspiracy websites.
(12-14-2015, 12:24 AM)UBenton Wrote: it cracks me up that usually the people who say sandy hook or 9-11 were done by the government are the same people who say they're too inept to do taxes, healthcare, fight a war, etc.
people want to think sandy hook isn't real because they can't deal with the truth.
(12-13-2015, 12:45 PM)fredtoast Wrote: calling Sandy Hook a hoax is ridiculous.
In order for it to be a hoax then the entire town and all the surrounding communities would have to be in on it.
The victims families were all real people. There are records of them in schools and jobs long before Sandy Hook. if it was a hoax by the government then it had been been set up for 40 years and thousands and thousands of regualr people are in on it.
And considering that the government got NOTHING after Sandy hook it kind of begs the question why they would have gone to so much trouble.
At the time of the Sandy Hook shooting, I literally lived a half an hour away. Trust me, it really happened.
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