Obama Picture Taken Down From US Air Force Base

The Colorado Springs Gazette:

President Barack Obama's picture was removed this week from a Presidents Day sign at the Peterson Air Force Base commissary after customers complained that the image did not fit the holiday commemorating the birthdays of past presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

The head of the local NAACP and a commissary employee say it was blatant racism.

Read the whole story: The Colorado Springs Gazette

Comments

[pikespeakreader]

07:07 PM on 02/23/2009

Now a petition has been filed in connection with the Obama photo removal. Here's a followup story in The Gazette: http://www.gazette.com/articles/petition_48700___article.html/picture_presidents.html

[OdinsEye]

10:23 PM on 02/23/2009

Great. This Lavonda Bacon gal is unable to do a quick google about the correct name and meaning of the federal holiday.

[OdinsEye]

03:10 AM on 02/19/2009

research replied to me: "your are delusional.

I already quoted the military regulation you would be breaking. " http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/16/obama-picture-taken-down_n_167292.html?show_comment_id=21045144#comment_21045144


Sorry, research, but you failed to make your case. Complaining to the commissary management about an incorrect flyer would not break any regulations.

[research]

04:02 PM on 02/19/2009

If the commissary is run by an military person, THEY would be breaking the rules.

You on the other hand, would just be guilty of conduct unbecoming. If you were an officer.

Why will you not condemn this unusually discriminator treatment of the image of our current president in good standing?

[OdinsEye]

05:58 PM on 02/19/2009

"If the commissary is run by an military person, THEY would be breaking the rules."

What rule did they break? Obama's official picture was never taken down. The only thing affected was an announcement which misidentified the holiday and its purpose.

[hankelvis]

02:14 PM on 02/18/2009

I hope no one gets the bright idea to throw a shoe at Lincoln's (R-IL) portrait.

[LiberalDemIda]

03:09 AM on 02/18/2009

LiberalDemIda:

Lost in this thread is one glaring fact: Why was this signage approved then printed the way it was if it wasn't the norm to have the image of the current president printed on it? And after formal approval, printed and displayed, why was it suddenly taken down?

If anyone has ever worked in retail, you'd know that you can't put anything on display until and unless it's been approved by management, right? Why would they approve something that's never been done before, as the Commissary Agency claims?

Considering the above in this issue, the NAACP appears to have a very strong case.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sonny50 See Profile I'm a Fan of Sonny50 I'm a fan of this user permalink

Who said it was approved? The article didn't.

"If anyone has ever worked in retail, you'd know that you can't put anything on display until and unless it's been approved by management, right?"

In most cases, but you assume that it was approved by mgt and the article doesn't say that either.
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By the same token, who said it wasn't? The article didn't specify that either.

And I don't assume, I PREsume, regardless of the article.

My presumption is based on the premise there are rules, regulations, and guidelines enforced by mgt especially on a military base. It's ignorant to believe the sign was posted without it.

If similar signs in the past had the image of Presidents Clinton and Bush, the NAACP has a strong case.

[OdinsEye]

10:35 AM on 02/18/2009

There may or may not be rules enforced by the management for locally produced audio-visual items. But even if there were, people do make mistakes, even management. Just look at how many people mistakenly think that President's Day is a federal holiday and that it includes more than just President Washington.

Also, please remember that the commissary does not fall under the leadership of the base commander. Commissaries have their own chain of command outside of the base and do not belong to the base or to any branch of service. The people who work at the commissary work for DeCA and because of the size of the military community in Colorado Springs might not even have anything to do with the Air Force except they happen to work on an Air Force Base. Peterson has Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Canadians stationed there in addition to the Air Force. Fort Carson is a large Army post just a few miles away. And IIRC there are more than 30,000 military retirees from all branches of the service who live in Colorado Springs and the surrounding area (population approaching 500,000). So the people who work at the commissary may be a military spouse, retiree spouse, retiree from any branch of the service or even just a regular civilian. Meaning the Air Force had nothing to do with the mistake nor with the decision to correct the mistake.

[jqcitizen]

11:33 AM on 02/18/2009

Guests, Civilians and ALL military on an Air Force Base,do indeed, fall under the leadership of the Base Commander.

DO NOT ever say that contractors, including commissary employees, can do as they please.

[OdinsEye]

10:36 AM on 02/18/2009

Oh, and even if Bush's and Clinton's picture had been used in such a way in the past, and we have heard from several that they have not, just because the commissary might made a mistake in the past does not mean that correcting the mistake this year is in any way racist. So no, the NAACP does not have a strong case under those circumstances.

[randman2009]

10:40 PM on 02/17/2009

Not racism. They were just insulted by the despicable things Obama and his supporters have said about the military and our brave soldiers for the past few years. He may be their Commander in Chief, but the horrible things said about the military still sting.

[scaulk]

07:46 PM on 02/17/2009

The person who removed this picture of President Obama on presidents day from the AF base commissary should be reprimanded and punished. Very likely racist.....

[OdinsEye]

08:45 PM on 02/17/2009

The official picture was never removed.

There is no "President's Day".

The person who removed it probably realized that the placard and flyers were in error.

The person should be commended for correcting a very common problem.

[peacegurl48]

07:07 PM on 02/17/2009

If you read the entire article it states that Bush and Clinton had their pictures up with Lincoln and Washington without a problem; it also quotes a customer making a blatantly racist remark.
That leads me to believe that removing Obama's picture was more than protecting the purpose of President's Day.
We all know that racism still exits, sad but very true.

[OdinsEye]

07:17 PM on 02/17/2009

"If you read the entire article it states that Bush and Clinton had their pictures up with Lincoln and Washington without a problem;"

It says that ONE CASHIER claims that. It also says that the commisary says that cashier is mistaken. And we have a poster here who has shopped there for for many years and says the cashier is mistaken.

"it also quotes a customer making a blatantly racist remark"

Again, you have ONE CASHIER, the same one who appears to have misspoken above, who says that a person said those remarks to the CASHIER. However, the poster and flyers were not changed because of that person's alleged remarks to the CASHIER, they were changed because several partons told the MANAGEMENT (which is NOT the cashier) that the name of the holiday was incorrect and that it implied that the holiday was for a different purpose than what it really is.

[Sonny50]

07:24 PM on 02/17/2009

"If you read the entire article it states that Bush and Clinton had their pictures up with Lincoln and Washington without a problem;" - article doesn't say that- a cashier said that and the store denies it.

“it also quotes a customer making a blatantly racist remark”- it does not quote a customer- it quotes this nameless cashier agn.

[QueenMama]

06:58 PM on 02/17/2009

I have just discovered that OdinsEye is just another name of one of the "usual suspects" on the Gazette comments boards. He does NOT speak for residents of Colorado Springs, and his posts here only serve to prove that r-acism in COS is alive and well.

As we have learned to do on the Gazette boards, it is best to ignore him and eventually he will go away.

Given that this story is gaining ground in the mainstream media, I would hope that people reading this will understand that we are NOT OdinsEye and wholeheartedly support President Obama.

[OdinsEye]

07:04 PM on 02/17/2009

Sorry to disappoint you, but your assumption is incorrect.

[Sonny50]

07:04 PM on 02/17/2009

"Given that this story is gaining ground in the mainstream media,..."

Correct, the MSN doesn't pay attention to your made-up claims of r@cism.

If this was a story, the reporter wld be beating the he!! out of it.

[HC4BO]

06:11 PM on 02/17/2009

Well IF Clinton and Bush did not have their images on the picture, I don't see why President Obama should have his image displayed ...

It's not like we have a shortage of his images anyway ...

Just walk into any supermarket ....

[LiberalDemIda]

03:45 AM on 02/18/2009

Agreed. But IF there is proof these former presidents had their image on similar signage in the past, this base should be made an example of, and it will be.

[OdinsEye]

10:38 AM on 02/18/2009

Also incorrect.

[OdinsEye]

06:06 PM on 02/17/2009

Inside the commisary there is an official picture of President Obama. This picture was never removed.

For the holiday, they placed a placard at the entrance of the commissary which mistakenly said "President's Day" and had a picture of President Obama, suggesting the holiday is a celebration of all of our presidents, past and present. Several patrons correctly pointed out that the holiday is NOT President's Day, it is Washington's Birthday ( Title 5 USC 6103 - http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/5/6103.html )and is a celebration of President George Washington.

A quick check by the management confirmed that the people who made the placard made a mistake and the management changed the placard to read correctly as "Washington's Birthday" in accordance with federal law and removed President Obama's picture from the placard.

[Retrofuturistic]

04:19 PM on 02/17/2009

These are the kinds of people who would rather not see the country straightened out, than see it straightened out by a black man. Ridiculous.

[OdinsEye]

05:57 PM on 02/17/2009

This had nothing to do with the race of the President.

[donaldw6]

05:58 PM on 02/17/2009

Looks like someone else didn't bother to read the article.

[TivoliEclipse]

06:35 PM on 02/17/2009

... just the inherent RACISM of the country.

[Lindy222]

04:11 PM on 02/17/2009

As an Army brat, I'm outraged and disgusted that this could happen on a military post/base. Who's the Commander? Let's see if he/she can do the right thing.

[forpeace]

05:16 PM on 02/17/2009

*
Lindy222
----------
Well said.
*

[OdinsEye]

05:58 PM on 02/17/2009

The base commander has very little control over DeCA employees. And the employees did nothing wrong.

[soldiergirl]

08:13 PM on 02/17/2009

The base commander has enough control to be able to fix a problem such as this. Regardless of how individuals feel, the President is the Commander in Chief to the patrons or their sponsors, of the commissary.

[Blue Moose]

03:57 PM on 02/17/2009

What do you expect in uber-christianist Colorado Springs--home of the US Air Force Academy where cadets are routinely harrassed by their "christian" classmates. Pathetic!

[december30]

03:56 PM on 02/17/2009

Is there any way this commissary can be closed?

[OdinsEye]

05:58 PM on 02/17/2009

The commissary did nothing wrong.

[soldiergirl]

08:15 PM on 02/17/2009

They won't close the commissary, but this problem can be rectified by the commander of the commissary, or whomever the civilian equilvalent counterpart happens to be.

[OdinsEye]

08:51 PM on 02/17/2009

Nothing to rectify.

[mydoglucky]

03:42 PM on 02/17/2009

Unfortunately, I live in Arizona and alot of people here hate Barack Obama. Some of my "friends" wanted to stage an intervention when they saw the Obama sticker on my car. They live and breath Fox News.

[HHarvey]

05:06 PM on 02/17/2009

Perhaps the haters who have lost their homes to foreclosure should just give any financial assistance back to the government when they get it.

[Viper6955]

12:27 AM on 02/28/2009

No, they should give it back to me and the other people who are willing to work hard for what they have instead of being a leach! Most of the 10% not paying their mortgages love him, because he is giving them a free meal ticket while they sit on their behinds.

[soldiergirl]

08:17 PM on 02/17/2009

It's the same way here in Oklahoma. The h.e.l.l. with them.