On June 6, 1944, the D-Day invasion of Europe took place during World War II as Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. America lost 2,499 of its finest men that day.
It’s too bad Barack Obama missed the anniversary today.
The White House website has nothing posted today on the 66th Anniversary of the D-Day landing.
The president had other things on his mind.
He was attending his second party this week, tonight at the Ford Theatre.
I have to admit that I find this pretty troubling. For many Americans, including me, D-Day is one of the most important days in American history. It was this country's finest hour; a moment that perfectly achieved the platonic ideal of using American military power to fight tyranny and make the world a better, safer place. There have been many other moments where the US used its military power for good, but none where American intervention is so universally viewed to have be for the better. I'm willing to bet that even among those who believe that US power should only be exercised sparingly, the Normandy landings are still viewed positively.
And yet, Obama's apology tour and a couple of years listening what to what he, his wife, and his associates have to say about America, I get the feeling that he just doesn't think that the US has that much to be proud of. He gave a decent speech on D-Day last year, but even there he took time to underline America's flaws:
The nations and leaders that joined together to defeat Hitler's Reich were not perfect. We had made our share of mistakes, and had not always agreed with one another on every issue. But whatever God we prayed to, whatever our differences, we knew that the evil we faced had to be stopped. Citizens of all faiths and no faith came to believe that we could not remain as bystanders to the savage perpetration of death and destruction. And so we joined and sent our sons to fight and often die so that men and women they never met might know what it is to be free.
(I should add that Obama's appearance at Normandy only came after pressure by Sarkozy and ended up as a snub for the British.) If anything, I get the feeling that he views D-Day as a special case where the situation was so clear cut that for once the US actually did the right thing. It may have been our finest hour, but only because he seems to think that there has been no other time where America's position in the world had a positive impact. I feel like that goes a long way towards explaining his willingness to ignore the anniversary this year. As important as D-Day may have been, why would he celebrate it if he feels that it's the exception rather than the norm across American history?
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