Obama's 'I Have a Bracelet Too'--A Bracelet the Family Asked Him to Stop Wearing

In the first debate, McCain made reference to a bracelet he wears, given to him by the mother of fallen soldier. In a clearly rehearsed retort, Obama said, "I have a bracelet, too," and the went on to tell the story of a mother who gave him the bracelet so other mothers wouldn't have to go through what she went through.

At first this story made news because (A) the "I have a bracelet, too" soundbite came off as childish and (B) Obama forgot the name of the soldier--Ryan Jopek--who died and had to look at the bracelet as a reminder. Obama's comment is at the end of the following clip:

It is certainly true that if you are going to practice a zinger for a presidential debate, you should commit it to memory. If Reagan had said, "There you, um, uh, there...*looks down at cue card*...you go again," it would never have been remembered as a historic moment. But on the other hand, it wasn't such a flub that it seemed it would affect Obama much, if at all. Certainly conservative blogs were pushing it, but for the most part everyone else had already moved on.

Things changed with the release of this NewsBuster story. Jopek's father has come forward to say that they've asked Obama not to wear the bracelet anymore but he has ignored their request.

Brian Jopek: Because of some of the negative feedback she's gotten on the Internet, you know Internet blogs, you know people accusing her of... or accusing Obama of trying to get votes doing it... and that sort of thing.

Radio Host Moberg: Yeah

Jopek: She has turned down any subsequent interviews with the media because she just didn't want it to get turned into something that it wasn't. She had told me in an email that she had asked, actually asked Mr. Obama to not wear the bracelet any more at any of his public appearances. Which I don't think he's...

Moberg: It has been a while since he's brought it up.

Jopek: Right. But, the other night I was watching the news and he was on, uh, speaking somewhere and he was still wearing it on his right wrist. I could see it on his right wrist. So, that's his own choice. I mean that's something Barack Obama, that's a choice that he continues to wear it despite Tracy asking him not to... Because she is a Barack Obama supporter and she didn't want to do anything to sabotage his campaign, so, if he's still wearing the bracelet then, uh, that of course is entirely up to him.

Moberg: Maybe there's a difference between wearing it and making a point to bring it up in your speeches?

Disgraceful. The mother of a fallen U.S. soldier has made a request to not make huge issue out of her son's death and Obama uses her son's name as part of a political maneuver on national television? And he forgets her son's name while doing it? Newsbuster notes:

Even the snow job that the radio host tried to pull off to cover for Barack's refusing the wishes of the family of the KIA soldier who's bracelet he wears doesn't pass the smell test. After all, now that Obama has made it a big point in the debates, I guess the silent observance of Sgt. Jopek is no longer so silent and Obama is back to exploiting the death of a soldier even when he was asked NOT to do so by that soldier's parents.

To pile insult onto injury here, the Mother doesn't even want to force the issue of telling Obama to stop exploiting her son because she wants to see him win the election. Obama is not only taking advantage of this brave soldier's death, he is taking advantage of the good wishes of the man's Mother who doesn't want to hurt the campaign.

and

And, why is the media not playing this story? The radio show on which this interview is heard happened all the way back in March. How is it the media missed this? Is it because they are also don't want to hurt Obama's campaign?

I can only say that if the parents of the soldier whose bracelet John McCain is wearing had said in public that they want him to stop wearing their son's bracelet the news would have been coast to coast, and wall to wall, not just ignored in Madison, Wisconsin.

Indeed. If you have any doubt about just how biased the mainstream media is against McCain, look no further than this story. Why isn't FoxNews, at least, carrying it?

I hope that even if ignored by national media the story has some impact in Wisconsin, where the Jopek's reside. Polling shows Wisconsin close. If Obama loses the state because of negative local press over this sleazy tactic, it would be a small bit of justice in politics--a rare thing indeed.

(More commentary on this from Gateway Pundit and Wizbangblog.)