Earlier today, the president's entourage drove right past the VA medical center in Phoenix that found itself at the center of last year's firestorm
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President Barack Obama angered veterans by not visiting the troubled Phoenix Veterans Affairs hospital at the center of a nationwide wait time scandal while in town for a speech. Obama's motorcade drove right past the facility on the way to the high school where he delivered his speech on the housing recovery Thursday morning. A small group of veterans were among an eclectic collection of Obama protesters and supporters across from Central High School. Vietnam-era veteran Jesus Miramon was wearing his old U.S. Army dress uniform and holding a sign saying "do not hate vets today." Miramon says the president missed a chance to show veterans he cares by stopping at the VA hospital. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says Obama is committed to fulfilling the nation's promises to veterans.
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Oh yes, Obama is passionately committed to fulfilling all those promises to veterans, as evidenced by his attentive leadership on the matter throughout his presidency. He says one thing on the campaign trail, he does another. In the meantime, his administration and the bureaucracy applied pressure on the VA's Inspector General to water down his findings on the impact of delayed care. The IG complied, then backtracked amid furious criticism. In spite of sunlight finally exposing its insidious dysfunction, the system is still broken, and will be very difficult -- if not impossible -- to fix. By the way, Obama did have time to make an unannounced stop in Phoenix. He swung by a housing development for a photo-op and a few remarks. That detour, unlike the VA facility, allowed him to stay on message. Gotta keep that dubious public opinion "comeback," or whatever, on track. I recognize that presidents can't be all things to all people, and that schedule constraints are real. This president seems to have a special talent for uniquely galling optics as it pertains to "no" RSVP's. His indefensible
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The president's limo drives past the Phoenix VA as veterans watch. He did not stop or mention the VA today. @12News pic.twitter.com/A1WNVOiPs9
— William Pitts (@william_pitts) January 8, 2015For an optics-obsessed presidency, Obama's lapses on that front are at times truly astounding.
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