oh noes: do republicans hate america too?!?

You know the way Teabaggers and assorted pea-brained right-wingers are slamming President Obama for choosing to take part in a Memorial Day event in Chicago and have Vice President Joe Biden lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery?

It’s a sign of disrespect to the military and it’s UNPRECEDENTED, they say!

Oh really?

Memorial Day, 1992: Vice President Dan Quayle, representing George H.W. Bush, laying a wreath before the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

Boston Globe, May 26, 1992: Wrapping up his Memorial Day weekend trip, Bush played a final round of golf in chilly weather before delivering his remarks to the American Legion members in in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Memorial Day, 1983: President Reagan sent Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Thayer to Arlington to represent him.

Memorial Day, 2002: President George W. Bush commemorated Memorial Day at Normandy, not Arlington.

More here

Washington Post: “Ronald Reagan spoke at West Point one year, and went to his California ranch another year. George H.W. Bush, a war veteran, did not go (to Arlington on Memorial Day) at all.”

Ryan Gallucci, spokesman for AMVETS: “We don’t really see the big deal, so long as he’s taking time to honor our fallen war heroes throughout Memorial Day weekend. After all, it’s not groundbreaking for a sitting president to visit other national cemeteries or overseas … cemeteries over the holiday. Arlington is certainly not the only place our fallen heroes are buried, so why not pay your respects to veterans around the country?”

full attention

Students listen to First Lady Michelle Obama during a mentoring luncheon at the Detroit Institute of Art in Detroit, Mich. May 26, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

chicago cubs

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha and mother-in-law Marian Robinson leave for Chicago for the Memorial Day Weekend, Thursday, May 27, 2010.

pioneers

President Barack Obama meets with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia in the Oval Office of the White House May 27, 2010

Sirleaf is the first modern and currently the only elected female head of state in Africa

house hosts

Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Sandy Koufax

Singer/songwriter Regina Spektor

From left: Sen. Arlen Specter, Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Vice President Joe Biden

….with Olympic swimming gold medalist Dara Torres

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at a reception celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month May 27, 2010 in the East Room of the the White House in Washington, DC

community solutions

First Lady Michelle Obama announces the initial phase of philanthropic commitments to match Social Innovation Fund grant, Thursday, May 27, 2010, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington

meet the press

President Barack Obama holds a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, May 27

grand young duke

President Obama with the NCAA Basketball Champions Duke Blue Devils in the Rose Garden of the White House, May 27, 2010

soccer dads

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton with the US soccer team  on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, May 27, 2010

a big obama supporter. very big.

In this Sept. 12, 2009 file photo, Igor Vovkovinskiy, 27, of Rochester, Minn, standing 7-feet and 8-inches tall, shakes hands with President Barack Obama after a health insurance reform rally in Minneapolis. Vovkovinskiy was recognized by Guinness World Records on Monday, May 24, 2010, as the tallest man in the United States.