I waited to see if this discouraging tale ever broke into the national news. It did not.
More than 2,000 musicians from he U.S. and Australia, most of them school-aged children, traveled to Normandy’s Brittany American Cemetery to perform on June 7. Families paid their own way to Europe to watch their children parade and play in an exciting, moving, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The bands had planned this trip a year in advance, and the Brittany event was a prominent feature of the schedule.
President Biden was also in Normandy, however, and Biden’s handlers decided on the fly that the President, who had endured a gaffe-filled D-Day anniversary already, needed one more, final, last-minute photo op that hadn’t been scheduled and couldn’t be screwed up. POTUS’s unscheduled and unnecessary events in election year take precedence over long-scheduled events that a lot of students were looking forward to.
It’s good to be king.
A local reporter on the scene tweeted that the Longview High School Choir, Jacksonville State Marching Band, and St. Augnola Marching Band, among others, “just learned their afternoon performance at the Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach is canceled due to an unannounced visit by President Joe Biden. Security is tight in the area.” The cemetery was then closed to the public.
No big deal, right? After all, what’s disappointing for 2,000 children when a cheap photo op may win Democrats a handful of votes from idiots who are impressed by such things? Those votes might save our democracy. The kids will be all right: they still can see some of France. Get them some snails…
I hated this kind of thing when I worked in Washington, D.C. I was once nearly pushed down a spiral staircase at the Hay Adams hotel by some black-suited, sunglassed security thug who straight-armed me and shouted that I had to “clear” because some Cabinet official was making his way. The parades of limos and motorcades when a President wanted a hamburger during rush hour could shut everyone else’s business or pleasure down to crawl. It is the arrogance of power, the imperial attitude that ordinary people don’t matter, and is one of the myriad reasons populism is on the rise.
I have been furious at myself for decades that I meekly allowed that entourage to treat me like dog-doo on the bottoms of their shoes. I was so shocked that I was paralyzed. Nobody said “sorry” or acknowledged that I had any standing at all. Call me old fashioned, but I don’t believe America’s leaders should treat the public that way, or get away with it when they do.
Do you think the fact that all those children couldn’t perform the songs they had been rehearsing for months registered a tiny spark of concern among the Biden staff? I doubt the President was even aware that he was gratuitously wrecking a big day for a lot of kids, but this is still his staff, and he is responsible for the attitudes they exhibit and the culture they represent. If the White House ever apologized to the schools, bands and children involved, I haven’t seen it. Of course, if the news media ignored the incident, why would it report the apology?
The episode shows the Bidens, or whoever pulls their strings, as insensitive jerks, though their attitude is hardly confined to them. Best not to let that one get out, though: someone might get the wrong idea.
Ethics Alarms 
I ran across this story on PJ Media the day after the event, and wondered if and when the MSM would pick it up. The University of Florida Gator Band was also trapped on a parking lot near Omaha Beach for five hours due to the tight security, and were unable to travel to complete a planned performance.
Good job, Team Biden!
If it had been Trump, though, whether he had known about the kids or not, it would have been headline news for a week.
Kids? I remember some kind of photo-op at a church scheduled near the time that some group was marching there in protest of something or other.
I think it was headline news for a week until something or other revealed the whole story timeline a hoax.
Even Obama got criticism for taking Air Force 1 on a “photo op” buzzing the NYC skyline. Nothing sticks to Teflon Joe.
I can only assume the logical suggestion of having Biden simply attend the concert was nixed because of the concern that he might start sniffing the performers.
…But seriously, is the cemetery obligated to close itself down at any time because the American president decided to visit? Doesn’t the concert have a reservation? Who is compensating all those people for an event that involved significant travel time and may have sold tickets?
The ethical answer of the–(looks it up…)–American Battle Monuments Commission, if they were made aware at all, should have been, “Sorry Mr. President, but these kids have the place booked. We’re not turning them away, and neither are you.”
Bonus points if they followed up with, “This is one promise of America’s that we can stop you from breaking.”
I sincerely doubt that the kids (who probably paid around three grand each if memories from my time in Wyoming Ambassadors of Music and WHSASMB serve me) or their families who joined them out there will get any money back. This is a hazard of signing up for these kinds of things. You work your tail off and if something is cancelled, the organizers do their best to get something else, usually less ideal but at least something. That being said, while I’ve had a park concert rescheduled for a different park, and one minor concert cancelled due to weather, I never lost my main concert like this. I bet that these kids and their families went home in tears and rage.
Having been in a couple of these bands, this story infuriated me beyond all reason. You try out for something like this, fundraiser your tail off because one of these, with major corporate sponsorship (why I will drink Pepsi products until the day I die) will cost a family about 1 grand for the US and 3-5 grand for an overseas trip…20 years ago. My family didn’t have all that money, so when I got selected multiple times through high school, there were bake sales, raffles, and other types of community subsidized begging for funds. I would imagine there are some towns who will vote for Trump over this. Destroying the kid’s once in a lifetime trip (and yes, even if you get selected and can fundraiser for multiple events, each one is unique) is something that affects the whole community.
This was short-sighted of Biden and I guess good for him that the media is covering for him again. This would push me off the fence, were I to be on it.
A friend’s kid was part of this concert. Fortunately this was one out of four scheduled concerts and the other three went as expected, making it sting a little less.
Still completely indefensible, but I hope this makes everyone feel slightly better.
Even if you were correct, which you aren’t, the visit to the Brittany American Cemetery was just one of many parades and cemeteries that were on the students’ itinerary. The JSU band participated in many events during the D-day commemoration in France, and its director said the cancellation actually allowed them to visit Omaha beach, which was a great experience.
JSU band director: Biden’s unplanned D-Day stop didn’t ruin ‘once in a lifetime experience’ for students – al.com
The Longview High School band did in fact perform at Brittany American Cemetery on June 6, along with participating in other events . . . .
Longview Choir performs in D-Day remembrance ceremony at Brittany American Cemetery (kltv.com)
. . . as did the St. Aug Marching 100.
St. Aug ‘Marching 100’ performs in Normandy for 80th D-Day Anniversary | WGNO.com
Are you listening to Tommy Tuberville? God help us.
How do you figure this “isn’t correct”? The reports that we got came from the local news. Here’s the headline from KLTV in Texas: Longview High School Choir shifts plans after last-minute performance cancellation in Normandy Who cancelled the performance? Biden did. Did the kids get to do other things in France? Sure, and so what? Is there any evidence that Biden’s flying monkeys would have handled things any differently if the kids had no other scheduled appearances? No. Even in the item you cited, it says, The Thursday ceremony at Brittany American Cemetery was cancelled when Biden made a stop at the cemetery, as part of D-Day ceremonies.”
So a band director covers for the White House. Big surprise there.
I just re-read my own post. It is entirely consistent with the links you include, minus the spin. The argument is pure #22, “It’s not the worst thing.” NONE of the bands’ itinerary should have been cancelled for a non-essential snap event. I’ve run several performing groups. I would be furious at this, no matter what entitled power-abusing jerk was responsible.
Why would you join in the spin?
It’s good that the organizers had backup plans, and it’s good that most of the events weren’t canceled. Making the best of a bad situation (by spending more time at Omaha beach) doesn’t excuse the people who caused that situation, though.
I’m assuming that the cemetery must have some way of booking events, or else it would be possible for multiple musical groups to show up to perform for different events at the same time, which would just be awkward. To tell people who had an event reserved, “send the kids to the beach early instead; the president just decided he wants to take pictures here,” is something that would happen in an aristocracy, or a monarchy, or a dictatorship.
is something that would happen in an aristocracy, or a monarchy, or a dictatorship.
Exactly, EC.