Oh BFD on both counts. Both men were civilians. Are civilians even supposed to salute, technically?
According to Task and Purpose:
Writing for former tea-party congressman Allen West’s website, Michele Hickford, the site’s editor-in-chief [ed. note: shouldn’t that be Allen West?] writes:
If there was ever any doubt how this Commander in Chief really feels in his heart about our men and women in uniform, this should seal the deal. We have warriors engaged in harm’s way, and he does THIS? The latte salute. And he has the nerve to publish it on his Instagram account. Disgraceful.
But here’s the issue: There’s no regulation that stipulates presidents must salute the troops. In fact, for the first 192 years of our republic, it didn’t happen. None of the first 38 commanders in chief did it. And some of those dudes had some serious military experience. Eisenhower? Grant? I mean, Teddy Roosevelt was a war hero. Surely he felt compelled to click his heels together and cut a perfect knife-handed salute when he passed a uniform service member, right? Wrong. It was literally something that Ronald Reagan made up one day.
In Rachel Maddow’s 2011 book “Drift,” which offers a fascinating look at how modern presidents commit the military to war, Maddow describes how upon entering the White House in 1981, Reagan began saluting every uniformed service member he saw. One of his military aides, a Marine officer named John Kline, who is now a Republican congressman from Minnesota, worried that Reagan’s new ritual was inappropriate. He voiced his concerns directly with the president. Maddow writes:
Soldiers were supposed to salute their president; the president was not supposed to salute the soldiers. No modern president, not even old General Eisenhower, had saluted military personnel. It might even be, well, sort of, improper. Reagan seemed disappointed at this news. Kline suggested he talk to the commandant of the United States Marine Corps and get his advice, and the commandant’s advice ran something like this: You’re the goddamn president. You can salute whoever you goddamn well please. So Ronald Reagan continued saluting his soldiers, and he encouraged his own vice president and successor, George H.W. Bush, to do the same. And every president since has followed.
And that’s it. Now all the presidents do it because of the theater of the office. And because the media and pundits would take offense if they didn’t. Presidents salute the troops to avoid the very mess Obama just stepped in.
I fault neither President Obama nor President Bush. I expect they had other things on their minds. President Obama was headed to the UN. Typical of some foolks to focus on the trivial when topics such as battling ISIS and climate were both on the agenda. Did he “disrespect” the marine guards? No. They are to salute him, not the other way around. .
I have read that President Obama isn’t a coffee drinker. He prefers tea. Perhaps he was giving the old “Tea Party Salute.” Seriously, don’t some conservatives have better things to do that bitch, whine and belly ache about the “latte salute?” Will it matter next week, much less in a month or a year? I feel confident the answer is no.
Steve Doocey will be foaming at the mouth tomorrow. He’ll be fun to watch.
He froths frequently. What an ass.
A much better salute by Bush – http://edge2.politicususa.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/george-w-bush-salute-155×200.jpg
Must be a slow news day when this is the new topic to disparage Obama. What about ISIL, ISIS, Iraq, the border, taxes, etc.
Yea, you would think those would be the topics of conversation. I guess they didn’t have their talking points down yet so lets go for the obvious.
Climate change might have been a biggie also.
Blame the person on the White House staff who authorized the posting of this pic. Nobody needed to see that.
Reminds me of the time Jerry Ford tripped and nearly fell while descending the steps of Air Force One. He was ever after labelled as clumsy, even though he had been a star athlete at the University of Michigan.
Both sides engage in pettiness.
That was petty also. I don’t know who leaked that pic. It was on the whitehouse.gov website wasn’t it?
I miss Barney. What a beautiful dog he was.
Double good for George Bush for holding him.
The “Forrest Gump” gene has invaded the conservative side!
Obama and Kerry have created a Sunni Muslim coalition against ISIS. Kind of a big deal. Kind of exciting.
So this stupid story makes the rounds to distract attention from what’s real.
I guess it gives those who can’t handle the excitement over the Sunni Muslim Coalition something to talk about. Limited shelf life but …maybe all some people can handle.
@Moon-howler
I’ll talk about a “Sunni coalition.”
Hmmm…. when are the Sunni’s going to stop financing ISIS/ISIL? When are they going to put boots on the ground? They have them. The Turkish military is huge. Air strikes? GREAT! We did 90% of them.
Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries are supporting the terrorists with funds. So, while they send pinpricks against ISIS, their people and organizations are sending millions.
The rest of the world is barely helping.
https://admin.govexec.com/media/gbc/docs/pdfs_edit/isisstrikesfinal1.png
Nobody wants to get involved. And with the people that we have in charge…..I don’t blame them.
So, about this salute…… typical and expected from this guy. No big deal.
Now why would a country want to support ISIS? Unsubstantiated bunk!
@Moon-howler
Um….because they too are Islamist supremacists? Because the people in there country are supporting it? Because they support the idea of a caliphate and aren’t thrilled about either Assad OR a democratic Iraq with a majority SHIA rule.
Saudi Wahabbism, Pakistani fundamentalism, and the Taliban are very similar to ISIS. ISIS is doing nothing that was not done by the Taliban or IS done in Saudi Arabia. Remember, its the Muslims from Pakistan that caused the Rotherham problems and beheaded that Brit soldier.
All of the Islamic terrorist groups are offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood and their ideology.
The reason that ISIS is opposed is that ISIS wants to kill the existing leaders and take over.
A female UAE pilot that bombed ISIL in Syria was just publicly disowned by her family. So…there is evidence of common support for ISIS.
That is a quantum leap. Why do you assume the family supports ISIL?
Coming late, as usual. I could be wrong about this, but I don’t remember presidents saluting the Marine guards until Reagan. At the time (although I was definitely a Reagan man and worked in that administration), I thought it a bit hokey for a civilian to do that, even if the civilian happened to be Commander in Chief. It seemed sort of Hollywoodish to me. Now it has become de rigeur. But, if you are going to do it, do it right.
Stop the Earth, I agree with Scout.
It’s improper for a civilian to salute. Gen. Eisenhower knew this.
http://www.texasgopvote.com/military-salute/it-proper-president-render-military-hand-salute-002816
How the tradition started.
Excerpt
“I was told presidents weren’t supposed to return salutes, so I didn’t, but this made me feel a little uncomfortable. Normally, a person offering a salute waits until it is returned, then brings down his hand. Sometimes, I realized, the soldier, sailor, Marine, or airman giving me a salute wasn’t sure when he was supposed to lower his hand. Initially, I nodded and smiled and said hello and thought maybe that would bring down the hand, but usually it didn’t. Finally, one night when Nancy and I were attending a concert at the Marine Corps Headquarters, I told the Commandant of Marines, “I know it’s customary for the President to receive these salutes, but I was once an officer and realize that you’re not supposed to salute when you’re in civilian clothes. I think there ought to be a regulation that the president could return a salute inasmuch as he is commander in chief and civilian clothes are his uniform.” “Well, if you did return a salute,” the general said, “I don’t think anyone would say anything to you about it.”
“The next time I got a salute, I saluted back. A big grin came over the Marine’s face and down came his hand. From then on, I always returned salutes. When George Bush followed me into the White House, I encouraged him to keep up the tradition.”
So….if the CINC is going to salute…then do it properly. Otherwise…. don’t do it.
I am inclined to agree…do it right or almost right. However, don’t you think it is a petty thing to get all worked up over something like this?
He obviously had a lot of other things on his mind. I actually think Bush 2 should be commended for holding his dog. Scotties are heavy.
@Moon-howler
You know my opinion of Obama.
Notice…I didn’t jump on him. But then, this didn’t surprise me. He salutes because he thinks its expected or because it is NOW custom. He doesn’t salute because he wants to.
So, he needs to either do it right, or go public and say that he’s returning to the traditional custom of NOT saluting because he is a civilian and he is uncomfortable in doing so.
Or we can hang a person because one time they didn’t do to suit everyone. Again, that falls into the world of who cares. Presidents are human beings also.
How do we know that Obama doesn’t “want” to salute, CS, anymore than we know that any other president doesn’t “want” to salute (other than Reagan, who I think was the one who started this)?
Lets move on, folks- nothing to see here…