It is being called “Semper Latte” and, if this is the biggest scandal that President Barack Obama has to worry about, his Administration is safe. Various people are denouncing the President for saluting his Marine guard while holding a cup of tea or coffee. From CNN to the Daily Mail to ABC to the New York Daily News to the Washington Post to the New York Post to NBC to CBS to countless others, the salute is generating heated comments across the country. YouTube clips show the salute over and over along with multiple postings expressing outrage. My reaction is a bit different. The President has launched another declared war that his aides say could last “years.” However, there seem more debate over this tempest in a tea [cup] than the fact that we are bombing another nation.
The President did not put his styrofoam cup in his other hand while stepping out of Marine One — a breach of military regulations and decorum. He appears to have forgotten the salute as he multitasked with his cup while buttoning his jacket.
What truly amazes me is that the White House released the photo. No one saw the problem and actually viewed the picture as worthy of sending out on the web.
However, it is the relative attention given the issue that is mystifying. Many irate people over the salute are less aggrieved by the war just commenced on the sole authority of this President. Just as there is an appropriate way to salute a Marine, there is an appropriate way to send a Marine to war. The Constitution is quite clear about starting wars and there is far more at stake. We should be at least as aggrieved when our Constitution is being disrespected or ignored as we are the Marine guard this week. Just a thought.
The doggy salute looks does look incredibly disrespectful.
annie – tmz could not have found a worse shot of Bush. There are better ones out there. And the Marines are right. Obama does not have to do anything, neither did Bush. However, Bush served. Obama hid.
The President’s salute is not indicative of anything other than to those with small lives and even smaller minds. This entire conversation is demeaning and absurd.
Please retrieve comment at 1:55 pm.
Nick Spinelli,
“Have to return a salute” is saying it too strongly, but a superior officer is supposed to return a salute. Custom matters in the military and returning a rendered salute is a deeply ingrained custom. In fact, an officer’s 1st salute as a new lieutenant is the capstone of his commissioning ceremony. The salute ceremony carries a symbolic value that’s bigger than any man, including the President of the United States.
It can become a hassle, though.
Some officers become adept at pretending not to see salutes when crossing a gaggle of lower enlisted so they don’t have to machine gun fingertip to brow and greeting. A considerate soldier will call the gaggle to attention, render 1 salute and greeting for the group, and allow the officer to go on his way.
Love the photo of Bush and the Doggy Salute being presented here! Especially the large version. Does it convey an attitude of carelessness, inattention, disrespect or neglect? Not to my eyes. In fact, it makes me smile. Were I to have been the recipient of such a returned salute with eye contact from the Commander in Cheif, I imagine I might have felt a smile then too.
Nor should they do a doggy salute like Bush.
Dredd, LOL. I am a poor disciplinarian actually, I could never ever spank my kids.
Jack @ 2:26pm,
Exactly correct. I was once out about town with my oldest son, who was an active duty Coast Guard officer at the time. We stopped at a service station and he got out while I filled up the car. Son was wearing dress whites (and cover). There was an Army National Guard Colonel at the next pump. My son gave him a cheery, “Good morning, Colonel,” greeting. The Colonel scowled as his face turned red, but he nodded in return.
When we got back in the car, son said, “Heh. That Colonel wanted to jump up all in my $hit for not saluting, but he was uncovered.”
Good cop Annie, bad cop Nick.
Yin, Yang thingy.
I think our veterans should be given every bit of help they can get. They shouldn’t be denied medical marijauna because their PTSD is very very real and suicide rates are at their highest ever among Veterans. Some people threaten suicide over very petty things. These guys have REAL symptoms and conditions.
Eric,
Contrary to popular belief, Congress and state legislatures can pass “illegal” laws – laws that violate the U.S. Constitution.
The judicial branch of government (U.S. Supreme Court or highest inferior court) has a duty to provide “judicial review” – overturning those illegal laws.
The problem predating 9/11 is that the Judicial Branch has been derelict in providing judicial review -or- using past unconstitutional legal precedents that should have been overturned decades ago. Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers essentially said about the role of judges as “Guardians of the Constitution” that constitutionality always trumps legal precedence”.
Using a “compass” metaphor, the Judicial Branch is supposed to right the ship so it heads “constitutional North”. Instead since at least 1968, judges have gradually steered us 180 degrees in the opposite direction never correcting course.
Jack: “You don’t salute when not wearing your cover (hat), and your hat is not worn indoors (except during special occasions).”
Not quite. You normally salute outdoors with or without your cover, but you normally wear your cover outdoors.
If for some reason, though, you’re not wearing your cover outdoors – eg, you’re in your PTs or on the flight line in an aviation unit – you still salute.
I think it’s awful that some people fake their symptoms to get medical marijauna. I think those people must be those “creative types”. Or maybe they are “manic depressives” who need to self medicate.
Andy Griffith was a PTO[Permanent Latrine Orderly] in the flick, No Time For Sgts. In a hilarious scene the lovable rube rigged all the toilets to “salute” when his CO entered the latrine.
Nick – that is a great movie and was a great play. Don Knotts played one of the minor characters at the induction center. They had been in the stage production together.
I hear there are very “creative people” who abuse medical marijauna.
Thanks, Olly. PTBS is how I’ll remember it. I wonder if cannabis helps like it does w/ PTSD? The VA approved its use.
Oops. Let’s try that again:
Thomas Lee Brown: “Salutes are given to the uniform, not the man.”
Partially correct. Salutes are not “given to the uniform”, but neither are they given to the man as such, though one can vary one’s enthusiasm in the salute based on one’s opinion of the man. Salutes are about the social relationship from fraternity, rank, and hierarchy.
Here’s what they teach cadets about saluting at West Point.
http://www.west-point.org/academy/malo-wa/inspirations/buglenotes.html
You don’t salute when not wearing your cover (hat), and your hat is not worn indoors (except during special occasions).
As far as Obama’s salute goes; I’ll give him a pass on this. He was trying to button his coat with one hand and return a salute with the other. — I have performed the same lax salute when carrying equipment.
I’ll be the first people to complain about the salute were not active duty or veterans…but just people looking for something to complain about. -To complain about his salute on this occasion is petty.
PTBS Post-traumatic Bush Syndrome 🙂