The Commander in Chief Spoke Volumes Today
[guest post by Dana]
The Commander in Chief disembarked from a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter in New York today and couldn’t be bothered to hand off his coffee cup to offer a proper salute.
The salute is “the most important of all military courtesies,” says a manual for Marine Corps officer candidates.
“In some situations, the salute is not appropriate,” says the manual. “In general, do not salute when… carrying articles with both hands or being otherwise so occupied as to make saluting impractical,” says the manual, titled “Customs and Courtesies.”
Either in ignorance or with similar disrespect for our military, White House aides posted a video of the salute.
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (4dbf62) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:02 pmYep, that’s the photo I saw earlier. This guy’s despicable.
Hoagie (4dfb34) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:07 pmnobody actually takes him seriously as commander-in-chief anyway except colin powell and he’s a whore
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:12 pmI encourage readers to watch the video at the link. It more fully captures the seeming disengagement of the president and his disregard for the Marines before him. They’re nobodies.
Dana (4dbf62) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:14 pmForget the salute — is that a non-biodegradable, non-recyclable coffee cup the President is holding! Hyperventilating! Hyperventilating!
JVW (638245) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:15 pmSaw my neighbor outside, Air Force enlisted lifer, and told him “I’d salute you but I don’t have a styrofoam cup”. He just smiled bitterly. TFG!
nk (dbc370) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:17 pmThis is the asshole who is plotting war strategy. 53% of the American voters are pure idiots.
Jim (145e10) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:17 pmHis assignment of the military to ebola regions is another attempt to kill American Soldiers. They come home and spread this disease through the rest of the troops. He should be tried for treason. His rules of engagement were not enough to suit him.
Jim (145e10) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:20 pmEven if you aren’t a Sports Fan this is Very Interesting! Is this the NBA or the NFL?
36 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71, I repeat 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug related charges
8 have been arrested! for shoplifting
21 currently are defendants in lawsuits,
and
84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year !
Can you guess which organization this is?
Is it the NBA Or NFL?
Give up yet?
Neither,
it’s the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group of Idiots that crank out
hundreds of new laws each year, designed to keep the rest of us in line. Laws from which they generally exempt themselves.
And that’s a photo of the dipshit who’s their leader.
Hoagie (4dfb34) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:23 pmhttp://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/09/americas-new-war-president-111235.html?hp=t1_3#.VCI3_fldVmh
narciso (ee1f88) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:27 pmIt’s an honest mistake for a community organizer.
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:35 pmUm…is that a Marine “Corpse” helicopter, Mr. President?
Roger B (4e8f79) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:41 pmAn unpolished turd.
gary Gulrud (46ca75) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:45 pmObama has the military vote locked up, literally because they won’t send out the absentee ballots on time again this year for deployed soldiers from blue states, again this year.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:48 pmWhite House aides posted a video of the salute.
Wow.
So, in effect, the image has been given an official stamp of approval by no less than the staffers of the current administration? So they’re chortling about it, haughty about it, disdainful about it? And by “disdainful,” I mean they’re attempting to mock those people throughout the US who they assume will be offended by what the photo depicts?
I knew the left was contemptible and irresponsible, but now we’re entering a Venezuela-Argentina level of arrogance.
Mark (c160ec) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:56 pmJim #7: keep in mind that lots and lots of people sat home because there was no difference between Romney and Obama. In fact, some people posting here said that.
We get the government we deserve.
Hopefully, folks will be wiser in 2014 and 2016. We shall see who “doesn’t see a difference” again.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 9/23/2014 @ 8:58 pmwhat’s say we run obamacare up the flagpole and see if Romney salutes it
happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/23/2014 @ 9:02 pmWhat do you expect from someone who never served? Contempt for the military? Right back at cha!
navyvet (ec562e) — 9/23/2014 @ 9:24 pmA lot more people than you sat out the election, giving us this person. I don’t particularly want to chat with you, nor do I wish you ill. But you do need to keep in mind that more people than you gave us this President.
I wasn’t speaking to you. And I don’t wish to.
Please don’t respond to me, nor will I to you beyond this.
I don’t know how many times I have to say this before you get it.
Unless this is your blog.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 9/23/2014 @ 9:25 pmThat would be to #16, navyvet. Never to you, whether or not we agree or disagree.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 9/23/2014 @ 9:26 pmI’ve read that it’s policy that civilians don’t salute military. So to me it’s not so much that he didn’t return the salute; apparently that’s not the protocol. It’s that he doesn’t care enough to pay attention to the protocol. These military folks who protect him don’t mean enough for him to learn proper protocol and follow it.
Basically he responded to their salute as most people would if a couple of marines saluted him — a sort of confused return semi-salute thing. Most people would do it that way because they’d be surprised that a marine was saluting them and wouldn’t know what to do. Of course if one were elected president and was thus Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces you’d think he might learn how that works. He just thinks he’s such a super-genius that he automatically knows everything, and/or whatever he happens to do at any given time is automatically right by virtue of him doing it. He has no respect for others, especially not for the military.
Eidolon (a079a8) — 9/23/2014 @ 9:33 pmWell, he won, didn’t he? Elections have consequences.
I guess the thing I don’t get recently is that he was pretty careful about optics in the past. Not so much now. I rather think he is just a figurehead of the DNC. Maybe the sharp advisors are all gone now. Kind of seems that way.
But I think you are correct: he just didn’t think about the salute.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 9/23/2014 @ 9:38 pmMore disrespect from a clueless and rudderless leader. And only the clueless still support this fool.
Dirty Old Man (8b7dae) — 9/23/2014 @ 9:40 pm15. Well, you can dream.
Obvious to anyone, however, is the GOP has lost considerable ground since Nov. 2012. You can be bitter all you care to, the Dhimmis take care of their base whereas you folks kick sand in their faces.
Good bet you’ve lost another percent or two from your best possible showing.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 9/23/2014 @ 9:51 pmThis is merely a variation of the time when he purposefully, intently, willfully bowed before the King of Saudi Arabia and the Emperor of Japan. He was clearly sending a message in those instances — ie, the Third-World-ish, Sharia-embracing Middle East and the land of Nagasaki and Hiroshima should dish out some comeuppance to the mean, greedy, imperialistic US — and he apparently is doing the same thing today.
The clue to that is the White House not only isn’t trying to downplay or conceal the spectacle, it’s happy to help make it go viral, based on Obama’s flunkies posting the photo of the “salute” to the onlooking world.
Mark (c160ec) — 9/23/2014 @ 10:08 pmAfter Lerner put the boot on the Tea Party, really that narrative went out the window, add the election fraud in Ahia, and other places,
narciso (ee1f88) — 9/23/2014 @ 10:11 pmOT: An sequence of temblors SSE of Iceland has broken out tonight.
Something has to blow soon.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 9/23/2014 @ 10:35 pmWe start a new war, and you’re talking about a coffee cup. Genius.
Bruce Kaplan (4602a6) — 9/23/2014 @ 10:46 pmWe start a new war, and you’re talking about a coffee cup. Genius.
Yeah, because the guy who is supposed to be managing this new war can’t see straight to return the salute from the sort of guys he is going to be sending into this new war without first transferring his cardboard cup of tea to his other hand. In other words, our Commander in Chief is completely ignorant of military protocol, and he just doesn’t care.
JVW (638245) — 9/23/2014 @ 11:37 pmKaplan, I didn’t start a new war. The clown that disrespects his office everytime he enters it started a new war. By failing to negotiate a status of forces agreement with Iraq, by ineptly pushing Libya into a chaotic mess and by smuggling weapons to ISIS in Syria through Libya.
And allowed a new European war to begin because of his feckless incompetence.
SPQR (c4e119) — 9/23/2014 @ 11:42 pmI’ve always thought that Presidents saluting their Marine guard was
pretentious no matter which one did it first.
I suppose since the Pres is CIC that he could be said to be “in uniform”
regardless of what he’s wearing but the fact is that a salute is
regarded as a sign of respect between members of the military. (The Marines
salute the Pres as he is at the top of their chain of command.)
All require saluting while in uniform, some don’t require saluting
uncovered (hat off), or while performing certain tasks.
All do not require (and frown on) saluting while in civilian clothes.
Presidents are saluted, they do not salute in return. (only a relatively
jakee308 (d409c2) — 9/24/2014 @ 12:06 amrecent act. Perhaps one of the Bushs started it as they were members of
the military at one time? Someone who’s never been shouldn’t do so.)
did we start a new war for reals?
i’m not super-convinced
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Too bad the republicans don’t have a viable product to vote for.
mg (31009b) — 9/24/2014 @ 2:12 amDumb people vote for continuing the liberal agenda of the republicans.
No way will I vote with a party who is for amnesty.
Sorry Simon, I have my rules of engagement.
Screw this country, I am now all about friends and family.
and my farms.
mg (31009b) — 9/24/2014 @ 2:13 amWell, that was rude. What kind of tea do you think he drinks? Probably pretty good stuff, like Japanese Sencha or something.
carlitos (ef9e58) — 9/24/2014 @ 3:47 amAll do not require (and frown on) saluting while in civilian clothes.
True. And if you’re saluted while in civvies, the return salute is “an appropriate greeting or nod of the head” (Navy instruction which I presume includes Marines). Not a half-salute with a coffee cup?
Presidents are saluted, they do not salute in return. (only a relatively
recent act. Perhaps one of the Bushs started it as they were members of
the military at one time?
I’m pretty sure I remember Reagan doing it. Clinton and Obama are the only Presidents not to have served in the military, anyway. Even FDR was an Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Wilson.
nk (dbc370) — 9/24/2014 @ 5:24 amCame to the comments section to wonder when sammy will show up to set us straight but we seem to have a new troll who really knows how to sock.
Despicable behavior shown by Obamessiah.
kinlaw (cf463c) — 9/24/2014 @ 5:46 amSloppy and unprofessional most likely due to a casual arrival with no press. Obama knows how to put on a good show when the cameras are rolling. The real question is why did the WH release the video and stills of such obviously casual and unprofessional conduct? Makes one think they wanted to…
crazy (cde091) — 9/24/2014 @ 6:25 amSelf-awareness for our moby guests:
http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/09/psych-study-trolling-correlated-positively-with-sadism-psychopathy-and-machiavellianism/
Oh, perry and gil too.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 9/24/2014 @ 6:34 amHere’s the problem – they have no-one to tell them that this is disrespectful of the military, because they have no military people inside the bubble. Seriously. They think it’s just a funny video, and some people will no doubt agree with them.
There is a serious disconnect going on here, and it is almost certainly deliberate.
OmegaPaladin (f4a293) — 9/24/2014 @ 7:33 amNo one has to tell Obama his behavior was disrespectful, he knows it, you know it, and so do the White House aides who posted the video. And, that’s the reason they posted it: to reassure the anti-war left Obama continues to share their vainglorious contempt for the military.
ropelight (5bdf6a) — 9/24/2014 @ 8:11 amI agree that Obama’s coffee-cup salute was disrespectful, but I was hammered yesterday by lefties pointing that Bush 43 made similar salutes holding his dog. Here’s one from a lefty blog in 2012, defending Obama (tu quoque style) from criticism for saluting with his cell phone:
http://thelibertytree.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/perhaps-conservatives-should-worry.jpg
Mitch (341ca0) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:15 amAwesome photo of Bush Jr. saluting with a dog. At least his right hand was sorta free.
http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2014/09/24/Obama-s-latte-salute-vs-Bush-s-dog-salute
carlitos (ef9e58) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:18 amI agree with Jackee that a president in civvies saluting Marine guards is pretentious. It looks forced, is often done incorrectly, and is unnecessary no mater which president “started” it.
elissa (354b3c) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:27 amI’m going with ignorance and disrespect. Liberally seasoned with arrogance. But I’m sure he’s a better war strategist than his war strategists.
Mike S. (f5d617) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:36 amhe just fired 500 officers, (will they be reinstated) he’s covered up the deaths of hundreds of veterans in VA clinics, due to negligence, one of his campaign promises,
narciso (ee1f88) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:40 amEidolon (a079a8) — 9/23/2014 @ 9:33 pm
It’s more like, since Reagan did it, he would look bad if he ignored it.
Not exactly. He doesn’t think he knows everything automatically, but what he does think is, that if you want to learn something, you don’t have to listen carefully, or investigate.A few words is all that is necessary.
So apparently military protocol considers returning a salute this way worse than not
returning a salute at all.
Is that what they think in Peoria, too?
He has no respect for others, especially not for the military.
Sammy Finkelman (6d2ca9) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:50 amHe has no respect for others, especially not for the military.
Not correct. He doesn’t conceive of these things as showing respect.
It’s all in imitation or emulation of Reagan and succeeding presidents, and it is avoiding disregarding them.
He did it, that’s what counts in his mind. A salute is a salute.
Sammy Finkelman (6d2ca9) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:54 amthese are some of our ‘moderate allies’
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/09/24/us-backed-syrian-group-harakat-al-hazm-condemns-us-strikes-on-isis-as-attack-on-the-revolution/
narciso (ee1f88) — 9/24/2014 @ 10:03 amtypically he doesn’t address the question
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/24/obama-to-address-un-as-britain-considers-launching-own-airstrikes/?intcmp=trending
narciso (ee1f88) — 9/24/2014 @ 10:16 amA close look at the photo shows the president holding a coat in the crook of his left arm. How difficult would it have been to shift his cup to the otherwise available left hand and return the salute properly? Or, just omit the salute entirely (arguably both his hands were “full”). It’s not as though the Marines caught him by surprise. They’re always present to render honors as he boards or exits the helo, regardless of weather conditions, as they have done for the past six years.
Final analysis: Mr. Obama’s action was either thoughtless or a deliberate, disrespectful response by the Commander-in-Chief to his subordinates — men infinitely better than he.
navyvet (ec562e) — 9/24/2014 @ 10:58 amA race to the bottom, and not just in Cali:
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/09/24/California-Voters-Abandon-Both-Major-Parties-GOP-Hardest-Hit
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 9/24/2014 @ 11:49 amObama; the first President to TROLL the country.
jakee308 (d409c2) — 9/24/2014 @ 12:38 pm54. How apt.
Markets close with yen over 109 to the $, euro down under $1.28. Deflation is on the march.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 9/24/2014 @ 2:07 pmIf one has to carry something, and it does not require both hands (such as a briefcase, or small dog), that something is always carried in the left hand/arm so that the right hand/arm are available for saluting superior ranks, or returning the salute (if an officer) from junior ranks.
askeptic (efcf22) — 9/24/2014 @ 3:04 pmObama should just keep his hands stuffed into his trouser pockets.
52- At least he didn’t give them the finger, as he does to so many in Congress.
askeptic (efcf22) — 9/24/2014 @ 3:05 pmThe Bush photo is a frame grab as he moved Barnie (?) from both hands to his left hand.
I acquired (and have not lost) the habit of wearing my wrist watch on my right wrist for just this reason.
htom (412a17) — 9/24/2014 @ 6:06 pmjust more great worK
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/obama-praises-muslim-cleric-who-backed-fatwa-on-killing-of-u-s-soldiers/
narciso (ee1f88) — 9/24/2014 @ 6:06 pm59. And we daily have regulars supposing he somehow, someway means well toward someone not possessed.
I have no part with them.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 9/24/2014 @ 6:11 pmApparently Tiger Beat’s fanbois are just as clueless as the SCOAMF.
General Ditherington Redlines BombyPants McPeacePrize has discovered you can’t “end” wars by abandoning the battlefield and leaving it, and your allies, to the tender mercies of your enemies.
Maybe someday it will dawn on this Kaplan joker that we’re not talking about a new war. And we didn’t start it.
Oh, and nobody is talking about a coffee cup. But I suppose that eludes this baby duck, too.
Steve57 (da091a) — 9/24/2014 @ 6:44 pmThat would be a nice change from Prom Queen trying to stuff his hands into my pockets, looking for my wallet.
Steve57 (da091a) — 9/24/2014 @ 6:46 pmThe images of George Bush holding his dog to keep it from being so frightened by noisy aircraft engines it might run away while simultaneously trying to salute his honor guard, albeit awkwardly, but making the best effort he could manage at the moment, would have been understood by the Marines as a show of respect.
Obama exiting the aircraft with his left hand empty and with a coffee cup in his right as he made a token half-assed effort to salute would have been seen and known for what it was: either contempt or disrespect, or both.
Kipling made the same point:
ropelight (5bdf6a) — 9/24/2014 @ 8:10 pmWell, at least this time he wasn’t requiring a Marine to hold an umbrella for him. I think that was still more demeaning than such an inept salute.
Preezy 404 would have come off a lot better by either A) not returning the salute (as others have pointed out, he isn’t required to do so) or perhaps B) recognizing the men by rank and simply addressing them “good morning SGT./CPL”. Yah, I know- that would require more study and less narcissism on Preezy’s part.
Bill H (f9e4cd) — 9/24/2014 @ 8:19 pmIn a mirror universe, Doonesbury would have run with that for a week.
Kevin M (b357ee) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:08 pmwe are in the mirror universe,
narciso (ee1f88) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:09 pmneed proof:
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-obama-united-nations-address-20140924-story.html
narciso (ee1f88) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:16 pmBill H (f9e4cd) — 9/24/2014 @ 8:19 pm
Easy Route: Thank You, Marine(s)! … counting all those stripes is so hard….
askeptic (efcf22) — 9/24/2014 @ 9:27 pmHe did it, that’s what counts in his mind. A salute is a salute
Sammy, I realize you do get (as you mentioned previously) robo-calls from leftwing politicians/activists in New York, which presumably indicates your voting patterns and affiliations. But when you need to rationalize away the purposeful, sly gameplaying of a staunch leftist like Obama, you’re becoming way too transparent.
So, yea, uh-huh, Obama doesn’t have the least bit of awareness of the meaning of his half-heartedly saluting a military enlistee, just as he didn’t have the least bit of awareness of the meaning of his bowing like a lowly house servant when he greeted the King of Saudi Arabia and the Emperor of Japan a few years ago.
Mark (c160ec) — 9/24/2014 @ 11:12 pmHeh- really. Dad is a retired Jarhead, so noticing comes pretty easy here. Your suggestion works just as well.
Bill H (f9e4cd) — 9/25/2014 @ 12:32 amHe really, really is a maroon.
Mark Crawford (2ddc20) — 9/25/2014 @ 8:26 amYou have to remember that he’s so “ronery” up there all the time.
Mark Crawford (2ddc20) — 9/25/2014 @ 8:29 amI’m tempting a Sammalanche,
http://online.wsj.com/articles/deal-with-saudis-paved-way-for-syrian-airstrikes-1411605329?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj
narciso (ee1f88) — 9/25/2014 @ 8:38 amthis suggest the end game is really Assad:
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/09/25/saudi-prince-sure-we-could-send-ground-troops-into-syria/
narciso (ee1f88) — 9/25/2014 @ 8:41 am73. So Bandar smites us from his fly-ridden borehole.
Winning.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 9/25/2014 @ 9:33 am74. Time to tip over our Queen.
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