Practice Makes Perfect??
January 26th, 2010
Carol E. Lee, in an article written for Politico pens:
Never a soldier himself, but suddenly their commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama wanted to learn the job from the ground up.
Including the salute.
Under the guidance of an expert, aides say Obama privately repeated his salute over and over again until he got it down. In a testament to how sensitive the White House is about the commander in chief practicing this basic military gesture, aides would not say who taught Obama how to salute. But every time he uses it, Obama is trying to convey an insider’s respect for the armed forces without saying a word.
This picture appeared along side the article:
Contrast the above with the words of one who has honorably served this country and has a clear understanding of not only the proper salute “technique” but the true meaning behind the gesture:
The salute represents something important, and doing it right is a sign you grasp that importance. It is indeed the “outward manifestation of what we expect” – but in this picture it’s exactly wrong, and saying it’s right doesn’t make it so. If you’re going to use this as the leading example of the tremendous effort and attention to detail the president puts to his task as Commander in Chief, you fail.
Somewhere there may exist a photo of Obama rendering a proper salute. This ain’t close. And that’s a pretty lame start to a story that goes on to detail the many other things Obama has worked so very, very hard on to support the troops. Of course, if you’re just trying to convince the 99% of the population who have no idea what a proper salute looks like that this is a “pretty good” example, then maybe it’s the perfect start that tells us everything we need to know: the rest, assuredly – the part that actually matters – is just this good.
And there’s this:
For the record, a salute is a mutual exchange – it’s initiated by a junior and returned by the senior. (The higher ranking you are, the more salutes you will render.) However, salutes are not required to be rendered or returned when the senior or subordinate are in civilian clothes.
Anyone can perfect the salute, few will ever get it.
Greyhawk nails it.
Further, any time one has to brag about how much time he/she has devoted to learning how to show respect for the troops they command..well let’s just say, some things are best kept to ones self.
As expressed in the following video by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Pete Pace, when you understand, really understand what it means to command there is no need to confirm your hard work nor any room for self gratification: HT:Blackfive
Jim Jones has said some nice words tonight. I’m probably the only guy in the room who truly knows in his heart of hearts, I do not deserve those words.
Written by SuePeople say to me today, how do you do it, the implication being there’s some burden here. This is not a burden. This is a privilege, to serve this country, to do it in their honor and their memory.
Posted in 6 Responses to “Practice Makes Perfect??”
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Good piece, Sue, and humbling words from General Pace, one of our greatest.
I’m sorry but I can’t continue reading this blog and not say anything. One thing and one thing only. It doesn’t matter what President Obama say’s or does you people on here will criticize him if for not saluting to your taste then inhaling or exhaling the way you like. I could say more but I do try to show a little respect no matter who the person might be.
Marge, I understand your frustration, but we are a right leaning blog.
Your husband honorably served this country for over 30 years and I know for a fact he knew how to salute. No one forces a president to return a salute to the troops–it was something Reagan started but did not have to continue.
The point is Obama doesn’t seem to respect our military, which you, Sue and I all love and admire. He wanted wounded vets to use their own health insurance for war injuries until everyone jumped on him and he retreated.
He failed to salute the flag of the nation so many of our men and women have died to defend, while he was a candidate.
He never talks in a patriotic way by telling us as some of the great presidents have, that this is something Americans can overcome, but always talks about what he has done or what he will do. He bows down to foreign dignitaries as though they are gods and tears our country down and spits it out in small pieces while overseas. This is the man who is supposed to be the leader of our country and the cheerleader for trying to get us out of the doldrums.
His lack of using a proper salute is just another example of how careless he is about our military. Fine. He had to be taught, but whomever taught him needs to be taught himself.
He can’t even pronounce “corpsman” as in a medical corpsman, but calls it three times in one speech “Corpse Man” like a dead person. This from a Harvard educated man who should know the basic military lingo before he spouts off his mouth.
He is the one in charge of sending our military into war and, just as with his health care bill, he can’t seem to figure out what the mission is and doesn’t provide any leadership.
I hope that one of these days even your eyes will see past the D behind his name and you will realize the problems we now have are his and his Congress’ doings, and nothing to do with Bush. Bush has been gone a year and didn’t do all the horrendous spending this group of thugs has done.
I do thank you and welcome your comments.
First of all, can we dispense with the name calling? When our men and women were sent into an unjustifiable war it wasn’t President Obama who sent them it was Bush. It really doesn’t matter who did what or when they did it. Plain and simple, you don’t like President Obama and never have from the day he announced his candidacy for President of the USA. True? Wether he can salute or not salute you’ll find something negative to comment about not only him but any D politician. I don’t try to hide behind the big letter “D” I am well aware that this is a right wing leaning blog site. Just thought I’d see what was going on. Same old bashing. All I’ve got to say except when I tell someone (D or R) to read your sight, I always get this response. Why do you read that trash. It has been a long time since I have been here and it will be even longer before I come back and read it again.. Just my feeling and thoughts for what it’s worth. I will not come back to read any response from either you or Sue. It will just keep going back and forth for nothing. Have a good day.
Marge:
I know you have said you will no longer read here but in the event you do come back, I’d like to reply to your comment above.
Please point out the name calling to which you refer. If this is a personal thing then I don’t want to be involved, but as far as the pieces which I personally post on this blog, there is no name calling nor do I partake of such nonsense when it comes to comments.
What is posted here may well be looked upon as trash by some. That is your and their prerogative but to my knowledge no one has ever not allowed for dissenting thoughts at J’s.
There is a double standard in play here which I suppose I am too dumb to understand. It was okay when President Bush was dubbed a war monger, equated to Hitler and both his integrity and presidency were attacked daily (including those who made a film of his fictional assassination). Any inaccuracies reported or made up which were pointed out at the time, were ignored by the press and most on the Left, as their absolute hatred of the man himself ran so deep.
Fast forward to the Obama presidency. Now it is taboo to question the man and his policies? Now it is disrespectful to post his own words which he himself has contradicted many times over? Now it is disrespectful to expect that a POTUS, any POTUS, show that he loves the country he is duly elected to represent and not demean her to those overseas? Now it is disrespectful to hold the Oval Office bearer accountable for his actions?
Maybe we do post “trash” here. Maybe we don’t buy the line the press has rammed down our throat or choose to ignore what the administration and Congress have attempted to do to the future of this country in the form of the deficit and their closed door, dirty deal health care plan. Maybe we don’t believe what CBS, NBC and ABC tell us. Perhaps what we post (in many instances) takes hours of research and statements which can be verified (many coming directly from administration officials) and that may be our mistake. We should simply regurgitate what we are told on the 6 o’clock news.
You know Marge, I read extensively (both left and right sites) and if I comment I would never dream to call what they do “trash.”
I may not agree with their thinking, philosophies or politics but
I respect their right to express their opinions and most of all I understand the time devoted to pass along their thoughts.
This is not meant to be a personal attack on you Marge. It is my hope you will come back and that while we may not agree on issues, we can have civil conversation.
Well said, Sue. We make sure we provide links to facts. Opinions are just that–opinions of the writers on the blog. Anyone is free to agree or disagree with our opinions, but we cannot and should not change facts just to side in with a man who has no respect for any of the citizens of this country.
Marge, do you like seeing your president speak with his nose in the air as though we are beneath him? Do you like the smooth talk he gives, but then has no solutions to the problems? Do you like the fact he told us if we gave him the “emergency” stimulus bill unemployment would not get to 8%? The current unemployment rate (people actually on unemployment) is 9.7% and just came down from 10%+. The real unemployment figure when you count the people who have given up hope of finding a job is over 17% in the country.
Do you think it’s the Republicans’ fault he hasn’t been able to pass his massive and wasteful health care program when he has a House majority any president would envy and had 60 votes in the Senate until last Thursday? How could the Republicans have stopped anything on his agenda? They couldn’t even keep a filibuster going with just 40 senators and still he couldn’t pass that monstrosity of a bill.
Republicans oppose it because they were never consulted; all dealings were done by the leadership in the House, Senate and finally the White House when Obama realized farming it out to the Congress wasn’t working out.
Does it make you proud that your president actually called down the Supreme Court of the United States in his State of the Union address and lied while doing so when he said they were allowing foreign companies to finance campaigns? That was never addressed in that case and it was not changed. This is a separate, co-equal branch of our government set up by our founding fathers and it was the first time anyone has ever slapped them in the face like he did while in a hostile political setting, with Democratic Representatives and Senators standing behind them to applaud the lie he told and talking so they could hear their taunts. And they sat like statues, except for Alito, who mouthed “not true” when he heard what he said and the reaction from the Democrats.
Does it make you proud of your president to be bowing to everyone with a title in the world and talk like we are the Great Satan?
What inspiration or leadership has this man provided to us or to his cronies in Congress? Even his party in congress is complaining of him letting them hang out to dry. You know why? Because he plans to run his next presidential campaign as being against Congress and throw them under the bus just as he threw his grandmother, pastor and others under the bus.
Are you so blinded by party loyalty that you cannot see that he has deceived you and if he had his way he would have made it impossible for you to enjoy the medical benefits you do have now?
Do you think it’s good to require every American to carry health insurance or be fined and/or sent to jail if they don’t comply?
Name one good thing that has come from this administration. I can’t think of anything, but maybe I forgot.
You cannot tax and spend your way out of a recession and when you take the big seat you should act as a grown-up and as a president and take responsibility for your own actions instead of constantly reminding people of what you “inherited” when you voted for most of the spending you inherited while a senator.
Show me the love or affection he has for our beloved military. You can’t because he loves no one but himself. Maybe his daughters and wife but then again he broadcast his older daughter got a bad grade at school and then his wife says his kids are getting obese. How do you think that makes his girls feel?
Do you like your president to be on the golf course uninterrupted while a man tries to blow up a plane in Detroit, but he makes sure the entire entourage jumps up and leaves the golf course because a friend’s son cut his lip on a surf board?
Do you like your president constantly on the golf course while good Americans under his command are dying due to lack of plan and authorization to win? I’m with you on getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan because if we are not committed to winning we are wasting the lives of our soldiers, who deserve more than that. Or have you forgotten what it was like to have sons in the armed forces?
Take the scales off your eyes and see for yourself what’s going on. Stop watching CNN, which is discredited or MSNBC, which is the political arm of the DNC. You don’t have to watch Fox but go to some other sites such as Politico.com and read the comments on that blog. Remember they are in his back pocket too, but look at how many people who identify as Democrats want this man and this congress out of office.