(updated)
Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit is outraged again:
A NEW LOW -- Obama's Salute to Marines -- Most Degrading Salute Ever to Men in UniformAll right, show me. What was so terrible?
There's video, posted by the White House on Instagram:
And, of course, Fox Nation is piling on:
Disrespectful? The most degrading salute ever?
Is this not even in the running for the latter title?
Did Hoft or Fox Nation ever complain about that? Funny, I have no such recollection.
****
And for the hundredth time, let's recall what Garry Wills told us in 2007:
We are reminded ... of the expanded commander in chief status every time a modern president gets off the White House helicopter and returns the salute of marines.Also recall what David Alexander of Reuters wrote in 2008:
That is an innovation that was begun by Ronald Reagan. Dwight Eisenhower, a real general, knew that the salute is for the uniform, and as president he was not wearing one. An exchange of salutes was out of order.
Reagan's decision raised eyebrows at the time....So Reagan just made up a bit of faux-military protocol, and now it simply has to be done, especially by a Democratic president, and woe betide the president if it's not done to the exacting standards of right-wing bloggers.
John Kline, then Reagan's military aide and now a Minnesota congressman, advised him that it went against military protocol for presidents to return salutes.
Kline said in a 2004 op-ed piece in The Hill that Reagan ultimately took up the issue with Gen. Robert Barrow, then commandant of the Marine Corps.
Barrow told Reagan that as commander in chief of the armed forces, he was entitled to offer a salute -- or any sign of respect he wished -- to anyone he wished, Kline wrote....
****
ALSO: Here's my 2012 post on Obama's treasonous cellphone salute, and my 2013 post on Obama's treasonous failure to salute.
****
UPDATE: From ABC's Note:
Some are calling it the "latte salute." ...At least the Note (which hasn't been written by Mark Halperin for many years, by the way) informs us that this tradition goes back only as far as Reagan. But we're also told Obama drinks tea, not coffee. (Commie!)
The unusual gesture appeared in an Instagram video posted by the White House on social media....
The video drew ridicule from some Instagram users, who saw the unorthodox salute as "un-presidential."
"Hopefully it was just a slip by this President," one user posted.
Others saw unnecessary nitpicking in the criticism.
"People are dying from disease, abuse or even hunger," another user commented on the video. "Priorities." ...
****
AND: Via Twitchy, I learn the precise reason why comparing the Obama and Bush salures is apples and oranges:
Salute photo proves continued #BushDerangementSyndrome
One is adorable.
One is disrespectful, rude and dismissive. pic.twitter.com/hUxQ2eeCIW
— ★♥ Harriet Baldwin (@HarrietBaldwin) September 23, 2014Got it? Obama's salute was not adorable. Therefore: treason!
****
PLUS: It was called a "latte" (even though the president drinks tea) because that's what the National Republican Congressional Committee decided to call it ("Watch Obama Salute This Marine With a Latte In His Hand"). Because lattes are just so, y'know, metrosexual.
I bet Obama has never even thanked Jim Hoft for his service.
ReplyDeleteI loves me some Obama, but speaking as a retired USAF E7, if you're going to salute, don't have a freaking coffee cup in your hand. The Prez should just have nodded and carried on; that's all that should be required. Ike was, of course, right: Civilians don't salute.
ReplyDeleteJim Hoft proves once again that he is the undisputed Stupidest Man on the Internet.
ReplyDeleteOMFG OMFG what color of suit was he wearing was it the right color did he have a flag pin in his lapel gotta have that flag pin haha maybe he shoulda had a putter cause he plays golf so inept and disrepectful blah blah yammer yammer foofaraw.
ReplyDeleteI suppose at least it takes time away from "ISIS IS COMING TO KILL US ALL".
On the plus side, he wasn't wearing "mom-jeans" or a tan suit.
ReplyDeleteThe niece of a Balloon Juice commenter complained that he was wearing sun glasses as he came down the stairs. Apparently wearing sun glasses is also disrespectful or wrong. Of course, if he's walking into bright sunlight he needs the shades. Besides exposing oneself to too much sunlight may eventually cause you vision problems in old(er) age. As someone who is very photosensitive, I'd prefer the President to wear the sunglasses all day if he wants.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, he doesn't depend on the Wiki for what he writes.
ReplyDeleteHe might be better off if he did so:
But the point of this post: today the DMOTI tweeted this, demonstrating once again that boorish self-absorbed right wing hypocrisy for which he’s infamous — a lovely selfie that he took with a friend at a real funeral, in a church, wearing a polo shirt and a big un-self-conscious grin.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/43794_Jim_Hoft_Dumbest_Man_on_the_Internet_Also_Most_Hypocritical#lqlhK40Fs1y37rWt.99
He makes you look like a brainiac by comparison, Ivan.
But you do exceed him in the boorish and hypocritical categories, so you still have something to offer here's:
THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON CONSERVATISM.
ANY QUESTIONS?
I've deleted the comments of a banned commenter, as well as comments addressed to that banned commenter.I trust that I don't have to explain why I did this.
ReplyDeleteDid I miss something? Damn. I really shouldn't work.
ReplyDelete