George W. in the Flight Suit

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-whitney050803.asp ^ | 5/8/03 | by Gleaves Whitney

[hapy]

it's driving liberals nuts — the image of President George W. Bush in a flight suit on the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. There he was, slapping officers on the back, posing for pictures, joking with sailors and aviators. You can bet your bottom dollar these images will be used during the 2004 campaign — they'll make Bush harder to beat. But those who are complaining loudest, who are fixated on the political use of the images, are apparently deaf to their historical resonance.

[hapy]

what a beautiful read. The libbys are having canipshuns over this. Ha! I just love it.

AS I STEAL A QUOTE FROM LUCY POSTER

BUSH COMMANDER IN CHIEF vs CLINTON COMMANER IN BRIEF

[Psycho_Bunny]

The hair-pulling, foaming at the mouth, masturbation of spite over this, by the left, has me virtually giddy.

[Seeking the truth]

I proudly placed one of these babies on my van last night. Today, I will drive all over Palm Beach County, a "blue zone". Yeh, in your face, Demonrats!

[Lil'freeper]

Ooooh! I like!

[Cinnamon Girl]

I want one!

[hapy]

They have threads everywhere talking about this.
It is great, they are pissed off

By the way I do not care if Bush went AWOL 30 and/or was missing for a year. Only the liberals care and they aren't going to vote for him anyway.

[Bahbah]

Giddy is right. Over and over, I get to see the president land on the carrier, stride across the deck, shake hands with our troops, and then I get to hear someone like Waxman demonstrate what a petty individual he is and how uncontrollably jealous of the handsome sonofagun in the flight suit, and I just cannot control my glee.

[talleyman]

Great post.

[Bahbah]

Where did you get that?

[hapy]

oh I want one! I will do the same in Boston

[hapy]

I know.. Like I said yesterday he looks good enough to eat!

[Maria S]

Someone sent this to me a few days ago. Can any of you military people confirm or deny the truth of it? My thanks, Maria

"Have you noticed a difference in the salute given by our military men and women as President Bush walks by? Most folks would not notice anything, but military people see it right away. Watch: When President Bush leaves his
helicopter or Air Force One, the honor guards salute and face him as he disembarks, then turn their faces towards him as he passes by. They continue to salute his back as he walks away.

"This kind of salute has not been seen in the previous eight years, though it is customary courtesy to the Commander-in-Chief. You see, soldiers aren't required to turn and face the President as they salute. They are not
required to salute his back. They are only required to salute. They can remain face-forward the entire time. And that is what they did during Bill Clinton's entire Presidency. Our soldiers were forced to obey Clinton's
orders, but they were not forced to respect him. From their salutes, we can surmise that they did not."

[mbynack]

FYI - Democrats are wrapped around the axle because the President was dressed in a flight suit. The fact is - everyone who gets to fly in a fighter aircraft dresses in a flight suit. We used to give incentive rides to people from the chamber of commerce, local news shows, and politicians and every one of them was required to dress in a flight suit. In 22 years in the AF I never saw anyone take an incentive flight that didn't dress in the appropriate attire.

[WaterDragon]

I LOVE it! Where can I get one?

[Egregious Philbin]

By the way I do not care if Bush went AWOL 30 and/or was missing for a year.

You don't? Character counts, but only if you ignore the past?

[mbynack]

This is an urban legend. I copied this from the Snopes Urban Legends site:

The best way to answer this one would be to ask a Marine. So we did:

If the question is "Did the Marines who greeted the President willfully show disrespect by failing to execute a "facing" movement after the salute?" the answer is no. Proper protocol is for the Marine to snap a salute to the President. The President may or may not return the salute at his discretion. If the President returns the salute, the Marine immediately "cuts" or "posts" by bringing his arm sharply down to his side from the salute and remaining at a position of attention. If the President does not return the salute, the Marine will wait until the President passes him, then he will cut and remain at a position of attention. This is the protocol when greeting a senior officer, including the President.

With the new Presidency comes a changing of the Presidential Detail. The new command of the Presidential Detail may have chosen to add a facing movement to the protocol. This is at the complete discretion of the command. A Marine does not have the luxury of choosing whether or not he follows proper protocol. He is given an order and he follows it to the letter. If the order does not include a facing movement, the facing movement will not occur. If the order includes a facing movent, the facing movement occurs. It is that simple. Whether or not this movement becomes a standard part of protocol remains to be seen.

Marines do not act as individuals, we act as a team. Marines follow procedure and protocol. The Marines you saw followed their orders. That is a Marine.

This piece was also refuted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Snappy little story. It has only two problems:

"It's absolutely false," says Staff Sgt. Keith Milks of the public affairs office at Marine Corps headquarters.

If it was true, the Marines would see it as an insult to their own honor, not to Bill Clinton. Milks said crew members of the presidential helicopter "are chosen for their professionalism."

In a phone interview, Milks said crew members of HM-1 - Marine One, the presidential helicopter - had followed the same protocol with Clinton that they used for all presidents, to wit:

The Marine at the bottom of the steps salutes the debarking president. As soon as the salute is returned, the Marine does a right face to face the president's back. The Marine holds that position until the president "has moved a comfortable distance away," Milks said.

Even if one dislikes the man who is currently President, protocol dictates that he be shown the proper respect in order not to dishonor the office of President of the United States. Marines know that as well as anyone.

[Marysecretary]

truthorfiction.com says it's not really true. You can go from there I guess.

[Howlin]

Oh, have you got the file for that we can download????

[Howlin]

Oh I see...........cool! I'll order one!

[WaterDragon]

....it's driving liberals nuts.

That is a slur on nuts! LOL