Posted on 03/27/2007 4:43:39 PM PDT by SJackson
It raised eyebrows back in 1981 when new President Ronald Reagan began returning the military salutes of the servicemen standing guard when he'd disembark from Air Force One or from Marine 1, the helicopter that would deliver him to the White House lawn.
No presidents before had returned those salutes, not even Dwight D. Eisenhower, who just seven years before he took office had been a five-star Army general. Reagan, who had held the rank of captain in the Army Air Corps during World War II, changed all that and every president since, including our present one, renders the salute.
Although it was far from the biggest issue of the day, many commentators did question the practice at the time, pointing out that while, yes, the president was commander in chief of the military, he wasn't a military person himself and by saluting was insinuating that he was.
I hadn't heard much about that issue since, but noted author Garry Wills, a professor emeritus of history at Northwestern University, brought it up again in an op-ed column he wrote for the New York Times earlier this year.
"We hear constantly now about 'our commander in chief.' The word has become a synonym for 'president.' It is said we 'elected a commander in chief.' It is asked whether this or that candidate is 'worthy to be our commander in chief.'
"But the president is not our commander in chief. He certainly is not mine. I am not in the Army," Wills wrote.
Wills recalled how he cringed back in 1973 when Richard Nixon's chief of staff, Al Haig, tried to justify Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre" firings because the attorney general and deputy attorney general had refused an order from their "commander in chief."
"President Nixon was not (Elliot Richardson's or William Ruckelshaus') commander in chief," he commented. "The president is not the commander in chief of civilians. He is not even the commander in chief of National Guard troops unless and until they are federalized."
It all may seem like small potatoes, but Wills and others see that attitude and the extension of the salutes as the increasing militarization of U.S. politics.
"The citizenry at large is now thought of as under military discipline," Wills wrote. "The executive branch takes actions in secret, unaccountable to the electorate, to hides its moves from the enemy and protect national secrets."
The bottom line, Wills said, is that "the representative is accountable to citizens. Soldiers are accountable to their officer. The dynamics are different, and to blend them is to undermine the basic principles of our Constitution."
This is just so Hillary won't have to SALUTE!! Can you IMAGINE the RIDICULE when she salutes that servicemember?? LOL!!! What a FRAUD!
Well, it is important to remember that the Constitution is a living, breathing document which morphs over time to reflect the chic political correctness of the day. It is now a post-9/11 world and naturally there is an "increasing militarization of U.S. politics" wherein the "citizenry at large is now thought of as under military discipline."
Similarly, "the executive branch takes actions in secret, unaccountable to the electorate, to hides its moves from the enemy and protect national secrets." Again, the living, breathing Constitution of today accepts this reality in a post-9/11 world....
LMAO!!! Since when do scumbag liberals like Wills and Zweifel care about the Constitution?
(It's so easy to rub their own foul hypocrisy right back in their faces.)
re: Leadership speaks for itself
No wonder the liberals hate him so much!
That simple gesture did more to show the character of the man than a million words could ever say!
And for those who may find fault w/the capitalization of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, etc., as well as Marines--please see the link by Col "Sully" at bottom of the GyG site linked below...
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/dickg/soldier.html
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/dickg/soldier.html
Was this guy Wills in gaza when the cess pool overflowed.
Just asking , He is so full of raw sewage, AKA S---, that I figured he swallowed a full load.
Exactly. And Hitlery and her folks should understand that all of us who served know that she held the military in contempt before she didn't (if she ever didn't). We are Chelsea's trained pigs, remember. She can practice all she wants. It is not the execution that counts so much as the spirit of the thing.
With all respect, Gen. Haig, when the Pres. issues a management diretive to a civilian, it is not a military matter.
And history will prove I am right, because Elliot Richardson was not Court Martialed for refusing to fire Archibald Cox.
I know you were. I started my "Dream Job" a few weeks ago, so my time on FR is now limited. :(
I know my priorities are all screwed up, but it's fun working hard and being happy and driving the Liberals insane in the process, LOL!
Indeed it is prescribed for the military. Reserved to the military? I have never read or heard that from any published guidance on the matter.
Of course she won't do it correctly. A proper salute starts down in the gut where you feel pride in your flag and respect for your fellow countrymen and women who serve it. If she can't get that part right, no amount of practice in front of a mirror will fool anyone. Maggie T. could get it right without any practice, I'll bet. Hitlery might as well try to salute with her cleft hoof or forked tail
It is prescribed that all military salute those officers, including the Commander in Chief, that are senior.
Considering that the President of the United States is the head of the military (General of Generals), he would be considered part of the military. Therefore he (though in civilian cloths) has the obligation to acknowledge the salute of those below him in the military … a hand salute would not be inappropriate. I don’t believe that there are any guidelines against saluting while in civvies.
Besides, what’s the big deal, the Pres. is only showing respect and acknowledgement for those in the military.
AND, as the head of the US Military, he can do as he wishes, and ignore established protocol if he wants (after all he is in charge).
As Vet myself, I always get somewhat of a thrill when he does return the salute.
It is a term the left uses to refer to someone who hates & resists all progress.
"No presidents before had returned those salutes, not even Dwight D. Eisenhower, who just seven years before he took office had been a five-star Army general."
Really? How about when President George Washington took direct command of the Militias of Pennsylvania and Virginia during the Whiskey Rebellion. He once again wore his Revolutionary War Lt. General's uniform, with his officers sword and took and returned the salutes of the Army and Militia forces around him? I know, the "historians' will either say it did not happen in the last 50 years - so it does not count; or that everyone knows we make exceptions for George Washington; or that George Washington never descended a helicopter ramp with attending Marines, never descended on a ramp from Air Force One with attending Airmen, etc.
They can always find a reason that the saluting CinC makes them uncomfortable - they just don't have any history to back them up...
dvwjr
Amen!
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