The President’s Casual Disrespect for Other People’s Sacrifices May Have Slipped through with His Latte Salute — or Not

© 2014 Peter Free

 

24 September 2014

 

 

“Tone deaf” describes the Obama Administration

 

Admittedly, it has got to be difficult being a Democratic Commander in Chief. What with the Republican Band of the Brain Dead being all over him — all the time — for all manner of foolishly perceived slights to Truth and Righteousness.

 

On the other hand, President Obama manages to offend even tolerant people like me with his narcissistically inspired and casually displayed conceit.

 

When this thoughtlessness is directed at the Military One Percent — who bleed and die for the nation — it bugs me.

 

 

Watch the following clip of what some people are (probably inaccurately) calling, the “latte salute”

 

Devin Dwyer, President Obama Gesture to Marines Dubbed ‘Latte Salute’, ABC News (24 September 2014)

 

 

It is the President’s underlying mindset that bothers

 

Our Commander in Chief is too often in his politicized "Me" role and too little in his "Us" one.

 

Good leaders, much less excellent ones, do not act that way.

 

Getting everyone to pull together requires that the “Chief” act as if he thinks of himself/herself as part of the greater whole. This begins with respecting, and acting as if one genuinely values, the people whose sacrifices support the nation’s announced mission.

 

 

Regarding the President’s lack of understanding for some protocols

 

President Obama would have been better off by not saluting at all, than by doing so with a cup in hand. A respected commander can occasionally get away with being too busy, or too preoccupied, to observe some protocols.

 

In this respect, what has always struck me negatively about President Obama is his jaunty disregard for the elements of symbolically displayed sincerity.

 

As one Republican friend commented at the first Inaugural (January 2009), he did not like the President’s too casual saunter (with the First Lady) along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. To him, this boyish display hinted at a lack of appreciation for the immense responsibility that goes with presidential office.

 

At the time, I was not sure what to make of my friend’s criticism. I tended to put more weight on the President’s happy bounce as a sign of America’s appreciation for the civilian nature of the office of its chief executive.

 

However, during the following years, I came to agree with my friend’s implied criticism regarding the President’s lack of sincerity. Especially in regard to the Commander in Chief’s unwillingness to learn how to deliver a proper salute.

 

Today, I was irritated by the flippant, cup-wielding way in which the President saluted the two Marines at the base of Marine One’s steps. They, and not he, are the ones who have (meaningfully) volunteered to die (or be maimed) on behalf of the United States.

 

Consciousness of these two Marines’ willingness to bear the burdens of bleeding honor is due. Through them, respect and a sense of caring are accorded to the entire military and their families.

 

 

The moral? — If you want to lead, pay attention to respect

 

Mean it, even when the transmission of respect is signaled via symbolic means.

 

Sometimes, no matter how important one is, one just has to get the symbols right. President Obama frequently does not. His failure to signal appreciation and genuine concern is a sign of the too self-important character within. And is perhaps, also, a sign that the smartest man in the room has significant problems seeing the big picture.