The Latte Salute

 

Now, I get tired, but I keep on tryin'
Runnin' out of foolin', I ain't lyin'
Yes, respect, all I need is respect 
--Respect, Aretha Franklin

You're the sail of my love boat
You're the captain and crew
You'll always be my necessity
I'd be lost without you 
--Cream in My Coffee, 
Nat King Cole

I love coffee, I love tea
I love the java jive and it loves me
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup! 
--Java Jive, The Ink Spots
_______________

Looking as though he couldn't be bothered, our President and Commander in Chief Barack Obama gave a token coffee salute in response to the proud young Marines who saluted him as he disembarked from an official helicopter yesterday.

C'mon, Mr. Obama. These military men are fighting your wars -- show some respect and a certain gravitas.

In another faux pas this past July, after Obama hung the most distinguished military award in the U.S. military, the Medal of Honor, around the neck of Sgt. Kyle J. White,  he referred to the Soldier as "Kyle". Kyle? Would Kyle call Mr. Obama, "Barack"? This is not a Beer Summit, Mr. President -- far from it. 

(Fr. AOL news): According to the Daily Caller, a U.S. Marine Corps manual titled 'Customs and Courtesies' states that the act of saluting officers is 'the most important of all military courtesies.' And CNN points out that it has become tradition for presidents to salute the military officers he encounters when boarding the official helicopter, a custom that is widely believed to have been begun by Ronald Reagan in 1981.

When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the new Deputy Chief of Staff General C. George Marshall as "George", the general corrected him (“Mr. President, don't call me George.”) Marshall said he "wasn't very enthusiastic over [FDR's] misrepresentation of our intimacy… I don't think he ever did it again.” The military man was to be called "General", and the President by his title, or "Sir". Some public and private conventions are worth maintaining in the name of respect, solemnity and rectitude.

In the military, superiors are addressed as "Sir", and when they speak down the chain, they say "Soldier" or use the serviceman's rank and name. Nothing else is acceptable. When acting as the C in C, the President may not address soldiers by their first name (even IF he knew them from Adam.)

The President does not merely seem like a schlub when he knocks his temple with his Starbucks cup in his half-hearted salute, he is violating the customs and courtesies of the U.S. Armed Forces.

With all due respect, tighten up, Sir.