re: #754 revobob

Question for all you military types- Is the president correct to salute the troops as he leaves (for example) Marine One? Clinton and Obama both throw these little “yeah, whatever” kind of salutes, and I for one am offended. I am not military, but have understood that if not in uniform you don’t salute. Mrs Revo pointed out that he is the CIC (g-d help us!) and that as such maybe this is correct. How says this assembly?

While some of us may not like it, President Obama is the CinC of all of the US military and because of that, the salute is correct, yes even if he isn’t in a uniform and uncovered. Most presidents have tried very hard to return a snappy salute to the USMC guards at the door to Marine 1; some have failed miserably (Clinton), others have done relatively well (Bush). The salute is a gesture of respect to a senior officer and technically needs to be held by the junior member until the senior member drops his or hers. The various presidents are simply returning a military courtesy since they are the leader of the armed forces.

I suppose if folks wanted the President in uniform, he could start wearing olive green fatigues a la Castro; maybe those aren’t too far off.