President Trump to visit 2017 Jamboree

[NJCubScouter]

A summary from Jambo venture daughter: she said in general everyone was glad Trump was there, regardless of where they stood on the political spectrum. During his speech she said the crowd was "quiet and hushed." She said that some parts of the speech were more suited for a political rally but the scouts seemed take it with a grain of salt and just went with it.

 

Overall it seems the scouts had a mature outlook.

 

Hey, maybe those three citizenship MBs actually have some payoff!

 

Well, maybe there is some hope for the future then.  

[mashmaster]

I saw this statement from 67 years ago; it still rings true today.

 

We must not return hate for the hate which these young people are being taught to feel toward us. We must realize that they are the victims of a cynical group of leaders. We must make it clear to them that we believe in the fellowship of human beings, in the possibility of cooperative human action, and in peace based on mutual understanding. We must show them, over and over again, that fellowship is possible between men of different nations, different colors, and different creeds.

 

 President Truman to the Scout Jamboree in 1950

[mashmaster]

And yes, I saw it on the forum here!  

[desertrat77]

Correction to my previous, daughter said crowd was "excited and hushed."

[JasonG172]

The best Jambo guest speakers are the ones who can be motivational, inspirational, and relatable. Trump was none of those things tonight. He just used this as yet another tour stop to brag about his win in November. 

 

 

 

Yes, Trump left a lot to be desired.  He had a podium and an opportunity to raise these young men and women up to tell them to reach for the stars and they are tomorrows great leaders. 

Fell flat on his face. 

[CalicoPenn]

Trump had the opportunity to rise above and deliver an uplifting speech - there is even a portion of his speech that would have been fine all on its own, if he left it there. It's a shame that that part of his speech was overshadowed by his belligerence and whining, by his campaign style ramblings. 

 

As bad as that speech was, some (many?) of the Scouts present embarrassed the BSA again by acting like snot-nosed little brats and booing President Obama. 

 

The wishy-washy statement from the BSA afterwards, in response to a great deal of criticism by PARENTS of Scouts, is not helping their cause.  Unfortunately, the BSA is caught up in a storm not of their making.  It was the right thing to do to invite President Trump.  It's a real shame that the this President has brought such ill-repute to the Boy Scouts of America. 

 

As bad as all that is, the worst part is the partisan hacks in here who will defend Trump at all costs, even when he gives a wildly inappropriate and at times disgusting speech to Boy Scouts.  You people know who you are.

 

As for the Reagan comparisons to Obama - while the cancer surgery is certainly a good excuse for missing a Jamboree, the attempted assassination in 1981 is not.  The assassination attempt was in March of 1981.  President Reagan returned to the Oval Office in April.  On May 17, President Reagan started traveling domestically again, on official trips - he made 8 domestic trips on AF1 between May 17 to July 7, then did nothing from July 8 to July 29, taking another trip on July 30.  If he was healthy enough to take these trips to as far away as California and Denver, then he was healthy enough to travel from the White House to Fort AP Hill at the end of July.  So no, that excuse does NOT hold water - but I will still respect his decision not to attend just as I respect Obama's decision not to attend either Jamboree during his term - without needing to come up with some kind of snarky reason why he didn't attend. 

[NJCubScouter]

Calico, as true as the information about Ronald Reagan may be, I just think the whole issue of what past presidents did is irrelevant, whether it is Reagan or Obama or whoever else.  What matters is that the current president did go to the Jamboree, and acted badly.  He made a political/campaign speech at what is supposed to be a non-political event in a non-political organization.  Much of it is incoherent or barely coherent.  He decided this was an appropriate opportunity to insult and taunt people and joke about firing a member of his cabinet.  It just boggles my mind.  I do agree with you that there was a mostly-good speech in there, it was the last one-third (or so) of what he said, but it was overshadowed by the rest of it.

Edited July 25, 2017 by NJCubScouter

[Col. Flagg]

As for the Reagan comparisons to Obama - while the cancer surgery is certainly a good excuse for missing a Jamboree, the attempted assassination in 1981 is not.  The assassination attempt was in March of 1981.  President Reagan returned to the Oval Office in April.  On May 17, President Reagan started traveling domestically again, on official trips - he made 8 domestic trips on AF1 between May 17 to July 7, then did nothing from July 8 to July 29, taking another trip on July 30.  If he was healthy enough to take these trips to as far away as California and Denver, then he was healthy enough to travel from the White House to Fort AP Hill at the end of July.  So no, that excuse does NOT hold water - but I will still respect his decision not to attend just as I respect Obama's decision not to attend either Jamboree during his term - without needing to come up with some kind of snarky reason why he didn't attend. 

 

Sorry, but I worked in that White House. The decision not to attend was based on the fact the he pushed himself to come back too fast and the doctors told him to take a break in his schedule that July, so he sent his wife. Obama is certainly able to send his wife at least if he cannot make it. The comparison is totally valid. Unless the President is somewhere else requiring his attention, there's no reason he, his spouse or VP cannot attend.

 

As for the speech, I cannot say I am disappointed because I expect very little from politicians anymore. Rising above the arguing and end-fighting has NOT been the hallmark of our recent historical landscape going back quite a ways. Hearing our leaders (on both sides) makes you long for Carter or Reagan. At least they were eloquent (and civil) when telling each other to go pound sand. 

[krikkitbot]

You can make the Texas flag in to anything...as long as you're Texan.

 

@@JasonG172, a pledge I took everyday for 10 years. "Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."

 

I grew up in Texas and never ever heard of that pledge. I attended schools, public and private, throughout the state (think of every city along I-35 and sprinkle in some of Houston) and never heard of that thing. It must be relatively (I'm getting long in the tooth) new.

[Col. Flagg]

I grew up in Texas and never ever heard of that pledge. I attended schools, public and private, throughout the state (think of every city along I-35 and sprinkle in some of Houston) and never heard of that thing. It must be relatively (I'm getting long in the tooth) new.

 

The Texas Pledge has been around since 1933. I was required to be recited in all schools starting in 2003.

[krikkitbot]

The Texas Pledge has been around since 1933. I was required to be recited in all schools starting in 2003.

 

Ah, so the requirement to recite is new. I'm not surprised it existed from before. I'm surprised it took them 70 years to make it mandatory

[RememberSchiff]

Trump had the opportunity to rise above and deliver an uplifting speech - there is even a portion of his speech that would have been fine all on its own, if he left it there. It's a shame that that part of his speech was overshadowed by his belligerence and whining, by his campaign style ramblings. 

 

As bad as that speech was, some (many?) of the Scouts present embarrassed the BSA again by acting like snot-nosed little brats and booing President Obama. 

 

The wishy-washy statement from the BSA afterwards, in response to a great deal of criticism by PARENTS of Scouts, is not helping their cause.  Unfortunately, the BSA is caught up in a storm not of their making.  It was the right thing to do to invite President Trump.  It's a real shame that the this President has brought such ill-repute to the Boy Scouts of America. 

 

As bad as all that is, the worst part is the partisan hacks in here who will defend Trump at all costs, even when he gives a wildly inappropriate and at times disgusting speech to Boy Scouts.  You people know who you are.

 

As for the Reagan comparisons to Obama - while the cancer surgery is certainly a good excuse for missing a Jamboree, the attempted assassination in 1981 is not.  The assassination attempt was in March of 1981.  President Reagan returned to the Oval Office in April.  On May 17, President Reagan started traveling domestically again, on official trips - he made 8 domestic trips on AF1 between May 17 to July 7, then did nothing from July 8 to July 29, taking another trip on July 30.  If he was healthy enough to take these trips to as far away as California and Denver, then he was healthy enough to travel from the White House to Fort AP Hill at the end of July.  So no, that excuse does NOT hold water - but I will still respect his decision not to attend just as I respect Obama's decision not to attend either Jamboree during his term - without needing to come up with some kind of snarky reason why he didn't attend. 

 

I think mostly we here are praising our scouts' more respectful response to the President's visit, a vast improvement over 2010.  Whether his speech was good, bad, ugly is on the President not us.

 

As for Reagan not attending the 1981 Jamboree, he and his administration were working the illegal nationwide air traffic controller's strike. Some 13,000 air traffic controller went on strike which did a number on air travel. 6500 Jambo scouts with flights home  were stranded. Reagan fired some 11,000 air traffic controllers. As I recall, many scouts got military flights home.

 

My $0.02

Edited July 25, 2017 by RememberSchiff

[Eagledad]

As bad as all that is, the worst part is the partisan hacks in here who will defend Trump at all costs, even when he gives a wildly inappropriate and at times disgusting speech to Boy Scouts.  You people know who you are.

 

 

And the group should take your words as profound because you have always presented yourself as open minded?   I have personally replied that you have no integrity with me and shouldn't with the forum because of the hostile style you present your opinions.

 

Nobody is surprised that your opinions on whatever the subject or discussion always fall left. And that is fine. OK, we are who we are with our words measured in worth by our reputation. But  I'm curious, how does your style of defending your opinions on this forum not come under the heading of partisan hack?

 

Barry

[RememberSchiff]

Less personal please.  Let's take it down a notch.

[qwazse]

I am no partisan. I will admit to being a bit of a hack.

 

I see scouts at Jamborees as judges of history. If a Jamboree is successful, a scout sees something of the real character of public figures. Something they can use that as a baseline. Not necessarily of the person him/herself, but of how much time and effort one must spend listening to the full message from people and sifting through the good and the bad. Using that to decide who you want for your next leader ... you may make an effort to hear more from all parties.

 

I think POTUS missed an opportunity:

• to lay out every area of concern facing the nation, and ways scouts can/are helping,
• to get beyond stumping for the next round of primaries and elections, and
• to recognize other erstwhile scouts among his political opponents.

I think he did put forward:

• a vignette of his strategy for success (momentum, persistence),
• examples of cabinet members who were scouts and the challenges they currently face,
• his rather flawed personality. His presentation is more "intimate" than I'd like a scout to have, less than what they already get via post-modern media. As mentioned, that's good and bad.

So, to quote this town's current football coach, it is what it is.

 

But how should a concerned citizen respond?

I think it is wrong to judge BSA for the behavior of a POTUS, but I am afraid that's what will happen. Democrat activists will be motivated to withdraw funds and bring suit against the organization, Republican activists will be motivated to "invest" in the organization and contribute towards any defense. This may give us smaller membership, but also ratified and polarized only making behavior at future Jambos worse.

Edited July 25, 2017 by qwazse