There has been a lot of discussion and debate as to whether or not President Obama supports the Boy Scouts of America. After his inauguration he accepted the honorary position of President of the Boy Scouts of America – a position accepted by every President since Taft, despite the urging of activists that he do otherwise. From what I understand a lot of the discussions on whether he was behind the BSA focused (or at least began with) delay’s the signing of Eagle certificates which is/was tied to a logistical issue on the “licensing” of the President’s signature which is the case every time a new President takes the office. I personally cut him a lot of slack as assuming that role was probably not the highest priority among all the challenges he faced when he took office – the economy being just one.
Unfortunately I can no longer make excuses for this man that I voted for as I feel that he has certainly turned his back on the Scouts in the United States. Monday it was announced that President Obama has decided that an appearance on the daytime talk show “The View” was more important than his visit to the BSA National Jamboree.
CNS News reported:
President Barack Obama, the honorary chairman of the Boy Scouts of America, will not speak in-person before the group on Wednesday at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, as part of the organization’s 100th anniversary celebration. However, the president is sending a videotaped message to the scouts for Wednesday, the same day he will be in Manhattan to tape an appearance for ABC TV’s talk show “The View.”
Bob Dries, chairman of national news and media at the Boy Scouts of America Jamboree – a gathering that happens every four years and attracts thousands of scouts from around the world – told CNSNews.com that the organization was told on Monday that the president had scheduling conflicts and would not be speaking in-person at the week-long event…
…Obama’s three predecessors spoke at the event – George H. W. Bush in 1989 and Bill Clinton in 1998 in-person, and George W. Bush who spoke via video in 2001 when bad weather prevented him from traveling. George W. Bush did speak in-person at the 2005 Jamboree.
I do not think that a daytime talk show is an appropriate venue the President of our country and I think it lowers the prestige of the office. He is our leader but he behaves more like a celebrity. I also understand that the President has a number of image issues (some deserved and some not) that he is trying to compensate for in the media, however I can’t help but feel that that image could only be improved by speaking to and inspiring 40,000 of our country’s future leaders rather than pandering to the talk shows. What makes it even worse is that he is missing the opportunity to address the Scouts live in preference for a taping of the view. We don’t celebrate the 100th anniversary every year you know. How often do they tape I wonder?
Melissa Ingram
July 27, 2010 at 9:05 pm
I am hoping we get a president next time that can actually follow through on something he says he will do and he can keep his taped message, I don’t think the boys need it.
Kevin - father of one Eagle Scout, soon to be two Eagle Scouts
July 29, 2010 at 6:27 pm
It is simply another artifact in a growing mountain of evidence that Obama has no reverence for the principles and the institutions that have made America great (and which are our only hope of preserving and extending America’s greatness in the years ahead). It is telling that we as a nation could have been so shallow in our evaluation of the man prior to putting him in office — the media was a willing accomplice in the charade, to a frightening degree… nevertheless, America’s need for character and leadership exemplified and taught by the Boy Scouts of America has never been more evident! It is disappointing that a sitting President would choose not to attend. When you are the President, you have the resources to do what you choose to do as far a personal appearances. It is also painfully clear by his decision to favor a pop culture celebrity appearance that he would have been strangely out of place addressing a group so much more deeply rooted in what makes America great than he apparently is.
Lance Jessup
July 31, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Wow, you have articulated this point beyond anything I could ever imagine. I just read your post and above comment to my wife and we are both impressed with your ability to convey your thoughts. We completely agree with you. I was a scout as a kid and have been a Cubmaster for a little over 2 years. This program is wonderful, its mission statement “to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law” truly does build great men, fathers and leaders. We never know the impact we can make on our youth and it usually far surpasses the impact we can have. Like dropping a pebble in water, there are ripples that travel across the water that go much further then the water touched by the rock.
Todd P - Assistant Scoutmaster, Father of a (hopefully) soon to be Eagle Scout
August 6, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Kevin and Doug – I couldn’t agree more (except with Doug on the voted for him part). I was at Jamboree, and although the overall mood was one of excitement for Scouting and Jamboree in general, you could tell that people were genuinely “unimpressed” with the fact that Obama chose the view over attending in person to speak.
On Saturday evening after his taped “message” was played there were more boos than cheers from the crowd of probably 80,000 or more (yes, Mr. President, 80,000 future leaders of our country!). Were the boos for him, or simply for the fact that he did not come in person? We’ll never know, but I imagine it was a mixture.
As a patriotic American, I will say that it is a sad day when people are booing the President, regardless of who it is. I guess this just underlines the growing discontent in our country. We can only pray that things will change for the better before it is too late…
Ed Darrell
August 10, 2010 at 2:37 am
You’ve got the story wrong. Obama didn’t skip out at the last minute to tape the View. The schedule conflict was identified weeks ago — unfortunately for the Jamboree, the economy took precedent. The invitation to appear on the television program was an add on to a trip to New York and New Jersey for economic and campaign issues.
Your headline is in error.
Looking at your discussion here, I’m curious about why you failed to note Obama took the Honorary President of BSA title, in near-record time, despite an organized campaign for him to refuse the title to “teach Scouting a lesson.” You missed Obama’s appearance with Scouts on July 12.
It seems to me you’re presenting a biased, and unfairly biased, story. Why not just stick to the facts?
A Scout must demonstrate being trustworthy constantly. I think you missed some of the facts of the story.
Scouter Doug
August 12, 2010 at 2:03 pm
There’s certainly been mixed signals as to when the President declined. There has been “official” word that he declined months ago (which looks bad because it puts more attention on a choice not to attend) as well as word that it was only announced the Monday of Jamboree week. That’s certainly when it first crossed the public and when Scouters (and critics) spread word of the issue. It also appears to be the first time any of the attendees were notified the President would not be attending. As for the economy taking precedent (or any other presidential responsibility) I’d more than support the President in such priorities but how is the economy bolstered with an appearance on the View?
There also would have been many security challenges were the President to speak in person. Sadly the days of Presidents driving through Jamboree in an open car are long gone. Part of me has issue with that alone that our highest leader couldn’t address 40,000+ citizens, many die-hard patriots without it being security nightmare.
Ed Darrell
August 10, 2010 at 2:38 am
Then the president made the right choice, appearing with people of honor.
Scouter Doug
August 12, 2010 at 2:11 pm
I was there at the Jamboree ceremony. I did hear booing, in the visitor (non Contingent) area of the arena. Despite my disagreement with the President’s decision I found that very disrespectful – both to the office and to the people around who wanted to listen to his speech. I have also seen the one video showing a few Boy Scouts booing during the Presidents speech. While a few boos can be heard they sound more like noisy cattle to be honest. That you would pass judgement on the honor of 40000 people based on the actions of a few teenagers in their midst tells me you don’t understand what Scouts and Scouters are truly about.
Ed Darrell
August 12, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Obama wasn’t in New York to do the View. That program happens to be produced there. They moved their schedule to accommodate a couple of hours of down time in Obama’s schedule for that day, in New York.
I’m sure that, had the Jamboree been in New York, Obama would have done it. But at no time was there a choice between Scouting and a television appearance.