When I read the title of a FOXNews.com piece "The time has come for every red-blooded, God-loving patriot to sever ties with the Boy Scouts of America," I was wondering if the world had stopped. Was I actually agreeing with FOX News?
As an Eagle Scout, Order of the Arrow inductee, and so on and so forth, I was appalled by the presence of our #45 at the National Scout Jamboree. Yes, I know the sitting president is always invited to attend, so I guess I was more appalled by his behavior. Shocker I know. His mixing in of politics, attitude, and put downs was apparently how he feels he needs to reach kids that have achieved a higher grade level than where his normal speeches rest which ranges between just below 6th grade to 7th grade. It was his usual broken sentence structure involving self-praise and disgust of others.
I've had to apologize for a guest's or friend's behavior before, knowing that his behavior and words were not my fault … unless I let it go on and on and on. So that's what the Boy Scouts did, they apologized for Trump's behavior.
BSA Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh wrote.
I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. That was never our intent. The invitation for the sitting U.S. President to visit the National Jamboree is a long-standing tradition that has been extended to the leader of our nation that has had a Jamboree during his term since 1937. It is in no way an endorsement of any person, party or policies. For years, people have called upon us to take a position on political issues, and we have steadfastly remained non-partisan and refused to comment on political matters. We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program.
While we live in a challenging time in a country divided along political lines, the focus of Scouting remains the same today as every day.
Trustworthiness, loyalty, kindness and bravery are just a few of the admirable traits Scouts aspire to develop – in fact, they make up the Scout Oath and Scout Law.
As part of our program’s duty to country, we teach youth to become active citizens, to participate in their government, respect the variety of perspectives and to stand up for individual rights.
You can read his entire screed by clicking here. Was Surbaugh in the right to apologize for Trump's speech? I've been apologizing for Trump for the past 6 months and then some during my travels overseas and in my communications with foreign friends.
One of the political actions #45 took during his speech was to get the crowd to boo at Obama. “By the way, just a question: Did President Obama ever come to a Jamboree?” Trump asked, reaching out his hands to elicit boos from the audience. Trump—who, unlike Presidents Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, and John F. Kennedy—was never a member of the Boy Scouts, excoriated his predecessor for not making an in-person appearance at the Jamboree.
But Obama did send a taped message one year. Here's an interesting comparison of the speeches of President Obama vs Trump delivered to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) at their Jamborees. (Video put together by Occupy Democrats using the video Obama sent into the Jamboree in 2010).
Yes, Occupy Democrats put that together so it may be a little biased, but I don't think they could have created a greater "presidential" divide than the one that already exists.
Back to FOX News. So why were they saying all red-blooded Americans need to cut ties with the Boy Scouts? It was not for letting him childishly talk about politics during his address, but the fact that Surbaugh apologized.
On Thursday the Boy Scouts (and those who identify as Boy Scouts) took it upon themselves to apologize for President Trump’s speech delivered to some 40,000 people at the National Scout Jamboree.
In doing so the leadership of the BSA has brought shame and disgrace upon what was once a storied and revered organization. – FOXNews.com
FOX asked "Who – exactly – was offended by the president’s remarks?"
I'll raise my hand and I am sure I am not alone.
Maybe it's also everyone else that is not watching Fox anymore, but instead are tuning in to MSNBC.