Silence Speaks Volumes
Jun 29th, 2005 at 11:21 pm by Susie
Yeah, I noticed this, too:
WASHINGTON, June 29 - So what happened to the applause?
When President Bush visits military bases, he invariably receives a foot-stomping, loud ovation at every applause line. At bases like Fort Bragg - the backdrop for his Tuesday night speech on Iraq - the clapping is often interspersed with calls of “Hoo-ah,” the military’s all-purpose, spirited response to, well, almost anything.
So the silence during his speech was more than a little noticeable, both on television and in the hall. On Wednesday, as Mr. Bush’s repeated use of the imagery of the Sept. 11 attacks drew bitter criticism from Congressional Democrats, there was a parallel debate under way about whether the troops sat on their hands because they were not impressed, or because they thought that was their orders.
They were at attention. You don’t break position if you’re at attention without leave.
Many past & present soldiers recognize Yellowstain Dubya for the draft-dodger he is. That, combined with the lousy treatment of vets by this chickenhawk administration, earned Dubya an occasional golf-clap.
Julia found more useful evidence that this silence wasn’t planned or ordered: