By S.E. Cupp
Last week, Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta became the first living service member from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to receive the Medal of Honor, the country's top military award.
But like most of the brave men and women who serve, Giunta knows he wasn't out there fighting for medals or recognition, and he accepted the award with admirable humility and heartfelt acknowledgment of those who have died in battle.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, Giunta got a hug, not a military salute, from President Obama. As a blog post on the website of Stars and Stripes, a military publication, pointed out, it would have been appropriate - though not necessary - for Obama to salute Giunta. It referenced a previous Medal of Honor recipient who had been saluted by George W. Bush.
Some on the right, though, were deeply upset by Obama's failure to salute. This group includes folks like Rees Lloyd, a civil rights attorney and American Legionnaire, who saw evidence that the President "loathes the nation he was so desperate to lead." The right-leaning blogosphere has been equally atwitter.
Certainly, Lloyd's criticism is off-base, part of a misguided effort to paint Obama as an America-hating outsider. Some on the right have derided him for bowing to Mideast leaders, mispronouncing "corpsmen" and failing to place hand over heart on some occasions when they felt the gesture was demanded. To these critics, such offenses confirm that Obama is an outsider and not really an American. (Where is that birth certificate, anyway?)
To be sure, these Obama blunders have been embarrassing. As a conservative who is immensely proud of our country and the men and women who protect it, I'll admit that I wish that Obama had saluted Giunta. But I recognize that the issue is not Obama's patriotism but his attitude. While the American people could really use some Reagan-style optimism, however simplistic it may have seemed, Obama can only engage in scholarly discussion of America's uncertain future.
Another reason that critics like Lloyd attack, however erroneously, Obama's knowledge of military protocols is because he seems to have little affection for the idea of American exceptionalism. But it's his speeches and policies - not his gestures - that prove that. He memorably said, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." Again, for Obama, his status is, "it's complicated." And confusing.
The frustration for this group of skeptics on the right is that they want their President to believe what they believe - that this country is unequivocally the greatest in the world, without exception, qualification or caveat. And since he is a worldly man, with roots in Indonesia and Kenya, Obama's approval of the American way of life would be that much more meaningful. After all, when Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles, calls America the "single greatest society in all of human history," it means something. When Dinesh D'Souza, who was born in Mumbai, writes a book called "What's So Great About America" - and then forcefully answers the title's question - it means something, too.
Obama's unwillingness to be an inspirational troubadour for American greatness is disheartening and disappointing, certainly, and his alleged protocol illiteracy might well deserve derision from those who feel passionately about the issue. But not because it's evidence that he hates the country. At most, it proves that he should study more.
S.E. Cupp, whose column appears on Wednesdays on NYDailyNews.com and often in the print edition of the newspaper, is a political commentator and author of the book "Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media's Attack on Christianity." She is also co-author of "Why You're Wrong About The Right." S.E. has a regular feature at The Daily Caller and is a contributing editor at Townhall magazine. She lives in New York City.
But like most of the brave men and women who serve, Giunta knows he wasn't out there fighting for medals or recognition, and he accepted the award with admirable humility and heartfelt acknowledgment of those who have died in battle.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, Giunta got a hug, not a military salute, from President Obama. As a blog post on the website of Stars and Stripes, a military publication, pointed out, it would have been appropriate - though not necessary - for Obama to salute Giunta. It referenced a previous Medal of Honor recipient who had been saluted by George W. Bush.
Some on the right, though, were deeply upset by Obama's failure to salute. This group includes folks like Rees Lloyd, a civil rights attorney and American Legionnaire, who saw evidence that the President "loathes the nation he was so desperate to lead." The right-leaning blogosphere has been equally atwitter.
Certainly, Lloyd's criticism is off-base, part of a misguided effort to paint Obama as an America-hating outsider. Some on the right have derided him for bowing to Mideast leaders, mispronouncing "corpsmen" and failing to place hand over heart on some occasions when they felt the gesture was demanded. To these critics, such offenses confirm that Obama is an outsider and not really an American. (Where is that birth certificate, anyway?)
To be sure, these Obama blunders have been embarrassing. As a conservative who is immensely proud of our country and the men and women who protect it, I'll admit that I wish that Obama had saluted Giunta. But I recognize that the issue is not Obama's patriotism but his attitude. While the American people could really use some Reagan-style optimism, however simplistic it may have seemed, Obama can only engage in scholarly discussion of America's uncertain future.
Another reason that critics like Lloyd attack, however erroneously, Obama's knowledge of military protocols is because he seems to have little affection for the idea of American exceptionalism. But it's his speeches and policies - not his gestures - that prove that. He memorably said, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." Again, for Obama, his status is, "it's complicated." And confusing.
The frustration for this group of skeptics on the right is that they want their President to believe what they believe - that this country is unequivocally the greatest in the world, without exception, qualification or caveat. And since he is a worldly man, with roots in Indonesia and Kenya, Obama's approval of the American way of life would be that much more meaningful. After all, when Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles, calls America the "single greatest society in all of human history," it means something. When Dinesh D'Souza, who was born in Mumbai, writes a book called "What's So Great About America" - and then forcefully answers the title's question - it means something, too.
Obama's unwillingness to be an inspirational troubadour for American greatness is disheartening and disappointing, certainly, and his alleged protocol illiteracy might well deserve derision from those who feel passionately about the issue. But not because it's evidence that he hates the country. At most, it proves that he should study more.
S.E. Cupp, whose column appears on Wednesdays on NYDailyNews.com and often in the print edition of the newspaper, is a political commentator and author of the book "Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media's Attack on Christianity." She is also co-author of "Why You're Wrong About The Right." S.E. has a regular feature at The Daily Caller and is a contributing editor at Townhall magazine. She lives in New York City.
1 comments:
You may wish to reconsider your headline. The use of the term "winner" with respect to Medal of Honor recipients is considered improper in military circles.
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