Did we ever get a soldier from Ft Bragg post about the lack of applause?

[tibbiit]

I think this issue could be a major turning point.
If the soldiers were silently protesting, then making the public aware of that fact would be helping the soldiers in their protest! Silence is the only protest option most of them have.

America needs to know the chimp has lost the military!
tib

[aden_nak]

1. I am still dazed by the irony of him giving that speech from "Fort Bragg".

Subliminal, much?

[atreides1]

7. It's Ploy

It was done to indicate to the American people that the US military supports this administration, without violating the regulations regarding the use of the military to show support for a political party or its politicians.

One thing that I as a former soldier noticed was that none of the troops took off their head gear, and other vets correct me if I'm wrong. But the only time that you're supposed to keep your head gear on indoors is if you're bearing arms, and I don't recall seeing any of the soldiers with weapons.

So this was another PR ploy.

By the way Hitler liked to give his big speeches with the military as a back drop, most tyrants and dictators do.

[pocket]

13. Airborne guys don't consider their beret to be a uniform item

they claim it is an award, and therefore wear it inside.

This causes no small amount of bickering when they eat in a 'leg' mess hall and keep their berets on.

[gordianot]

2. I know a lot is being made of this. I wonder?

Where there instructions before Bush came out? Talk about crowd control, this could be the ultimate.

[tibbiit]

3. I read the whitehouse expected 40min because of all

the applause they expected. before the speech the media expected lots of applause. Bush even had applause pauses built into his speech.

I think this is one of the strangest things Ive seen in years of strange things. Is it too much to hope this is a true beginning sign of bush/s end?
tib

[gordianot]

6. The end is coming.

I suspect there are several grand juries working on it now. He has scared the power brokers senseless. When the end comes it will be unexpected similar to what happened to Agnew and maybe not Nixon.

[fryguy]

10. no appaluse? was that why he started to cry at the end? - n/t

[tulsakatz]

4. countdown

they talked about this last night on Olbermann. They said the problem with having an all military audience is that when he came onto the stage, at the time that most audiences would applaud, the military is standing at attention. Of course, that doesn't explain why they didn't applaud at other times. So maybe it was a form of protest.

[tibbiit]

5. Hey tulsa welcome

(originally from t-town myself)

Here is a link to BullMoose blog with some thoughts on this subject:
(i swear this is a big deal!:)

http://www.bullmooseblog.com/

Backdrop Blowback

The Moose notes that the President got bit by the blowback on his backdrop.

What is the sound of one hand clapping? That is the question that haunts the President's Iraq speech. While the Administration hoped that the military backdrop would bolster his backing, it bit him (with apologies about the alliteration).

Whether by orders or by inclination, the soldiers in attendance only applauded once during the speech - and that time might have been prompted by a White House staffer. Today's New York Times,

"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...
snip

tib

[rsdsharp]

15. I keep hearing they were under orders.

The first time I heard that was on Fox twenty minutes after the speech while I was channel surfing. None of the the other networks said that, at least to my knowledge, and I've never heard local commanders acknowledge such an order. Frankly, I don't believe it for several reasons.

First, why go to a military base where the troops in the audience can be handpicked, AND are subject to your orders, and them order them not to appauld? The whole purpose of the speech was to demonstrate to the American people that the sacrifice is worth it. What better way than to have the troops who are doing the sacrificing loudly applauding and cheering, as they did when the turkey-in-chief spent a couple of hours serving plastic in Iraq? Why not just do it in the Oval Office if you want silence?

Second, why reserve 40 minutes if the speech (without applause) only takes 28? Isn't this the White House that runs on a strict timetable? Third, if there were orders, why were the troops diciplined enough to follow them until the Bush staffers started to appauld near the end? Why violate orders then? Finally, the facial expressions of those troops weren't the normal ones of adulation usually found in a Bush audience. Most look bored, and pissed that they had to be there. Moreover, the camera was on the audience during one the one instance of applause. Nobody seemed to hesitate. Nobody looked around in confusion as to why orders were being violated, and the applause could be termed polite at best, not what you'd expect from troops who had just slipped the leash.

[fasttense]

8. They would be standing at attention when he came in.

Someone would have yelled attention when brush came in and everyone would have stood up and not have applauded. The same thing when he left, they should have been at attention when he departed (but protocol on departure attention is not always clear). But why weren't they applauding during the speech? The military mind is use to orders, if some one didn't tell them that applause was appropriate they may not have thought it was allowed. On the other hand, they may not have liked what he had to say during the speech. It was kind of strange all that silence during the speech.

[fryguy]

9. The only time there was applause (other than at the end) was

when a white house staffer triggered it. That was what CBS reported right after the speech.....big surprise that I haven't heard it repeated much...

[alfredo]

12. From what I saw, the soldiers were in their seats at least an hour

before the chimp sauntered in. If you have to pee real bad, you don't want to do anything but find a place to piss.



I think they said the applause was prompted by bush's advance team.

[DemBones DemBones]

11. I read a news story, probably AP, that

included a bizarre statement to the effect that soldiers were instructed not to applaud.

:eyes:

Yeah, I'm SURE * liked being out there all that time with no ego-stroking applause.

I'm SURE Rove wanted to give the impression the military doesn't approve of * and his war pResidency.

Yeah, right.

[izzie]

14. I think it is Bush and his ego and temper.

He would like to be a hero and these men can not say or do a thing to him so his handlers are safe with his temper. I hear that is really some thing to see. He is said not to like people to not go along with him. Now the last speech must have really made him mad from what the Guardian said about it. Does not sound like what he had had at these camps or what he had planned. What did the men say about it? The men from Fort Bragg. Seen anything around on the internet?

[progressivebydesign]

16. All we have to do is look at past speeches of Bush at military bases.

And it is ALWAYS applaud-when-you-want!!! This is bullshit spin that they were instructed NOT to applaud. NO way. The White House allotted 40 minutes to include applause and there wasn't any. END OF STORY.

[tibbiit]

17. The thing is imo this shouldnt be "The End of the STory"

But the beginning... this is a HUGE shift if the military are withholding bush love.
This is something I want to still be reading about from multi-diff sources next week! I want americans to watch for applause at military bases when bush speaks without even knowing they are doing it (watch for applause:)
tib