The Blaze is a favorite stop of mine every day or two. I think Glenn Beck has done a pretty good job in putting it together, and making the transition from a servant of corporate messaging to the master of his own message.
Today, they posted an article on the website entitled “Was it Against Uniform Protocol for the Marine to Hold Obama’s Umbrella?”
Writer Liz Klimas goes in to a 600-word diatribe about whether or not the President has the authority to order a Marine to hold an umbrella, then a deep-dive into the granular details of Marine Corps uniform protocol, quotations from same, and calls to Marine HQ, with quotes from media relations people, etc.
Incidentally, I think military protocol is very cool stuff. The order in which decoration ribbons should appear on the uniform, even the precise-nature of things she cites, like prescribing the manner in which a female officer will hold an umbrella, and in which hand.
But, my sense is that they are reporting it as a “See…There (Obama) goes again!” type of story. Tis the season for that kind of thing, this week more than ever, but it also leaves me thinking “don’t you guys have bigger fish to fry?”
I get it, they don’t like the guy, and despise everything he stands for. As to the question on whether it was within protocol, I don’t know, and don’t care all that much. It was raining, The President of the United States and a guest foreign leader are speaking at the White House. Manners would suggest, “get our guest an umbrella.”
But it seems like there are much more important things to communicate to their audience, vis a vis the President–so much, in fact, that if you were prioritize them all, a Marine holding an umbrella would be in the triple-digits.
Is that story going to change anyone’s mind? No. Is that story going to solve any of the terminal problems out country is facing? No. Is a story like that going to cause a change in protocol? No. OK, so why do it then? It’s entertaining, I guess. It serves the same purpose as a marshmallow. No nutritional value, not going to make you big & strong, but something to pass the time. Another word for marshmallow: Fluff. And see, I’m doing it too now.
See the Article on TheBlaze.com
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