Yucky

I've been out of the country for a while so I've missed some of the events of he day.  Just catching up.  Funny how when you're on the other side of the world a lot of the "big" events of the day in our news is...well...insignificant.   So I'm back to observing events and commenting.

So when I got to Australia and into my hotel room, the Oscars were on TV.  I was pretty bushed so I just relaxed and watched them.  Usually all the Hollywood crowd giving themselves awards is not something I remotely care about.  But I had seen Lincoln.  I had seen Argo.  And I sorta wondered which would win.  For the record and even though I loved Lincoln, I think the right film won.

But the cameo appearance by Michelle Obama with the backdrop of the young military officers in Mess Dress was, to me, sorta yucky!  Not terrible, not earth shattering, not the worst thing ever, and certainly understandable given how much the Hollywood crowd is gaa-gaa over the Obamas.  I just thought it was yucky.  And inappropriate.  And unseemly.  And...yucky.

An interesting thing to me were all the goofy grins on the officers in the background.  Being a military social aide in the White House is sort of a fun gig.  They solicit young officers who are stationed in the Washington DC area.  Most of them are single.  They have the time to run over to the White House to  participate in various events.  They mostly do stuff like usher duty, escort duty, ensure people move along thru events, and generally serve as eye candy.  Like I said, fun duty.  But let's be clear, most of the military aren't enamored with Obama.  They see him for what he is.  They know he doesn't like them.  It's not a universal feeling.  But pretty generally true.

So why would they all be standing around with goofy grins on their face when Michelle Obama cowtows to a bunch of spoiled artists?  Well...it reminds me of when I was attending National War College at Ft McNair in Washington DC. Bubba was President back then.  Most of those I knew didn't like him very much.  Sorta the same as the feeling about Obama now, only not as bad.  Bubba used to come over to Ft McNair for a jog because it was safe, flat, and there was a McDonalds on the way back to the White House.  And it never failed.  He would be jogging around and cheerfully greeting everyone he saw.  And even those who really didn't like him would come into our seminar room with a big goofy grin on their face saying..."I just said hi to the President!".  It's the nature of the beast, especially with military officers.  They are sworn to uphold the Constitution, not allegiance to a person.  But still...it can be pretty cool to see the CINC in person.  It can make one giddy.  It's not the person, it's the office (although I will stipulate that Bubba had/has huge amounts of charisma).