Does It Go Far Enough?Â
The Chief Executive of the Boy Scouts has just issued a lengthy apology after the firestorm ignited by President Donald Trump’s highly inappropriate politicized speech at its quadrennial Jamboree.Â
“I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree,” Michael Surbaugh, Chief Scout Executive for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) said Thursday in a statement on the organization’s website. “We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program.”
The BSA is a non-partisan organization, President Trump broke eight decades of precedent by injecting politics – not to mention outright animus – into his address to the children, who range in age from 11 to 17. Some believe the BSA did not do enough to prep the children of how they should behave, knowing that this President would likely behave inappropriately. Some have said the BSA should have previewed the President’s speech, or requested he not go off-script. In the end, tens of thousands of boys were subjected to an inappropriate display.
The President addressed about 40,000 Scouts and their leaders late Monday afternoon. His speech included profanity, a tale about a cocktail party, an incitement to boo former President Barack Obama and his recent political opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In it the President, who is automatically the honorary President of the Boy Scouts, took credit for the “massive crowd” of scouts, attacked the “fake media,” urged the Scouts give him their loyalty, talked about repealing ObamaCare, threatened to fire a cabinet member, bragged about his Electoral College win, and more.
“While we live in a challenging time in a country divided along political lines, the focus of Scouting remains the same today as every day,” Surbaugh said in his apology.
“Trustworthiness, loyalty, kindness and bravery are just a few of the admirable traits Scouts aspire to develop – in fact, they make up the Scout Oath and Scout Law,” he said, in what some see as a strong rebuke of President Trump’s remarks.Â
He also discussed “leadership skills,” “character,” “bring[ing] people together to do good in the world,” and “the importance of teaching values and responsibility to our youth — not only right from wrong, but specific positive values such as fairness, courage, honor and respect for others.”
On the Boy Scouts’ Facebook page, literally thousands expressed their anger and outrage immediately after Trump’s remarks. Many were parents and grandparents of Scouts, and many came from families with generations of Scouts. Many demanded an apology from the BSA, many blamed both the organization and the President. Some threatened to stop financial support of the group, others said they were pulling their sons out.
“You allowed a scouting jamboree to be turned into an ugly fascist rally straight out of Triumph of the Will,” one Facebook commenter stated. “How could you? Please reassure me what was said has no relation to the scouting values we cherish ourselves and hope to instill in our kids.”
“I am an Eagle Scout and Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow,” wrote another. “I am disgusted by the sham that occurred today at the Jamboree. These are not the values that the Scout Oath and Law teach to us. Lord Baden-Powell said that ‘It’s the spirit within, not the veneer without, that makes a man.’ It seems as if we have forgotten that fact.”
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Hat tip: TIME