Pep Rally Politics

So the question of the day... when Dubya gave his little dog and phony pony show in front of the troops the other night, why did none of them applaud? Where were the usual "Ooo-Ra!" shouts and wild clapping that pepper all of his speeches in front of the military for their brilliant leader?

WASHINGTON, June 29 - So what happened to the applause?

When President Bush visits military bases, he invariably receives a foot-stomping, loud ovation at every applause line. At bases like Fort Bragg - the backdrop for his Tuesday night speech on Iraq - the clapping is often interspersed with calls of "Hoo-ah," the military's all-purpose, spirited response to, well, almost anything. So the silence during his speech was more than a little noticeable, both on television and in the hall.

Apparently the best PR machine in the world (which somehow managed to get this dangerously incompetent proto-simian elected twice) had a bit of a communications breakdown.

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.

Capt. Tom Earnhardt, a public affairs officer at Fort Bragg who participated in the planning for the president's trip, said that from the first meetings with White House officials there was agreement that a hall full of wildly cheering troops would not create the right atmosphere for a speech devoted to policy and strategy.

"The guy from White House advance, during the initial meetings, said, 'Be careful not to let this become a pep rally,' " Captain Earnhardt recalled in a telephone interview. Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, confirmed that account.

As the message drifted down to commanders, it appears that it may have gained an interpretation beyond what the administration's image-makers had in mind. "This is a very disciplined environment," said Captain Earnhardt, "and some guys may have taken it a bit far," leaving the troops hesitant to applaud.

One reason that Rove has always loved propping Dear Leader up in front of military audiences is obviously because it's even easier to control their reactions and script their "performance" than it is in the fake "town hall" meetings which Bush loves so much. Here's a little insider tip for those of you who have never been in the military. When you get lined up for any sort of ceremonial event (e.g. visiting dignitaries, commemoration ceremonies, etc.) you get lined up in carefully structured formations and are given instructions about applause, cheering, casual talking, etc.

The thing that this little incident (which really doesn't amount to much) can teach us is not the fact that these soldiers didn't applaud. It's that they are simply following orders at all of the events where you see Dubya strutting his stuff. So at all of the other ones, both on the campaign trail and after, when you saw all of the soldiers stamping their feet and cheering... that's what they were told to do. Did some (or maybe even most) of them honestly support and want to cheer for Bush? Maybe. Heck, I'll even go so far as to say probably. That's a military mindset. But whether they wanted to or not, some or all, just keep that in mind. The cheering you are seeing is completely scripted and, just as in every other aspect of duty, our troops are just following their orders. It makes for a great photo-op, but don't let it get you too worked up.

James Joyner takes a kinder look at this story, but still has some salient observations on the use of troops as political props.

I am always uncomfortable when politicians use soldiers, cops, firefighters, or schoolchildren as props for their speeches. Even when the motive is non-cynical--as I believe it was here--it politicizes those who should not be politicized.

Soldiers go to war because they're ordered to do so, not because they are supporters of the president, his party, or his policies. While most soldiers are probably all those things right now, it isn't always the case. Many held Clinton in contempt personally but they followed his orders without question. The military may lean Republican, but it isn't a Republican military. We don't want that to change.