SCOUT TROOPS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
JULY 27, 2017


BOY AND GIRL SCOUTING ARE EXCELLENT PATHS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO FOLLOW IF THEY ARE PRESENTED WELL, AND IF EVERYONE IS SHOWN RESPECT. OUR WHOLE SOCIETY HAS BECOME HOSTILE AGAINST OUTSIDERS AND IRRATIONALLY DOCTRINAIRE ON THE NATURAL DIFFERENCES THAT OCCUR BETWEEN PEOPLE, PLUS ON CERTAIN KEY THINGS SUCH AS HIGHLY EMOTIONAL AND NEGATIVE RELIGION, AS COMPARED TO THOUGHTFUL AND EMPATHETIC RELIGION. RELIGIONS THAT ARE FOCUSED ON WHO’S GOING TO HELL AND WHO IS “INFERIOR” SIMPLY AREN’T A PATH UP THE LADDER OF LIFE, BUT DOWN. AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, I AM ALL FOR INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL IDENTITY AND THOUGHT, RATHER THAN INTENSE GROUP-THINK OF ANY KIND. GROUPS ARE GOOD UNLESS THEY TURN YOUNG PEOPLE INTO LESSER BEINGS. LYNCH MOBS, HAZING, BULLYING, OVERLY AGGRESSIVE “PLAY” ACTIVITIES ARE ALL HARMFUL. PUT GOOD IN AND YOU’LL GET A GOOD CITIZEN, PUT UGLY THINGS IN AND YOU’LL GET A YOUNG PROTO-CRIMINAL

GROWING UP IN AMERICA IS HARD. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPETITIVE SOCIETIES IN THE WORLD, SECOND TO SOME OF THOSE MIDDLE EASTERN GROUPS, INCLUDING ISRAEL IN MY VIEW. EVERYBODY OVER THERE HATES EVERYBODY ELSE. THAT’S THE PROBLEM. WE NEED TO TEACH INTELLECTUAL STUDY AND MEDITATION, GENTLENESS AND NURTURING, ARTISTIC ENDEAVORS, EQUALITY FOR ALL, A HIGH DEGREE OF RESPECT FOR EDUCATION AS A WAY OF LIFE RATHER THAN A TIME OF LIFE. HILLARY CLINTON WAS SPOT ON WITH ONE THING IN PARTICULAR. “IT TAKES A VILLAGE.” BRINGING UP CHILDREN WELL AND LOVINGLY SHOULD BE THE GOAL OF EVERY ADULT WHO HAS DECIDED TO HAVE CHILDREN, AND IF THEY DON’T HAVE THE PATIENCE TO DO THAT WELL, THEY SHOULD REFRAIN FROM HAVING CHILDREN. THAT’S WHAT BIRTH CONTROL AND EVEN VOLUNTARY STERILIZATION ARE FOR. WOMEN AND MEN “HAVE THEIR TUBES TIED” FAIRLY FREQUENTLY, AND IT’S A REALLY GOOD IDEA. BUT, WHERE WE AS PARENTS FALL SHORT, THAT’S WHERE “THE VILLAGE” COMES IN.

I, LIKE THE WRITER OF THIS BLISTERING LETTER PUBLISHED BY THE HUFFINGTON POST, GREW UP IN SCOUTING. IF A CHILD CAN BE PART OF A GROUP WHICH IS PLEASANT AND WARM, IT IS MUCH MORE LIKELY TO PUT POSITIVE THINGS INTO OUR KIDS HEARTS AND MINDS, THAN THE PUNITIVE TREATMENT THAT IS STILL PRETTY COMMON. SOMETIMES AN ADULT WHO LOVES A CHILD AND ACTS AS A MENTOR WILL MAKE A GREAT DIFFERENCE IN THEIR DEVELOPING MENTAL HEALTH, EVEN IF THERE IS ABUSE IN THE CHILD’S HOME, WHICH IS ALL TOO OFTEN THE CASE. THAT IS THE TYPE OF TROOP LEADERS THAT WE HAD; AND YES, WE HIKED, CAMPED, LEARNED TO BUILD AND EFFECTIVELY PUT OUT A FIRE AND CONSTRUCT A SHELTER BY LASHING TREE BRANCHES TOGETHER TO MAKE A ROOF OF SORTS. WE COOKED OVER AN OPEN FIRE IN A WOODLAND OR FIELD, AND ATE WHAT WE FIXED WITH NO COMPLAINING. AFTER ALL THAT HIKING, IT WAS DELICIOUS.

WE HAD PROJECTS TO ACCOMPLISH, WHICH ARE CALLED “BADGES.” THAT KIND OF GENTLE SHELTER FOR A YOUNG PERSON’S SPIRIT IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN TOO MUCH COMPETITIVENESS OR CONSTANT CRITICISM. IT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR AN INTROVERTED OR UNDERCONFIDENT CHILD TO HAVE SUCH A GROUP. A SCOUT TROOP PROVIDES RELIABLE ADULTS AND OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE, WHOM THEY WILL COME TO KNOW WELL, AND WHO WILL USUALLY BECOME CLOSE AND CARING FRIENDS. MISTREATMENT WARPS PEOPLE AND KIND TREATMENT PUTS A FRIENDLY AND EMPATHETIC CONSCIOUSNESS AND SPIRIT INTO THEIR MINDS. THE ONE THING THAT I THINK IS SOMETIMES MISSING IS THAT – UNLESS SCOUTING HAS CHANGED A LOT IN THE LAST 50 OR SO YEARS, THERE ARE VERY FEW RACIAL, RELIGIOUS OR ETHNICALLY MIXED GROUPS. I HOPE I’M WRONG IN THAT STATEMENT. PEOPLE SIMPLY WILL NOT LEARN TO RESPECT AND TREASURE THOSE WHO LOOK, TALK, OR THINK DIFFERENTLY IF THEY DON’T HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE IDEAS AND ACTIVITIES. THESE DAYS THERE ARE NOT ONLY BLACK, ASIAN, JEWISH KIDS, BUT ISLAMIC AS WELL IN ALL CITIES AND MOST NEIGHBORHOODS.

THE WAY PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE TURNED SO HARSHLY AGAINST THE ISLAMIC NEWSCOMERS IS SAD AND BODES ILL TO A VERY HIGH DEGREE FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY. DONALD TRUMP IS THE VERY SPIRIT OF DISRESPECT AND EVEN CRUELTY. I’LL NEVER FORGET HIS PHYSICALLY MOCKING A REPORTER WHO HAD A PHYSICAL DISABILITY. EVIL IS NOT GOING TO PRODUCE GOOD GOVERNMENT. THAT KIND OF HOSTILE GROUPTHINK NEEDS TO BE SMOOTHED OUT CONSCIOUSLY AND PERSISTENTLY IN CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, NEIGHBORHOODS, FAMILIES, ETC., ETC., ETC. WE HAVE TO MAKE CHANGES OR WE WILL HAVE A DISASTROUS SITUATION IN AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, AND THAT WOULD CAUSE ME TO GRIEVE DEEPLY. I’M NOT ONE TO BE OVERLY ENERGETIC WITH MY PATRIOTISM, BUT IT IS THERE NONETHELESS. WE MUST THINK ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING, AND FOCUS ON HOW TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP AND HIS ALT-RIGHT GROUPS. THAT SORT OF THING IS SIMPLY NOT PATRIOTISM OF ANY KIND. IT’S MASS INSANITY. IN ADDITION TO THAT, AND PERHAPS ABOVE ALL, WE NEED TO TAKE OUT ALL OF THE COMPETITION BETWEEN CHURCHES AND OTHER GROUPS WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO BRING US TOGETHER AND DO GOOD THINGS. HOW CAN ANYONE THINK THAT THIS PRESENT SITUATION IS A GOOD THING?


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/07/25/trumps-boy-scouts-speech-broke-with-80-years-of-presidential-tradition/?utm_term=.5350c8144e1f
Morning Mix
Trump’s Boy Scouts speech broke with 80 years of presidential tradition
By Katie Mettler and Derek Hawkins July 25, 2017

5 things you wouldn't expect a president to say to the Boy Scouts, but Trump did anyway

Play Video -- President Trump's speech to thousands of Boy Scouts at the National Scout Jamboree in Glen Jean, W.Va., on July 24, took an unexpected turn. (Taylor Turner/The Washington Post)


For 80 years, American presidents have been speaking to the National Scout Jamboree, a gathering of tens of thousands of youngsters from around the world eager to absorb the ideas of service, citizenship and global diplomacy.

In keeping with the Scouts’ traditions, all eight presidents and surrogates who have represented them have stayed far, far away from partisan politics.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt used the occasion to talk about good citizenship. Harry S. Truman extolled fellowship: “When you work and live together, and exchange ideas around the campfire, you get to know what the other fellow is like,” he said.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower invoked the “bonds of common purpose and common ideals.” And President George H.W. Bush spoke of “serving others.”

For a brief moment at this year’s jamboree in West Virgina, President Donald Trump indicated that he would follow that tradition — sort of.

“Who the hell wants to speak about politics when I’m in front of the Boy Scouts?” he said.

Play Video 40:29
Trump's full speech to the National Scout Jamboree

President Trump spoke before the National Scout Jamboree on July 24. It is an 80-year tradition for the sitting president to address the Boy Scouts. (The Washington Post)

Then, standing before all 40,000 of them, he bragged about the “record” crowd size, bashed President Barack Obama, criticized the “fake media” and trashed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. In the lengthy 35-minute speech, the president threatened to fire his health and human services secretary if he couldn’t persuade members of Congress to vote for the Republican health-care bill.

[he Scout Jamboree wasn’t the only time Trump has awkwardly bragged about his election win]

At one point, he told a rambling story about a conversation he had at a New York cocktail party with a once-successful home builder who “lost his momentum.” The lesson, apparently: “You have to know whether or not you continue to have the momentum. And if you don’t have it, that’s okay.”

Throughout the address, Trump dropped in praise for “the moms and the dads and troop leaders” and thanked the Scouts for upholding “the sacred values of our nation.”

A look at President Trump’s first year in office, so far

View Photos Scenes from the Republican’s first six months in the White House.
[Trump and the Republicans just can’t stop running against Hillary Clinton]

It was yet another example of Trump ignoring the custom that past presidents have dutifully observed in such public ceremonies. In his first full day in office, Trump bucked tradition at the CIA when he delivered a campaign-style speech in front of a memorial wall for fallen agency employees. In May, he used a commencement ceremony at the Coast Guard Academy to lament that he has been treated “more unfairly” than any other politician in history. And so it was at this year’s jamboree. Trump, who promised to be different from all the rest, was indeed just that, talking to the Scouts in a way no president ever has.

Here, by way of illustration, is an abbreviated history of American presidents and their encounters with the Boy Scouts jamboree.


President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1935 and 1937)

Roosevelt, once called the “greatest friend Scouting ever had in the White House,” helped secure support from federal and local officials to host the inaugural Scout Jamboree in Washington, D.C., in 1935. There were plans to line the scouts along Constitution Avenue and throw a party on the White House lawn. But the gathering was derailed when a polio outbreak near the nation’s capital put the Scouts at too great a risk.

The President, who said he had looked forward to the jamboree for more than a year, addressed the Boy Scouts by radio instead.

Roosevelt said that Boy Scouts, present and former, “constitute a very real part of our American citizenship” that relies on unselfishness and cooperative attitudes. “Scouting revolves around not the mere theory of service to others but the habit of service to others,” he said.

The young boys should be engaged in civic affairs in their home communities, even before they can legally vote, Roosevelt said, praising “the many contributions that individual Scouts and Scout organizations have made to the relief of suffering, the relief of the needy, to the maintenance of good order and good health, and to the furtherance of good citizenship and good government.”

The great outdoors, he added, are to be loved and understood, and he reminded the boys of their Scout Motto to always “be prepared.”

“When you go out into life, you have come to understand that the individual in your community who always says ‘I can’t’ or ‘I won’t’ or ‘I don’t,’ the individual who by inaction or by opposition slows up honest, practical, far-seeing community effort, is the fellow who is holding back civilization and holding back the objectives of the Constitution of the United States,” Roosevelt said.

“We need more Scouts,” he added. “The more the better. For the record shows that taking it by and large, boys trained as Scouts make good citizens.”

Two years later, Roosevelt joined the Scouts in D.C., where they found his face on the first page of the Jamboree Journal with a greeting and plug for good citizenship, according to Scouting Magazine.

The former president toured the camp site, took 12 Eagle Scouts to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and visited with a group from New York that had built a large replica of the Roosevelt family home, reported the magazine.

(Read or listen to Roosevelt’s full address)


President Harry S. Truman (1950)

This jamboree was on July Fourth at Valley Forge, Pa., where General George Washington brought his army in the winter of 1777. Truman noted the soldiers’ struggles — the bitter cold, lack of food, poor shelter and tattered clothing — to make a greater point about perseverance.

“But the men of Washington’s army stuck it out,” Truman said. “They stuck it out because they had a fierce belief in the cause of freedom for which they were fighting. And because of that belief, they won.”

Truman’s speech morphed into a lesson on international diplomacy, world peace and freedom for all. He listed off the many states and foreign countries from which Scouts had come to attend the jamboree.

“When you work and live together, and exchange ideas around the campfire, you get to know what the other fellow is like,” Truman said. “That is the first step toward settling world problems in a spirit of give and take, instead of fighting about them.”

The “Scout movement,” the former president said, is “good training” for nation building work across the globe. Truman took shots at the dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, then shifted his criticism to “Communist-dominated countries” that are giving children “a completely distorted picture of the world.”

He said:

“The great tragedy of our times is that there are movements in the world that deny this fundamental ideal of human brotherhood. These movements have devoted themselves to preaching distrust between nations. They have made a religion of hate. They have tried to turn the peoples of the earth against one another — to create a gulf between different peoples that fellowship cannot bridge. As a part of this effort, they have tried to poison the minds of the young people.”

The United States, Truman said, “is striving to build a world in which men will live as good neighbors and work for the good of all.” He said he hoped all Boy Scouts in attendance would take home an understanding of “human brotherhood” and “work for freedom and peace with the same burning faith that inspired the men of George Washington’s army here at Valley Forge.”

(Read Truman’s full speech here)

President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon (1953, 1957 and 1960)

Eisenhower, who visited the jamboree in 1950, was unable to physically attend three years later as president but recorded a video message for the Scouts.

Like Truman, he noted the importance of rubbing elbows with fellow Scouts of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. He predicted they would leave the gathering with “a new sense of the vastness and complexities of this nation and of the world.”

“I am confident that, in meeting and talking with your fellow Scouts, you will gain a renewed awareness of the need for cooperating — working together — in our country and in the world,” Eisenhower said. “Bonds of common purpose and common ideals can unite people, even when they come from the most distant and diverse places.”

Nixon spoke on Eisenhower’s behalf in 1957 and Eisenhower delivered another speech three years later, but the transcripts were not readily available.

(Read Eisenhower’s full 1953 address here)


President Lyndon B. Johnson (1964)

Johnson, eight months into his first presidential term, built his address around the theme of the great “American idea,” encouraging the Scouts to remember the country’s history as they work to better its future.

“This country of ours is a community built on an idea,” Johnson said. “Its history is the history of an idea. And its future will be bright only so long as you are faithful to that idea.”

He used their location — again at Valley Forge — to speak of the “idea and a dream” that gave the troops at Valley Forge “the strength to survive the winter.”

The “American idea,” Johnson said, was what the founders outlined in the Constitution: a government of and by the people, religious freedom and the right to speak without censorship.

“As a result, in America we have a Government which exists to protect the freedom and enlarge the opportunities of every citizen,” he said. “That Government is not to be feared or to be attacked. It is to be helped as long as it serves the country well, and it is to be changed when it neglects its duty.”

He touched on the otherness of the Beltway, and how Washington, D.C., “must often seem difficult to understand.” But he reminded the Scouts that government is made of people like them, all over the country, with different home towns and backgrounds and life experiences. Johnson said he was certain a number of them would even grow up to serve their country, too.

“These ideas are as old as your country, but they are not old-fashioned ideas,” he said. “They are as alive and as vital as America itself. I have no doubt that if you remain true to them, you will remember these days of Scouting as only the beginning of a lifetime of useful service to America.”

Looking at the Scouts’ “smiling, optimistic” faces, Johnson said with a hint of melodrama, “will give me strength that I need in the lonely hours that I spend in attempting to lead this great Nation.”

(Read Johnson’s full speech here)

First lady Nancy Reagan on behalf of President Ronald Reagan (1985)

President Reagan was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery during the 1985 jamboree, so first lady Nancy Reagan addressed the crowd in his place, delivering a forceful speech about the perils of drug abuse. Reagan told the Scouts they were “what is most positive about America’s young people today.”

“No one can use drugs and remain a true Boy Scout,” she said. “Drug-free is the best way and the only way to live. Boy Scouts can help save their generation from drugs.”

President George H.W. Bush (1989)

In his remarks at the 1989 jamboree, the elder President Bush touched on everything from the American colonists to salmon fishing to moon outposts. He raved about the potential for a new generation in space exploration and encouraged Scouts to keep a “spirit of wonder, of discovery and adventure” that would draw them to “far distant worlds.”

Like Nancy Reagan before him, Bush devoted a significant part of his speech to the war on drugs, one of the signature domestic policies of his presidency. Bush listed drug abuse as one of his “five unacceptables,” which also included illiteracy, unemployment, child abuse and hunger.

Citing the rise of crack and cocaine, he called on the Scouts to lead by example and refuse “any illegal drug.” He recalled a story about a boy named Ryan Shafer who started using drugs at age 12 and died four years later after becoming a “stranger to his parents and classmates.” Bush implored the Scouts to ask themselves if they knew someone like Ryan and whether they had done everything in their power to help.

“By actively engaging in the lives of others,” Bush said, “you are demonstrating a central theme, a central idea of this administration: that from now on in America, any definition of a successful life must include serving others.”

(Read Bush’s full speech here)

President Bill Clinton (1997)

When Clinton spoke to the Scouts in 1997, it was the 60th anniversary of the first jamboree, and Clinton seemed to revel in the occasion.

With classic Clintonian flair, he name-checked no fewer than a dozen attendees and associates, gave a shout-out to the Arkansas flags flying in the background, recounted his days as a Scout at Ramble Elementary School, then told a more recent story about a scoutmaster from Missouri who tackled a man who had tried to run down pedestrians at a park in Washington (“I don’t know if there’s a Scout merit badge for tackling dangerous people who are violating the law,” he said, “but if there is one, I think he ought to get it.”)

The bulk of his speech focused on people doing “good turns” for one another — a core practice of the Scouts, he said.

“If every young person in America would give back to their community in the way you do, just imagine what we could do,” he said. “Imagine how many fewer problems we could have. So many times I have wished that every young person in America had the chance to be a part of Scouting. And tonight I see why, more clearly than ever. So I hope you’ll go home and help others to serve and learn the joy that you share by the service you do.”

Clinton closed with a quote from French writer Alexis de Tocqueville: “America is great because America is good.”

(Read Clinton’s full speech here)

President George W. Bush (2001 and 2005)

The younger President Bush addressed Scouts directly on two occasions, the first in 2001 during the early days of his presidency. Bad weather had prevented him from appearing in person that year, but he offered some words of advice in a videotaped message, putting his “compassionate conservative” image on full display.

Bush spoke of the Scouts’ “heartland” values that “build strong families, strong communities and strong character.”

“The goodness of a person and of the society he or she lives in often comes down to very simple things,” he said. “Every society depends on trust and loyalty, on courtesy and kindness, on bravery and reverence. These are the values of Scouting and these are the values of America.”

Four years later, Bush spoke for more than 17 minutes, drawing multiple rounds of applause — and even a few laughs — from the tens of thousands of Scouts gathered at the 2005 jamboree. The speech came at a time of growing national tension over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Bush’s popularity was nearing what was then a low point, largely as a result of his handling of the conflicts. Without discussing politics specifically, he struck a somewhat defiant tone, invoking War on Terror rhetoric in his speech.

“Lives of purpose are constructed on the conviction there is right and there is wrong, and we can know the difference,” Bush said, a group of Scouts in matching beige uniforms standing behind him. “You’ll find that confronting injustice and evil requires a vision of goodness and truth.”

“All of you are showing your gratitude for the blessings of freedom,” he continued. “You also understand that freedom must be defended, and I appreciate the Scouts’ long tradition of supporting the men and women of the United States military. Your generation is growing up in an historic time, a time when freedom is on the march, and America is proud to lead the armies of liberation.”

Follow your conscience, Bush told the Scouts, and serve a cause greater than yourself.

(Read Bush’s 2001 speech here)

(Read Bush’s 2005 speech here)

President Barack Obama (2010)

Obama didn’t attend the jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia in 2010, which marked the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. But he did send the Scouts a brief videotaped message praising the organization’s history of community service and legacy of producing national leaders (he noted that 11 of the 12 people who walked on the moon were Scouts).

“That service is worth celebrating, but there’s still more to do,” Obama said. “In the years ahead we’re going to depend on you, the next generation of leaders, to move America forward.”


Katie Mettler is a reporter for The Washington Post's Morning Mix team. She previously worked for the Tampa Bay Times. Follow @kemettler
Derek Hawkins is a reporter with The Washington Post's Morning Mix. Follow @d_hawk



IF DONALD TRUMP WERE MENTALLY HEALTHY AND HAD A FULLY DEVELOPED CONSCIENCE, HE WOULD BE ASHAMED OF HARANGUING SENSITIVE AND IMPRESSIONABLE BOYS WITH ONE OF HIS STRANGE AND DISTURBING POLITICAL SPEECHES. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM, NOT JUST THE BOY SCOUT CHIEF, MAKE A SINCERE AND PUBLIC APOLOGY TO THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE, AND ESPECIALLY TO THE BOYS. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, AND SOON. IT KEEPS GETTING WORSE, AND THAT SHOULD MAKE US ALL NERVOUS.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/boy-scouts-chief-michael-surbaugh-apologizes-for-trumps-speech/
By STEFAN BECKET CBS NEWS July 27, 2017, 3:47 PM
Boy Scouts chief apologizes for Trump's speech

The head of the Boy Scouts of America apologized Thursday for President Trump's speech at the Scouts' annual jamboree, saying it "was never our intent" to inject politics into the event.

"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," Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh wrote Thursday. "We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program."

Mr. Trump addressed a crowd of about 40,000 at the 2017 National Jamboree in West Virginia on Monday, repeatedly mentioning several hot-button political issues. He criticized former President Barack Obama, discussed ongoing efforts in Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare, reflected on his electoral victory and blasted the "fake media."

"I go to Washington and I see all these politicians, and I see the swamp," Mr. Trump told the crowd. "And it's not a good place. In fact today I said we ought to change it from the word 'swamp' to the word 'cesspool' or, perhaps, to the word 'sewer.' But it's not good. Not good."

gettyimages-821843776.jpg
President Trump waves after speaking to Boy Scouts during the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve in Glen Jean, West Virginia, on July 24, 2017. GETTY

Parents and former Scouts were alarmed by the president's pointedly partisan remarks and the reaction of the crowd, which at one point booed when Mr. Trump mentioned Mr. Obama, who also addressed the gathering as president.

Surbaugh wrote Thursday that the gathering was overshadowed by the president's remarks and the ensuing backlash. He noted that presidents had been invited to speak at the gathering since 1937, and the president traditionally serves as the honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America.

Surbaugh said the Scouts' invitation to Mr. Trump was "in no way an endorsement of any person, party or policies."

"For years, people have called upon us to take a position on political issues, and we have steadfastly remained non-partisan and refused to comment on political matters," Surbaugh wrote.

When asked about Surbaugh's comments during Thursday's press briefing at the White House, deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders rejected the suggestion that the president owes the Scouts an apology.

"I was at that event and heard nothing but a lot of cheering," Sanders said. "I haven't seen the statement from the Boy Scouts, so I can't comment any further than what I saw firsthand."



THE FIRST THING I THOUGHT OF WHEN I SAW THAT CROWD AND WHAT HE WAS DOING IS THAT HE IS FOLLOWING OBEDIENTLY IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HITLER, AND STARTING HIS OWN “TRUMP YOUTH” ORGANIZATION. MAYBE THAT WASN’T HIS GOAL, BUT HE WASN’T TRYING TO DO GOOD. WHY HAS HE BEEN DOING THESE RANTS BEFORE AUDIENCES FOR SEVERAL WEEKS LATELY? THE ELECTION IS OVER. IS HE PREPARING PEOPLE FOR SOMETHING MORE, PERHAPS?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/an-open-letter-to-chief-scout-executive-michael-b-surbaugh_us_5978c239e4b01cf1c4bb74cd
An Open Letter To Chief Scout Executive Michael B. Surbaugh
By your own rules, the Jamboree must not be made a youth rally for any political figure or campaign.
07/26/2017 12:49 pm ET | Updated 1 day ago

Photograph -- SAUL LOEB VIA GETTY IMAGES

Ours is a Scouting family. We joined Cub Scouts at 10 and 8, respectively. We joined Boy Scout Troop 24 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania as soon as we were eligible; and we both became Senior Patrol Leaders of that troop, for a combined four years. Our father joined us at every Monday Troop Meeting and attended nearly every one of the 27 nights a year our Troop spent camping up and down the Eastern Seaboard. We attended summer camps from Maryland to Canada. We spent ten combined summers working as counselors at Ockanickon Scout Reservation. We were leaders of our Troop’s Venture Scout program and have hiked hundreds of miles with our Scouting brothers. We have spent hundreds of nights between us camping under the stars following the tradition of Scouting. We are both Order of the Arrow, and we are both proud Eagle Scouts.

We both have young sons, who we hope will share our love of the outdoors and join their own Scout troops someday. But we will insist that they join a scouting organization that will teach them the values of citizenship and leadership, without subjecting them to involuntary indoctrination by the intolerant. We are appalled by Chief Scout Executive Michael B. Surbaugh’s decision to invite President Donald Trump to deliver the keynote address at the Boy Scout Jamboree this week.

The Scout Law states that, “A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.” There is no person in American society today who less embodies the laws of Scouting than President Donald J. Trump, and so we were unsurprised that the President chose to deliver a speech that was xenophobic, jingoistic, riddled with petty political attacks, and which violated, over forty rambling minutes, every tenet of the Scout Law.

To Mr. Trump ― is it trustworthy to continue to reference the size of your Inauguration Day crowds relative to President Obama’s, despite the fact that your repeated claims are demonstrably false? Did it demonstrate loyalty for you to threaten to fire Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Tom Price if he can’t get the votes to overturn the Affordable Care Act? Do you feel brave or courteous attacking Hillary Clinton so many months after the election has ended? Is it reverent to tell Muslim or Jewish scouts that “under the Trump administration you’ll be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again”? Is it the obedience of a mob crowd that you seek when you encouraged the gathered Scouts to boo Ms. Clinton or President Obama? is it cheerful, kind, courteous, or friendly to repeatedly solicit jeers from a crowd of impressionable young men?

To adult Boy Scout leaders from across America, shame on you. The boos and jeers from the crowd Monday were not reflective of the Scouting we grew up with. Allowing your Scouts to participate in Monday’s farcical and disturbing demonstration, and in some cases, to participate in it yourself, are a stain on Scouting.

Prior to the event, Mr. Surbaugh sent out a message to volunteer adults and employees of Scouting, stating that “chants of certain phrases heard during the campaign (e.g. ‘build the wall,’ ‘lock her up’) are considered divisive by many members of our audience, and may cause unnecessary friction between individuals and units.” These tacit suggestions never indicate that these phrases are considered divisive by the Boy Scouts of America.

But by acknowledging the divisive nature of Donald Trump’s presidency, you recognized that inviting such a man was creating a scenario that encouraged friction. You did so in such a way as to make yourself seem blameless, but the BSA taught us to take responsibility for our actions. And your actions run counter to the very rules and regulations of Scouting, which state that “[t]he Boy Scouts of America must not... involve Scouting in political matters.”

Mr. Surbaugh, by your own rules, the Jamboree must not be made a youth rally for any political figure or campaign. Scouting, for us, is a deeply warm community of people of strong ideals and morals, a place to teach and encourage citizenship, not partisanship. It was among the primary formative elements of our youth, and it made us who we are today. But this week, Scouting bears no resemblance to that community. By allowing this political speech to take place during a Jamboree, you have cast our lot in a political sphere in which Scouting has no place, and you have forgotten the face of Lord Baden-Powell, who founded the Boy Scouts in 1910. You must resign, along with Scouting President Randall Stephenson and Jamboree Chairman Ralph de la Vega. All three of you now have the responsibility to show the Scouts under your care how to take ownership over a bad decision.

When you do resign, then for the first time this week you will have exercised your leadership in a way that commands our respect.

Travis and Tyler McCann
Eagle Scouts, Boy Scout Troop 24