Bush salutes his fellow Boy Scouts
March 21, 2005
January 18, 2009: Astonishing discovery: Sarkozy and Obama were in the same scouting movement as Bush and Berlusconi!
December 2011: Pope Benedict XVI makes a mistake with the scouting sign!
Given the reactions following the launch of this page, I would like to add a preamble. First, readers are reminded that, in the face of any information or message, they should think for themselves above all. The second point is to recall that humor can be used to draw attention to information that might otherwise fall into another category and be of a completely different caliber. In these times when the freedom to inform risks vanishing at any moment, it is not useless to begin training ourselves to:
- Write between the lines - Read between the lines.
To write between the lines, one uses a
mesographer.
To read between the lines, use a
mesoscope.
I was a scout when I was a kid. For the street kid I was, with no money, used to the asphalt of Rue Jean-Baptiste Dumas and the Porte de Champerret in Paris, it represented my first contact with nature. At the 54th Paris troop, the atmosphere was a bit strange. Today we might say this troop was "coached" by people from the far right. But back then I knew nothing about politics. We were a "raider" troop. This was during the Indochina War. Other scouts wore hats like the Canadian Mounted Police, staffs with ribbons, long shorts, and high socks. They played games where they pinned scarves to their belts, on their backs, trying to steal them from each other. We wore green berets, were dressed in khaki, and did "raids." During camps, we were made to "parachute." We were woken up in the middle of the night and loaded into a truck for a Rambo-style mission. From a truck moving at moderate speed, we were "dropped" from the back and rolled down the hill. Then, in pairs, we had to follow a compass bearing all night, equipped with gear from American surplus. We had khaki flashlights, khaki canteens, and knives with 20-centimeter blades (other scouts had Swiss Army knives). At eleven years old, we crossed rivers naked, with all our gear strapped to our heads. We knew how to cross ravines by laying a log across, felling it with an axe in minutes, and rappelling down a rope. At that age, I could quickly cut down a twenty-centimeter diameter tree, build a pegged bridge, and set up a tent six meters high in a tree or on stilts. Incidentally, I could also apply splints to a broken leg, tie a tourniquet, and without flinching, suture a wound.
The troop was coached by a troop leader named Claude and a priest, Abbé Vicat, with gaunt cheeks, the kind who rarely laugh. In fact, we never laughed at all. Nowadays we'd say "we were there to suffer." Well, I loved nature—it was mostly that. But later I realized it wasn't really necessary to wear such a grim expression while camping or doing sports.
We did "drill," meaning marching exercises, Marines-style with "about-face while marching," etc. We sang strange songs, like:
The street belongs to whoever walks it
The street belongs to the white helmets
Against us, hatred
Against us, cries and curses
Trampling dark mud
Go the white helmets
It wasn't until many years later that I learned this tune came from the German Panzer division that swept across France in 1939.
You can find this song from the German Panzer division (tanks) at:
http://ingeb.org/Lieder/obssturm.html
or:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-_ixdAzAAY&feature=related
MP3 version:
http://bian.ca/refer/obssturb.MP3
(original version)
Songs adopted by the French Foreign Legion (the white helmets), Chilean troops, etc.
Notice the skull on the collar lapel. Very fitting.
Taking a detour on the internationalization of military marching songs, I recall that when I was drafted into the Caen-Carpiquet base for my military service in 1961, all the students from the grandes écoles were gathered there. Of course, we were forced to sing this song, but also others straight from Nazi troops. There was something like "For you, Véronika, Ah, Ah, Ah..." and many other songs. Imagine the faces of our Jewish classmates. And in the grandes écoles, they are legion (as one of my friends from that time said: we all have a bit of Jewish blood, otherwise we wouldn't have studied!).
It didn't take long to find the German lyrics. And when the young lieutenants commanding the sections (tiny polytechnicians) began singing these marching songs, they were somewhat taken aback.
-
But what is this?
-
Sir, isn't it better to sing them in the original version?
The base command tried to force us to sing French versions of these Nazi songs. We offered traditional French songs. Refused. A standoff. Punishments galore. Cadets confined to base. But the entire class stood united, out of solidarity with the Jewish students, and the command had to yield.
Returning to my scouting days, I found it simply curious that whenever we passed through villages, the locals would close their shutters as we went by.
Finally, in this somewhat strange atmosphere, I explored the Rochefort caves via spelunking, navigated rough seas on a corvette near Benodet. I remember images that looked very much like those in the film "The Crab with the Golden Claws," when you see the corvette plunging into the waves during a storm.
It was a change from asphalt and playing games of navigating boats through gutters.
At every camp, we had "losses"—meaning a large number of kids were "evacuated to the rear," i.e., their parents came to pick them up, often in poor condition. I'm amazed that back then, they didn't just finish off the untransportable. Looking back, it's astonishing we didn't have any deaths. But let's say this training served me well later when I became a safari guide in Kenya.
What I remember most is the scout salute. See drawing A on the following page.
Normally, this allows former scouts to recognize each other in the street or on the metro. Sometimes I see people who look quite athletic and think, "Maybe they were scouts?" So I make the sign. But since I never had much success, over the years I eventually gave up.
There are plenty of scouts, though. The Pope, for example, was also a scout. Proof: he makes sign B. That must correspond to the Vatican scouts. Since I've never been present at his public appearances, I couldn't see if other scouts from his troop responded to him.
In fact, if you look closely, many people have been scouts. It's quite nice to recognize each other with a hand gesture. Churchill, for example, made the British scout sign (C). At that time, there were many people making the same sign, who were likely also scouts in England. I didn't know Le Pen had been a scout there, since he often makes the same sign as Churchill.
I eventually realized that scout signs can vary from country to country. For example, sign D is the Arab scout sign. When you're observant, you notice that practically all the mullahs were scouts, as well as Ben Laden.
Sign E is the American scout recognition sign.
In January 2001, George W. Bush was elected President of the United States. There's a video from that period. I found something quite nice. When Bush parades publicly after his inauguration, as shown in this video, he makes a variation of the American scout sign with his hand. He's saluting his old school buddies with whom he must have done camps when he was a kid. You can see this sign at the beginning of the video. Olivier Rouault, who knows more about computers than I do, extracted the brief clip where he makes this sign:
Bush saluting his former scout friends
This short sequence appears at the beginning of the 40-minute video:
http://crea.sites.free.fr/gwbushlepetroleaupouvoir.wmv
It clearly made a strong impression on Bush, because I noticed he makes this sign often. This proves he remains very youthful in spirit.
The recognition sign of the scout troop to which G.W. Bush once belonged.
A reader sent me photos of him doing this, but I wondered if it wasn't a montage, since it didn't resemble the sign I knew before—the E sign, the American scout sign. If anyone has these images, I could include them on this page. This video suggests he really is making a sign, and I wonder then which scout troop he could have belonged to. If anyone could shed light on this. What surprises me is that so many people were in this troop, in the United States—for example, Berlusconi. Again, if you have photos, they would help clarify things.
This at least proves one thing: scouting is far more widespread than people think.
Another photo of Bush giving a sign to his former scout troop.
Photo by J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press
Bush addressing American university scouts
Younger, in Texas, with a scout leader during a scout camp
In the street
At the office
When Bush's hands are busy, his assistant makes the scout sign for him.
Here's something I didn't know: Mrs. Bush also did scouting in her country:
Mr. and Mrs.
At every event, they never fail to show their unwavering loyalty to Baden Powell's movement.
Traditions fade, but in the Bush family they seem instead very much alive, despite the somewhat outdated nature of scouting. The photo above clearly shows that Mrs. Bush was also part of scout movements. On the next photo, which seems to show one of George W. Bush's daughters, you can see the next generation is already carrying on the tradition, proudly displaying the recognition sign adopted by her parents.
Bush, very proud of his daughter, also initiated into scouting
Condy recognized the sign
Others, faithful to their membership in the same scout movement:
Dick Cheney
Tom Ridge, former head of U.S. security services
It's confirmed that Berlusconi was in the same scout troop as Bush:
Me too, I'm in it...
And I confirm it!
As well as the wife of Schwarzenegger, from the Kennedy family, photographed here on their wedding day:
Of course, one characteristic of the scouting movement is that it touches all levels of society:
The Beetle
(on the right, John Lennon reminds us he was a scout as a child)
Clinton, accompanied by a scout leader
Another former scout, politician, Dan Quayle, from Indiana
Michaël Youn, television presenter
I think this one is a scout rocker, during a jamboree
Finally, a specimen of an old scout, bearded
Four years later (see the entire page), in January 2009, an astonishing discovery:
Sarkozy was also in the same scout troop as Bush, Berlusconi, and many others:
Before his rise to power, on the left. After his election, on the right, demonstrating his loyalty to the movement founded by Baden Powell
What a wonderful movement, beyond petty divisions, beyond oceans
What's nice is that scouts worldwide have recognition signs. Here, Obama, shortly after his election, reminds us of his membership in the movement, and he does it with both hands, to be absolutely sure he's understood. Scouting truly transcends borders and skin color.
But, according to a reader, with a raised thumb, it means "I love you" in sign language.
Was Obama speaking to deaf-mute people that day?
Question: How do deaf-mute scouts recognize each other?
Here's another image of Obama addressing deaf-mute people:
Obama, now president, thanking his deaf-mute voters
What's surprising, and I'd never noticed it before, is the number of speakers from all sides and all regions of the world who never forget to send a friendly salute to the deaf-mute:
Hillary Clinton, saluting the deaf-mute
Bill Clinton, sending a heartfelt thought to the hard-of-hearing
Even Sarah Palin, the vice-presidential candidate, shows touching concern
Two McDonald's executives, one saluting the deaf-mute, the other making the scout sign
The same one, saluting Japanese scouts
Finally, a Thai general sending a message of love to the deaf-mute in his country
Other variations of the World Organization of the Scout Movement:
The Dalai Lama
Obama and the... deaf-mute scouts?
Here, it's clearly for the deaf-mute
of the world!
Another beetle-scout
Dear, give a musical performance for the deaf-mute
Celine Dion during a show in Las Vegas for the deaf-mute
Another artist, during this concert for the deaf-mute
Michael Jackson's delicate gesture toward the deaf-mute
Subtle wink from Bush, at the Queen of England, to local scout friends
Mac Conaughey, former scout
Another showbiz figure, former scout
Elizabeth Taylor saluting deaf-mute people worldwide
December 2011:
We know that the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, is elderly (84 years old), has difficulty moving and articulating his messages, which makes him closer to God. It's unfortunate that during his homily he made a mistake with the sign. Indeed, the Vatican scouts have their own recognition sign (outlined in red, on the left). But the faithful will surely forgive this error, attributable to the advanced age of the Great Shepherd.
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