Bush greets his fellow Boy Scouts
March 21, 2005
December 2011: Pope Benedict XVI gets the Scout sign wrong!
Given the nature of the reactions that followed the creation of this page, I’d like to add a preamble. First, readers should remember that when faced with any information or message, they must think for themselves above all else. Second, humor can be used to draw attention to information that might otherwise fall outside the usual scope and significance. In these times when freedom of information is at risk, it’s useful to start practicing:
- Writing between the lines – Reading between the lines.
To write between the lines, one uses a mesograph. To read between the lines, use a mesoscope.
I was a Scout when I was a kid. For me, a street kid with no money, used to the asphalt of Paris’s Rue Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Porte de Champerret, it was my first contact with nature. At the 54th Paris Scout Camp, the atmosphere was somewhat peculiar. Nowadays one would say this troop was “coached” by far-right activists. But back then I knew nothing about politics. We were a troop of “raiders.” This was during the Indochina War. The other Scouts wore hats similar to those worn by Canadian Mounted Police, carried sticks with ribbons, wore long shorts and high socks. They played games where they tied scarves to their belts or backs and tried to snatch them from each other. We wore green berets, were dressed in khaki, and did “raids.” During camps we had “parachute jumps.” We were woken up in the middle of the night and loaded onto trucks for Rambo-style missions. From a slowly moving truck we were “dropped” from behind and had to do a “roll and tumble.” Then, in pairs, we had to follow a compass course throughout the night, equipped with surplus American gear. We had khaki flashlights, khaki water bottles, 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 bridge ravines by laying down a fallen tree trunk and then descending via rope rappel. At that age I could cut down a twenty-centimeter-wide tree in seconds, build wooden bridges and set up tents six meters high in trees or on stilts. Additionally, I could set a splint on a broken leg, apply a tourniquet and sew up a wound without flinching.
The troop was led by a leader named Claude and a priest, Abbé Vicat, with gaunt cheeks—the kind who rarely smiled. Actually, we never laughed at all. Nowadays one would say “we were there to suffer.” Well, I loved nature; that was the main thing. But later I realized it wasn’t really necessary to wear such grim faces while camping or doing sports.
We did “drill,” i.e., marching exercises, like Marines with “half-turns while marching,” etc. We sang strange songs, such as:
The street belongs to whoever walks there
The street belongs to the white-hatted flags
Against us, hatred
Against us, shouts and curses
Trampling dark mud
Go the white-hatted flags
Only many years later did I learn this melody came from the Panzer Division that invaded France in ’39. You can find this song of the German Panzer Division at:
http://ingeb.org/Lieder/obssturm.html (archive from July 14, 2026)
or:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-_ixdAzAAY&feature=related
MP3 version: http://bian.ca/refer/obssturb.MP3 (original version)
Songs also covered by the French Foreign Legion (the white-hatted), Chilean troops, etc.
Note the skull on the collar tab. Very stylish.
As an aside regarding the internationalization of military marching songs, I recall that when I joined the Caen-Carpiquet military base for my conscription in 1961, all graduates from elite schools were gathered there. Naturally we got to sing that song, but also others originating from Nazi troops. There was something like “For you, Veronica, ah, ah, ah...” and many more. Imagine the faces of all our Jewish classmates! And in those elite schools, Jews are legion (as one of my friends said: we all have some Jewish blood, otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten an education!).
It didn’t take long to find the German lyrics. When junior lieutenants commanding squads (little Polytechnicians) started singing those marching songs, they were quite baffled.
- But, what is this??? – Sir, isn’t it better to sing them in their original version?
Base command ordered us to sing French versions of those Nazi songs. We suggested traditional French songs instead. Rejection, standoffs, endless punishments, officer-cadets confined to base. But the whole class stood together out of solidarity with Jewish students, and command finally gave in.
Back to my Scout days: I found it curious that when we passed through villages, locals would shut their shutters upon our arrival.
Finally, in this somewhat odd atmosphere, I went caving at Rochefort, sailed in rough weather on a gunboat near Benodet. I recall images very much like those in the movie “The Crab with the Golden Claws,” where the gunboat plunges into waves during a storm.
It was a change from asphalt and playing boat races in gutters.
At every camp we had “casualties.” That is, many kids were “evacuated to the rear”—meaning their parents came to pick them up, often in rather poor condition. It surprises me that back then they didn’t put down those unfit to travel. Looking back, it’s amazing we had no deaths. Still, this training served me well when I became a safari guide in Kenya, much later.
What I remember most is the Scout salute. See drawing A below.
Normally, this allows former Scouts to recognize each other on the street or subway. Sometimes I meet people who seem athletic and I think “maybe they were Scouts?” and make the sign. But since it never really worked, over time I stopped doing it.
Yet there are plenty of Scouts. The Pope, for example, was also a Scout. Proof: he makes sign B. That must be the Vatican Scouts. Since I was never present at his public appearances, I couldn’t tell if other Scouts in his group responded.
Actually, if you look closely, many people have been Scouts. It’s nice to recognize each other by a hand signal. Churchill, for instance, made the sign of English Scouts (C). Back then, lots of folks made the same sign and were probably Scouts too, in England. I didn’t know Le Pen had been a Scout there, since he often makes the same sign as Churchill.
Eventually I realized Scout signs vary from country to country. Sign D, for example, is used by Arab Scouts. If you pay attention, practically all Mullahs were Scouts, as was Bin Laden.
In E, the recognition sign for American Scouts.
In January 2001 George W. Bush was elected President of the United States. There’s a video referencing that period. One thing I found interesting: when Bush marched publicly after his inauguration, as shown in the video, he made a variation of the American Scout sign with his hand. He thus greeted his childhood Scout buddies from his youth camps. You see this sign at the start of the video. Olivier Rouault, who knows computers better than me, extracted the brief clip where Bush makes this sign:
Bush greeting his former Scout buddies
This short sequence appears at the beginning of a 40-minute video:
http://crea.sites.free.fr/gwbushlepetroleaupouvoir.wmv
This gesture clearly meant a lot to Bush, because I noticed he often makes it. It proves he retained a youthful spirit.
Recognition sign of the Scout troop G.W. Bush belonged to.
A reader sent me photos of him doing this, but I wondered if it might be a fake, since it didn’t match the sign I knew, sign E, the American Scout sign. If anyone has these images, I’d love to add them here. The video shows he truly makes the sign; I wonder which Scout troop it was. If someone could shed light on this, it’d be great. What surprises me is how many people were Scouts in that troop—in the U.S., for example, Berlusconi. Again, if you have photos, it’d help identify it.
Anyway, this proves Scoutism is far more widespread than most realize.
Another photo of Bush making a sign to former Scout comrades.
Photo by J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press
Bush addressing Scouts at an American university
Younger, in Texas, with a Scout leader at a camp
On the street
At the office
When Bush’s hands are busy, his aide makes the Scout sign in his place
Here’s something I didn’t know: Mrs. Bush also did Scouting in her country:
Mr. and Mrs.
At every event they never forget to show their unwavering devotion to Baden Powell’s movement
Traditions fade, but in the Bush family they seem very much alive, despite Scoutism’s somewhat outdated image. The photo above shows Mrs. Bush was also part of a Scout group. In the next photo, seemingly showing one of George W. Bush’s daughters, we see the younger generation proudly adopting the recognition sign of their parents.
Bush, proud of his daughter, also initiated into Scouting
Condoleezza recognized the sign
Others loyal to the same Scout movement:
Dick Cheney
Tom Ridge, former head of U.S. security services
It’s confirmed: Berlusconi was in the same Scout troop as Bush:
Me too, I’m in...
And I confirm it!
Likewise, Schwarzenegger’s wife, from the Kennedy family, photographed here on her wedding day:
Of course, one hallmark of Scoutism is its reach across all social strata:
The Beatles (right: John Lennon reminds us he was a Scout as a child)
Clinton, with a Scout leader
Another ex-Scout, politician Dan Quayle from Indiana
Michaël Youn, TV host
I believe this guy is a “Scout Rocker” at a Jamboree
Finally, an elderly bearded ex-Scout
Four years later (see entire page), in January 2009, a surprising discovery: Sarkozy was also in the same Scout troop as Bush, Berlusconi and many others:
Before his election, left. After his election, right, showing loyalty to Baden Powell’s movement
What a wonderful movement, transcending petty divisions and oceans
The nice thing is that Scouts worldwide have recognition signs. Here, Obama, shortly after his election, recalls his membership—even using both hands to ensure he’s understood. Scoutism truly crosses borders and skin color.
But, according to one reader, with thumb free it means “I love you” in sign language
Was Obama speaking to deaf-mutes that day? Question: How do deaf-mute Scouts recognize each other?
Here, another photo of Obama addressing deaf-mutes
Obama, now president, thanking his deaf-mute voters
Amazingly, and I never noticed before, so many speakers from all walks of life and regions of the world never forget to give a friendly salute to deaf-mutes:
Hillary Clinton greeting deaf-mutes
Bill Clinton sending warm thoughts to the hard-of-hearing
Touching concern from Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate
Two McDonald’s executives: one greets deaf-mutes, the other makes the Scout sign
Same man, greeting Japanese Scouts
Finally, a Thai general sending a love message to his country’s deaf-mutes
Other variants of the World Scout Organization:
The Dalai Lama
Obama and... deaf-mute Scouts?
Clearly meant for deaf-mutes
So many deaf-mutes worldwide!
Another Beetle-Scout
Cher performs a musical show for deaf-mutes
Celine Dion at a Las Vegas concert for deaf-mutes
Another artist at a concert for deaf-mutes
Michael Jackson’s delicate gesture toward deaf-mutes
Subtle nod from Bush to local Scout buddies at Queen Elizabeth’s house
Mac Conaughey, former Scout
Another showbiz member, former Scout
Elizabeth Taylor greeting deaf-mutes worldwide
Christmas 2011:
We know Pope Benedict XVI is elderly (84), has trouble moving and speaking, which brings him closer to God. It’s a pity that during his homily he made a mistake with the sign. Vatican Scouts have their own recognition sign (red box, left). But faithful followers will surely forgive this error, due to the Grand Shepherd’s advanced age:
