Ake says: The Scouts seemed to be very impressed by President Donal John. Perhaps the US youth has become tired of establishment politics, of being talked down to, having their faith and patriotism mocked.


Yes, Ake, I have to admit that the Boy Scouts sounded alarmingly like a Trump campaign rally. That's one of the reasons I left the Scouts in the 1990s. It was becoming politicized, and I found that my political views were not welcome. There are still many Scout troops that don't get into that political stuff, but too many of them do. Here in the Western U.S., the Mormons wield a huge amount of influence in the Boy Scouts. They are very generous and contribute a lot of time and money, but their overwhelming numbers and their overwhelming conservatism got to be too much for me.

Look back at what Presidents from both parties said to the Boy Scouts when they addressed National Jamborees - they all expressed high ideals and told inspiring stories. Reading those speeches, one can't tell whether the President giving them was Democrat or Republican. Even sleazy Presidents like Clinton and Nixon set politics and sleaze aside when they addressed the Boy Scouts. But not Trump.

This wasn't values Trump was talking - it was plain, pure, partisan politics. And there were too many things Trump said that went beyond politics into what is just poor taste. The man is a boor.

-Joe Offer-