Salute when you say that.
Watching the Reagan stuff on TV this morning I got to thinking about how much we like military ceremony and regimentation in this country.
Why does so much of this "state funeral" revolve around uniformed soldiers, and gunshot salutes, and marching?
Why aren't the pallbearers Senators and community leaders? The President is the leader of more than just the military.
I've noticed this in the General Aviation world too. Many pilots tend to enjoy pretending to be military. Not just the gear and equiment, but the procedures and structure.
It's interesting that an otherwise totally civilian pilot will salute you at the conclusion of some maneuver, like we saw from the fighter pilots on Top Gun. And groups of pilots and av enthusiasts will call their clubs -- which are all about building planes in their garages -- "squadrons", and will call the club president "commander", and the newsletter editor "information officer".
What is it that fascintates us I wonder.
Posted by jackhodgson at June 11, 2004 01:07 PM