>"There’s no regulation that stipulates presidents must salute the troops. In fact, for the first 192 years of our republic, it didn’t happen. None of the first 38 commanders in chief did it. And some of those dudes had some serious military experience. Eisenhower? Grant? I mean, Teddy Roosevelt was a war hero. Surely he felt compelled to click his heels together and cut a perfect knife-handed salute when he passed a uniform service member, right? Wrong. It was literally something that Ronald Reagan made up one day."
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That's very true - I read this morning as well that Reagan was the one who started doing it.

But I'm going back to my original point. There's a history of Barack Obama and "symbolic communication". Not just to the military but other areas as well. He truly doesn't care about "bad optics". Doesn't care one bit. He gets away with it, because he has used his most powerful weapon as both a shield and a sword.

By itself, what Obama did here is a non-issue. But when you have someone who has demonstrated some actual disrespect towards the military, the slightest little incident will be placed under a microscope.