• ssj2marx@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    I hate this dunk because it’s clearly shown in the original video that the DPRK officer saluted Trump first. The president salutes like fifty Marines every single day, it’s not strange for him to reflexively salute someone else without thinking about it.

      • ssj2marx@lemmy.ml
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        4 months ago

        My point is that if you see people salute you and you salute them back, do it enough times and it will become a reflex. The response to Obama bowing to someone in a culture where bowing is totally normal was equally stupid, but it was conservatives doing it instead of liberals.

      • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        If I were President, and I were meeting with an enemy face to face, and they saluted me, I’d salute them back.

        I have not served in any military and am not aware of the official meaning of a salute.

        But I have had enemies and if I were meeting with one of my enemies and they saluted me, I would salute them.

        This is just based on my gut feel of the gesture’s meaning from watching movies. My gut feel is it’s a combination of:

        • This handshake indicates we’re both listening intently and ready to talk
        • I see you. We are the same despite our ranks, because we’ve both put ourselves here, and because we’re both equally susceptible to bullets.

        I could be wrong, and I’m asking for correction if I am, but based on that I’d salute an enemy soldier if he was standing there ready to meet with me.

        Thing is though, with a politician it’s different. I don’t know if Trump’s ever been shot at. Probably not. So the “hello, spiritual brother” thing that can apply to any other soldier even enemy is less there with a politician.

        I don’t know. Just saying it seems natural to me to salute an enemy. Like “this sucks, maybe we can end it today” feeling to it for me. Framing the war as a problem they’re facing together.

      • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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        4 months ago

        Eh, in Trump’s case it was best to be running in autopilot… His tweets were him “thinking”

      • ssj2marx@lemmy.ml
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        4 months ago

        It was a diplomatic meeting, what were they gonna do? Kidnap the president of the united states?