Is George W. Bush jinxing the Boy Scout Jamboree by constantly failing to show up? From WaPo, some evidence that Bush's inability to turn up is having a tragic impact on the Scouts' luck:
President Bush postponed his visit to the Boy Scout National Jamboree in central Virginia until Sunday so that officials could be sure to make appropriate plans for handling any heat problems in the crowd, White House officials said today.
Officials said last night that Bush would come to the Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill today after storms that moved through the region forced him to cancel a planned appearance yesterday. But those plans were scrapped this morning as Scout officials dealt with the aftereffects from the weather. More than 300 Scouts had to be treated for heat problems, including dehydration and light-headedness, after waiting in the blazing sun for more than two hours in their dress uniforms to see Bush.
The Boy Scouts marched onto the field singing, plopping down in the grass to wait for President Bush. But hours later, the news that Bush couldn't make it was drowned out by sirens and shouts as hundreds fell ill because of the blistering heat.
The heat problems seemed to stem from the long security lines necesstated by a presidential visit:
... Despite temperatures in the high 90s yesterday, hundreds of Scouts stood in long security lines in the afternoon and then sat waiting in an open field for the president. Supplies of ice and water were provided to the Scouts, but still many succumbed to the heat. According to the AP, soldiers from the fort helped carry sick Scouts on stretchers to the hospital and emergency workers from surrounding jurisdictions were called in to help treat and transport them.
And further proof of the Bush Jamboree jinx:
At the last jamboree four years ago, Bush's trip was also canceled because of bad weather, in which lightning strikes caused minor injuries to two Scouts. He spoke to the group a day later by videotape.
What's with all the security, anyway? This is a Boy Scout Jamboree... are we fearing the Scouts have been infiltrated by al-Qaida?
What a tragic week for the Boy Scouts, particularly as they face losing their funding from the Defense Department, to the tune of $8 million. (Hang on, what is the Defense Department doing giving money to the Boy Scouts...? Are they somehow playing apart in the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism...?) Anyway, as someone who a long, long time ago participated in Scouting, it's sad to see such bad luck hanging around...
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