(As I begin all of my politically centered articles, this is simply my opinion and thoughts)

I have a huge place in my heart for the Boy Scouts of America. I was an employee for them the last two and a half summers, and the experiences I received and the people I met through the BSA have absolutely changed my life. I want my future children to be in Boy Scouts or Venture Scouts one day, and I hope to get involved with their troops.

Now upon saying all of that, Trump's speech at National Jamboree has me angry and baffled. Politically I do not align with the President's views, but I had no quarrel with the BSA having him come speak at Jamboree. He is the President, and like past Presidents that spoke there, he had every right to do so. What baffled and angered me was the way he used Jamboree, a gathering of scouts from all over the country, and even the world, as a political rally. He made a celebration of a children's organization into something solely about himself, and that is not ok.

What President Trump doesn't seem to realize is that scouting is an organization full of people of every belief and walk of life. I know a scout from Egypt who was at Jamboree. One of my dearest friends, a young woman in a leadership position for the Venture Scouts was there as well. Through my time working for the BSA, I have met scouts of all religious faiths, including Muslim scouts. I know scouts who are incredibly liberal, and scouts who are very conservative. What I'm trying to get at is that though he had every right to be on that stage, President Trump's rhetoric was incredibly divisive to his audience during an event aimed at uniting the scouts who could attend.

Before writing this article, I wanted to find a past President's Jamboree speech just to make sure I wasn't off base in my feelings towards Trump's address. In my research, I found the transcript of President George W. Bush's speech at the 2005 jamboree. Reading his speech, I was instantly struck by how beautifully civil and welcoming it was. He did a little self-promotion towards the end (I guess that's politics), but the vast majority of the speech was aimed at praising the Boy Scouts, and the future leaders sitting in the audience in front of him. President Bush was also a conservative President, this has nothing to do with political leanings. This has to do with grace and respect, which Bush showed perfectly while Trump failed to do.

My question is, why would he turn this into his own self-promotion? Why would our President turn his speech to the scouting community into terrible political commentary? Why couldn't he of done what President Bush did and addressed the scouts directly and talked about the community in front of him, instead of completely ignoring the reason he was brought on stage. As the leader of our country, the young men and women in that audience deserved a better speech, one without such divisive rhetoirc, and the President didn't give them that.

If anyone wants to counter what I wrote feel free to do so, this is the internet and I'm sure plenty of people disagree, but also take a minute and read President Bush's speech, and compare it to President Trump's. The differences are astounding.