Biden could approach and pay respects, but WAS NOT allowed to 'lay' the wreathe
For comparison, here are past presidents, actually elected and recognized by the US military as their commander in chief. Wreathe is presented for the POTUS to lay, rather than already there to begin with.
Here's Trump
And Obama
And Bush
And Clinton
And Reagan
Only Biden was denied the laying. Could approach and pay respects, but not lay it. Aligns with being a foreign dignitary rather than the POTUS.
Now THAT is weird. I’ve been throwing cold water in the ‘military lacks respect’ angle but have to,admit, this supports his not having the proper authority. Not to mention, it looks awkward as hell. Is the excuse perhaps that they want,social distancing? I thought masks fixed that, eh Fauci?
None of the NG social distanced when they were deployed and billeted throughout the Capital. No one in attendance social distanced. They didn't social distance when they gave the 21 gun salute to Biden at Arlington later in the 2+1@9second configuration.
So no, that's not a valid excuse.
And in case you missed it, here is the case that Biden was greeted as a foreign dignitary with his salute at Arlington. Scroll down to get to the comment.
It wasn’t my assertion that the distancing was the real reason, only that they would use it. As to the salute, I don’t have time to watch 20 videos. I am certain The Old Guard would not knowingly jeopardize their time-honored standards. If there were actually only 17 volleys, it was because they were ordered to do so. Number of guns and interval timing of volleys is unimportant.
All my videos are all queued up, so you can spend ~5 seconds on any link of mine you click.
Now, if number of guns and interval timing were unimportant as you suggest then you'd expect them to be standardized.
If however they are important, you'd be unable to find examples of the POTUS (other than Biden) receiving his 21 in a 2+1@9sec configuration, and you should be able to find foreign dignitaries receiving their 21 with 3+1@3sec configurations.
I can find no examples of either, so I conclude that yes, gun numbers and intervals absolutely matter.
Ok, go with you assertion rather than intel from someone who served there. I don’t GAF. Was just trying to help for fucks sake.
This fucking board....attack your allies, really brilliant. The internet creates lots of bravery.