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In the world of politics, delivering a speech to a group of Boy Scouts should be a slam-dunk.

It's a bunch of kids, and good kids at that — kids who believe in hard work, self-reliance and American values. To a crowd like this, all it takes is a childhood anecdote, a few inspirational quotes and a general call to be good citizens, and the politician gets to ride off the stage on a wave of good feeling. And, what's more important to a politician, they get away without committing news.

If that politician is the sitting president, there's the added perk that he is, by long Scouting tradition, the honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America.

One would have to be a buffoon — a politically incompetent, self-absorbed narcissist — to screw up an opportunity like that. Or one would have to be Donald Trump.

On Monday, Trump addressed about 40,000 Scouts and Scout leaders at the National Scout Jamboree at Summit Bechdel Reserve in West Virginia.

If anyone thought Trump would say something uplifting to the Scouts, something that would place the Scouts as the center of the event, then they haven't been paying attention. As usual, Trump made it all about Trump.

After asking "who the hell wants to talk about politics when I'm in front of the Boy Scouts?," he proceeded to do just that. He talked about his election victory and his drive to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and took a dig at his predecessor, Barack Obama (who, by the way, was a Boy Scout as a kid).

The closest he came to inspirational was a weirdly rambling story about meeting real-estate developer William Levitt — the guy who created the first prefab suburb, Levittown — at a New York cocktail party. Yeah, that will connect with Boy Scouts.

Responses came hot and fast. People, including current and former Scouts, urged the BSA to distance itself from Trump's partisan speechmaking. The BSA issued a lukewarm statement of neutrality.

But people — especially former Scouts, like me — expect more out of the Boy Scouts. Scouts are supposed to uphold a set of values, the 12 traits iterated in the Scout Law.

How well does Trump embody the tenets of the Scout Law? Pretty poorly; just one out of 12.

Trustworthy • The fact-checking site Politifact has tallied Trump's statements as a candidate and in office and found 68 percent of them were "mostly false," "false" or "pants on fire." The Washington Post's Fact Checker blog counted up 29 false or misleading statements Trump made in one 26-hour period (including during his jamboree speech).

Loyal • Loyalty is a one-way street in Trumptown. He demands it, but never gives it back. Ask Jeff Sessions.

Helpful • Not to the hundreds of businesses and workers who claim he stiffed them on jobs he hired them to do over the years.

Friendly • Not to Angela Merkel at their first meeting.

Courteous • Not to Dusko Markovic, the prime minister of Montenegro, whom Trump pushed aside to get to the front of a photo op at a NATO summit in May.

Kind • Kind people don't brag to Billy Bush about grabbing women in their private parts.

Obedient • As president, as he did as a businessman, he seems to think he has no one he has to obey except himself.

Cheerful • Does he look like he's having fun? He has groused about his new job and never seems to be enjoying it. He smiles only when thousands are cheering at him or when he's cracking mean jokes about his subordinates.

Thrifty • Thrifty people don't decorate in gaudy gold leaf. They also don't go bankrupt running a casino — an industry built on people literally handing you their money.

Brave • Trump received five deferments from the draft during the Vietnam War, the last one for bone spurs in his feet — an ailment that seemingly hasn't slowed his golf game.

Clean • Have to give him this one. Trump is a teetotaler and a germaphobe.

Reverent • As a candidate, Trump declared the Bible was his favorite book — but, when asked, was unable to recite a favorite verse.

The presidency, like the Boy Scouts, is supposed to reflect the best of America. When it doesn't, all of us are poorer for it.

Sean P. Means is on Twitter @moviecricket. Email him at spmeans@sltrib.com.