Respect Our President

Is it just me or does there seem to be more open disrespect and hatred for President Barack Obama than other presidents over the past 30 years?

I have (had) a Facebook friend who called the President the “idiot in my White House” in a post because the President went on a bus tour of the Midwest. I mean he WAS working. It’s not like he was touring with ZZ Top.

I responded that it’s OK to disagree with the President’s politics or policies but it’s totally unacceptable to publically disrespect the President or the Office of the President. He wasn’t hearing any of it. In his opinion, President Obama was “an idiot” and has no right being President of the United States. I guess it doesn’t matter that he WON the election in 2008.

There’s a website called “Godlikeproductions.com” that seems to be a venting spot for everything from conspiracies to disasters to science to politics. I’m not trying to sell this site, but you can find a lot of “different” types of discussions. To my original point, someone posted “President Obama sucks at golf.” One follow-up comment said, “u don’t have to mention his title ‘president’-evrybody’ll know which a**hole u mean if u just say ‘obama.’”

To quote my friend Mark who comments on a lot of topics here on Palm Desert Patch, “Come on, man!” If you Google “anti-Obama” you’ll find literally hundreds of sites and blogs ranging from “Anti Obama.net” to sites selling T-shirts and bumper stickers that disrespect the President. Has our country really come to this? Ugly T-shits and bumper stickers?

I spent 40 years of my adult life practicing and defending the First Amendment, even right here in the Coachella Valley. People have the constitutional right to express their opinions … even when their actions show their Neanderthal thinking.

But I was always taught that with every right comes a responsibility. People can express themselves but they have the responsibility to be civil. OK, lest you think (like my former Facebook friend thinks) that I’m a flaming left wing, liberal, President Obama apologist … I’m not. In fact, I am apolitical. I was raised in a Republican household.

I voted that way, most of the time. I voted for Bush I and II. I felt betrayed by Bush II so I voted for Obama because I wanted a change. Am I disappointed in his performance? Yes. Will I vote for him again? I’m not sure. But I WILL NOT disrespect the office of the President like my friend did and like the Teabaggers like to do. Disagreeing is noble. Being angry and intolerant and disrespectful is something quite different … and, in my opinion, dangerous. After all we’re talking about the President, stupid!