You should respect the office of the POTUS

We are currently in my opinion being encouraged to disrespect the government through media conditioning. Over the course of the last year, numerous TV stations refer to the President as "Mr. Obama". In all my years, I don't recall any American, especially when speaking to the public, ever refer to the President as anything BUT Mr. President.

The only people that generally refer to any US President as Mr. are foreign heads of state, foreign publications, etc.

While sometimes media coverage would simply say "Bush" or "Obama", adding the Mr. In the place of President shows complete disrespect for the office of POTUS IMO.

Personally, I respect what the POTUS is supposed to represent, I respect the Constution more than any politician, but I certainly don't respect the current actions of this, or past, administrations. I refuse however to throw the baby out with the bath water and have hope that someday respect will return to the Oval Office and those that represent our nation. Our forefathers have been rolling over in their graves for the last 20 years I would imagine.

Originally posted by TKDRL
Who in their right minds respect inanimate objects? Makes no sense

I wish I would have gone witrh a safer reply such as yours. A reply that didn't invite a previously prejudiced verbal head bashing with malice, over a mere opinion about another human being. Which in turn subjects the author of said reply to feelings of non-acceptance amoungst peers and unwavering awkwardness.

Whah ! Whah ! Whah!

Because whether you agree to the policies or not, this person managed to beat 350 million Americans for a job that has only been held by 44 people.

The average American will only live long enough to see 11 presidents.

Your chances of becoming president are 1 in 10,000,000.

To put it in perspective, you have an equal chance of getting killed by falling airplane parts.

These days we require an insane amount of education from our presidents.
Which I think should actually increase the odds, as most people never get to these schools.

Obama went to Columbia and Harvard.
Bush went to Yale and Harvard.
Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar, which is an incredible achievement.

And despite how much ATSers think that the seat is invaluable, there aren't any on this site that would be able to handle the job.

There is a reason presidents come out looking 20 years older after only a few short years.

reply to post by DelMar


the people are scared for being abducted by the government, they don't say this but really deep inside they know.

respect gained by fear

nanu nanu

reply to post by nixie_nox


silver tongue and a agenda is easy..

kay-o?

reply to post by newcovenant


I am not in the military, and I don't have to respect anybody whom I feel doesn't deserve it.

The people I do know who are in the military DO NOT respect their superiors, but they do, however, listen to them, because they have to. Blind obedience and respect for the puppet who shouts the orders are two different things, but the end result is the same.

You should respect the office of the POTUS

No.

The office of POTUS should respect me.

I respect the office, not the man

hard to respect when barry goes out of his way to screw you

Originally posted by jazzguy

hard to respect when barry goes out of his way to screw you

The only difference here is one is real and yours is photo shopped.
Mission Accomplished means we forced that PATRIOT ACT through and "We got what we wanted out of the Museum!" lol Time to go home.

Thanks for the replies guys/gals, I do appreciate it. At his point, most seem to think along the same lines as I do but a couple have made what appears to be a good argument for the other side. I'm going to go back over them and make some replies when I can.

Originally posted by FissionSurplus
reply to post by newcovenant

 

I am not in the military, and I don't have to respect anybody whom I feel doesn't deserve it.

The people I do know who are in the military DO NOT respect their superiors, but they do, however, listen to them, because they have to. Blind obedience and respect for the puppet who shouts the orders are two different things, but the end result is the same.

This is true but that is why they call you a civilian. Without respect for the chain of command and not the person - YOUR COUNTRIES DEFENSE WILL TOPPLE. That is OK with you. I certainly understand the respect must be deserved, you are above all that, don't need to give it...etc ad infinitude and the rest of those indignant knee jerk responses.

You do need to protect yourself against your enemies though and without a standing army especially with our popularity in the world you are a sitting duck for an invasion. I would not mess with the chain of command nor teach that it is ok to go against your superior officer especially since you ARE a civilian and don't know how much concerted effort depends on a strategy and trust in commanders. The POTUS is Commander in Chief.

You want to sabotage the integrity and cohesion of the US defense system so that you can be correct in an assertion that may only be a "somewhat" defensible and valid argument for 4 more years. Certainly when you have a corporate friendly union women and minority hating hawk in office this respect for "the office" will return.

reply to post by FortAnthem


How can you respect the oval office when they clearly have no taste.

What is that? 2 lawn chairs.

Gaudy looking.

Originally posted by DelMar

Can anyone give me reasons why I should respect the office?

Nope......sorry. I don't have one reason for you.

I respect the guy down the street who will put his own life in jeopordy to save someone else, but I'm certainly not going to repect the POTUS. I don't care who he or she is.

In my opinion the political machine is broke, assuming of course it ever ran right in the first place, and whoever is in Washington helping turn the wheels is useless.

I'm going to shut it now before I say something that gets me stalked by invisible men.

Originally posted by DelMar
I think I understand why people say that I should respect the office. It’s the highest position in our land, our leader, the voice that is supposed to stand for what is right, the beacon of light in a dark world. The president has our best interests at heart; he is there to serve us.

Hmmm.. Well I respect the office, but not for those reasons. I respect the office because it represents the highest political office in the country I love. I don't always respect the office holder, and would argue loud and vocal criticism of a sitting President is one form of showing respect for the office he holds. But that criticism should always be done with courtessy and an understanding that love or hate the POTUS, his position is the free and democratic choice of the American People....you can respect the office and not the man.

Of course if you hate the whole system, then you have larger issues to wrestle with beyond the office of the President....and of course no one should be required to respect the office, free country and all.

reply to post by DelMar


You pretty much summed it all up. No disagreement here.

Honestly, the men who have held the office recently have done a lot to take away from the aura of authority that should surround the POTUS.

I think it was not until recently – not sure of which President it was, I don’t want to turn this into a right/left issue so I’ll skip it, a President was seen in public without a suit and tie.

The President should not crack jokes, play the saxophone on TV, sing rhythm and blues, etc…

He should maintain the dignity of the office – watch what Obama wears today in public compared to say Regan or even Carter while they were in office.

When I was a Commander in the Army I didn’t go to my office in shorts and a t-shirt even if I went in on a Sunday morning. I didn’t necessarily wear my uniform either but I at least had on slacks and polo – for god’s sake and was clean shaven. I also didn’t get hammered at social events and such…

If you want to maintain an air of authority you can’t go around dressing and acting like an average Joe. I don’t want an average guy to be my President – I want someone exceptional who understands image is a part of leadership.

Originally posted by newcovenant

Originally posted by FissionSurplus
reply to post by newcovenant

 

I am not in the military, and I don't have to respect anybody whom I feel doesn't deserve it.

The people I do know who are in the military DO NOT respect their superiors, but they do, however, listen to them, because they have to. Blind obedience and respect for the puppet who shouts the orders are two different things, but the end result is the same.

This is true but that is why they call you a civilian. Without respect for the chain of command and not the person - YOUR COUNTRIES DEFENSE WILL TOPPLE. That is OK with you. I certainly understand the respect must be deserved, you are above all that, don't need to give it...etc ad infinitude and the rest of those indignant knee jerk responses.

You do need to protect yourself against your enemies though and without a standing army especially with our popularity in the world you are a sitting duck for an invasion. I would not mess with the chain of command nor teach that it is ok to go against your superior officer especially since you ARE a civilian and don't know how much concerted effort depends on a strategy and trust in commanders. The POTUS is Commander in Chief.

You want to sabotage the integrity and cohesion of the US defense system so that you can be correct in an assertion that may only be a "somewhat" defensible and valid argument for 4 more years. Certainly when you have a corporate friendly union women and minority hating hawk in office this respect for "the office" will return.

I would have given a similar response as FissionSurplus did to your earlier post, so I'll just respond to this one.

As a civilian myself, I really cannot see how my lack of respect for the office harms national defense in any way. If I were in the military, then yes I can see where having a complete lack of respect for your leader could lead to problems. Even then, you still have to follow orders that are handed down or face consequences.

Commander in Chief is one of the most critical roles for any sitting president but as recent history has shown us, bad decisions are made early and often. I cannot respect a leader that sees people in other nations as an obstacle to building empire.

reply to post by nixie_nox


All of what you said is true, but none give me a reason to repect the President.

So he has a hard job. Alot of us do. So he has expensive and exclusive education. Again....alot of us do.

It's not so much WHAT the President does that the average American has a problem with.....it's WHO he does it for, and it ceratinly isn't us.

How long has it been since this country has been a well oiled machine that the rest of the world looked up to and not feared? The 50's?

A lot of Presidents have came and went and they haven't done a very good job at what they're supposed to do. Which raises a good question.....What EXACTLY is the job description of a President? If you can answer that then you MAY be in a position to state that none of us could do his job. You don't know me, you don't know what I'm capapble of. So I didn't go to Harvard. That doesn't mean I'm not qualified to do the job. A lot of Presidents went to Harvard, or Yale, or Oxford and look where it got us.

Seems to me that all that "education" didn't do them that much good. Back when this country was founded the men who were the major land and business owners got into office becasue their neighbors and peers wanted them to. Why? Becasue they had a proven track record at being successful at what they did, and what they did helped the communities they lived in. The PEOPLE picked their reperesentation. THEY were the boss. Their "leaders" worked for them. Their leaders didn't go overseas and and start s*** with other countries either. They stayed home and took care of business. That's the way it should be. Now, our people in charge have forgotton who they work for. Who votes them into office. Who pays them (our tax dollars)

Can't really say that I blame them either because big money dictates who the parties put in the running for office and the bigger that a candidates coffers are, the more likely they become President. You can have all the education in the world but it doesn't matter in this case. You think Obama or anyone else gets into office because they're the smartest and most hard working? The 20's just called honey, and they want their ideals back.

MONEY and connections put them in charge. To think otherwise is just naive. THAT'S why I don't respect the POTUS.

Crap rolls down hill and let's face it there has been a lot of crap rolling down from that office on the hill.

Don't respect either one anymore.