How come no reverence for the Presidency anymore?

[thaddeus]

I noticed something new, and maybe someone can explain if I missed something. I was always taught that titles were to be capitalized, for example "President" as a respected title.

Also, the President used to be called "Mr. President". Now he is called "Mr. Clinton", not even "President Clinton"!

I have never seen such irreverence for the Presidency. It seems like this shift started after the Monica scandal.
Did I miss something? Nowadays the media all spells "President" with a lower case "president" and calls our president "Mr. Clinton" which seems very irreverent to his title.

Not that I mind because he is a scumbag, but I wonder if there still shouldn't be some respect for the office if not for the man. What happened?

 

[Mike in VA]

Tough question, my friend. Certainly 'Slick' has been the most outrageous and egregious in his lying ways and abuse of power, but who was the last guy in the job who was truly worthy of your respect? Bush lied, Reagan lied, Carter - I don't know, but he was clearly a starry-eyed idealist with little connection with the realities of the world- Nixon lied. Hell, they all lie, and even understanding that compormise is the nature of politics, I just don't recall any truly honorable men in the office during my adult life (I'm 51), and it seems to be getting worse, not better. If you believe we get the 'leadership' we deserve, then 'Murrica is in a lot of trouble.
Bummed in VA, M2

 

[Paul B.]

Mike. IMHO, thed last president we had that deserved respect was Teddy Roosevelt. Trouble is this would not be politically correct.
Paul B.

 

[DC]

Tho way before my time and he was a Dem, I've always liked Harry Truman.

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"

 

[Bimjo]

You can respect the office and still despise the person holding it.

It was the same in the military. You had to respect (pay respect to) the rank, but it was okay to hate the SOB who held it.

Respect is earned, not granted by possession of a position in society.

Jim

 

[Joe Portale]

What has been happening with Clinton it is hard to see him as the president, and it is hard to seperate the man from the job. The behavior of Bill Clinton has diminished the presidency in the eyes of the people more than any other recent president. If I was to meet the man, I could not call him "Mr. President". He does not represent the traits that a president should be. His behavior and questions about his behavior has damaged the office so much, that it will take at least three administrations of sterling character to restore the trust and respect for the Office of the President. Sadly, as kids, we looked up to the president as the caretaker for and the defender of the American people. Not anymore. We see him as a political animal that will run over his own mother to satisfy his own ambitions and quest for power.

Botom line. The man is a traitor, so is Janet Reno. What has been coming out about the money for secrets scandal with China is damn scary. The regular press is poo pooing the whole China thing. But FOX News, espicially The O'Reilly Report is keeping up with it. Could you call a traitor "Mr. President"?

I am just sorry that the Congress took him on over Monica and didn't wait for the China question. If Congress put as much effort into the China question, Bill Clinton would be the first president to be standing in front of a gallows waiting to answer to God.

starting to rant....




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Joe Portale
Sonoran Sidewinder
Tucson, Arizona territory

 

[fubsy]

Joe Portale,
You know you bring up a point that myself and a friends have discussed for quite some time, ....why with all the obvious criminal behavoir did the independent counsel choose an affair to try and trip this guy up, instead, of oh...filegate, campaign funding,travel office-abuse of power, and dont forget hillarys miraculos trading in the futures markett......along with their depressing the stocks in pharmacuticals through health care after purchasing the appropriate position in the market....and numerous other violations of laws.....I wonder what was in those fbi files........
fubsy.

 

[Mike in VA]

This is one of those days when a BBS just doesn't get it. I would almost trade vital body parts to be able to gather us all 'round a couple of pizzas/plate of ribs/BBQ/pot of gumbo with appropriate beveridge service and have at. I gather there's a fair breadth of political perspective here, but I think we call all agree that the system is broken, but that it is a symptom or reflection of our society as a whole. There's just a broad reluctance to deal with the hard stuff, whether it's term limits, tax reform, or the surplus(socio-political); or moral and ethical like abortion, school prayer, gun control, etc (this is just an observation, not an invitation to rail).

There's too much delusion and avoidance, failure to recognize a very, very basic fact: Life is Hard. Denial and ignorance will not change this, only ensure that when the public at large finally embraces the fact, the stimulus will have been brutal.

I guess there was a time when we expected more from the "leader of the free world', I hope it will come to pass again in my lifetime, but while a few of the candidates are sorta OK, I'm not holding my breath.

Merde. The heat index is pushing 110 (mid-90's with a ton of humidity), the air quality is code red, and I'm on clear liquids in preparation for a colonoscopy tomorrow (beer is a clear liquid, thank God), hope I don't have any real butt-rot. Maybe my sciatic nerve is crossed with my optic nerve resulting in today's ****ty outlook. To a better day tomorrow.
Down & gone, M2

 

[Dennis]

Mike,
Having "broken bread" with you in the past, I'd sure like to join your party. Or have you join ours!

The thermometer says 90 degrees and the humidity isn't bad. Brisket's on the grill, Shiner Bock's in the 'fridge. Wish you were here.

(Good luck on the morrow, friend.)

Dennis & Leona

 

[Ivan8883]

"Big Comrade", I think ,is a accurate description of the present inhabitant of the Oval Office. It describes preety accurately the pro Chinese Communist stance of the US leader. I dont see any desrepect in this nomenclature for our leader. If Mao was around , he would agree with me. It has always been a dream, I am sure, of the Comintern in the old days, to have a communist in the Oval Office. I dont like to see commies take over our executive branch, but, hey, they were voted in legally! Yes, I would agree that the last President who was a truly proAmerican was Teddy Roosevelt. He was a nationalist who keep us out of wars, we had a strong industrial and agricultural base, and Teddy fought the Plutocrats and their trusts . Teddy was a mans man and all the Presidents since his day dont come close to his stature. After Teddy, came the begginning of the end for our nation with all the presidents following selling out in one way or another our economic wealth and national sovereignty(Coolidge may have been the exception)

 

[Grayfox]

The point here is that the person currently holding the office IS the presidency. If you can't respect the man, it's impossible to respect the office.