Posted on 03/10/2014 1:19:34 PM PDT by moneyrunner
Barack “Corpseman” Obama couldn't spell RESPECT, despite the fact that it’s almost impossible to misspell. That dreadful song by Aretha Franklin is burned in my brain thanks to hearing it played endlessly for years.
It brought to my mind that one of the most popular refrains one hears from the media is that we should “respect the office” of the President. Like any slogan or piece of propaganda that is repeated incessantly, you nod and agree. But why?
What does “respect the office” even mean?
Synonyms for respect include: reverence, admiration, esteem, veneration, high opinion. But if the slogan is right, we should esteem an office even if it’s occupied by a buffoon, a poltroon, a crook, an egotistical jackass on stilts.
Though about that way it becomes immediately clear that it’s the person holding the office that give the office respect, not the other way around. An office is not a disembodied thing that exists ex nihilo and can go marching along without an occupant. So “respect the office” is one of those empty phrases that are mainly used in political arguments by the Left as a way of shutting off criticism of Obama. It’s used as a coat to clothe the naked truth about Obama; he’s just not respectable no matter what office he happens to occupy.
Why should any American respect what the White Hut and Oval Orifice has become, if the Current Occupant cannot bring himself to respect what the edifice and the station once were?
Respect in every walk of life is earned, and earned all over every day, throughout the world. Magnificent, The Won is not. By every reckoning, he has failed, unable to justify his one “signature” legacy, the badly mis-named “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010”.
The only part of the title of that monstrosity that is even remotely accurate is the date, “2010”. And in truth, even that was not entirely a reflection of reality, as it was cobbled up from schemes that had been written years earlier, and were even then unworkable and unpalatable.
There is no “fix” to this bloated and contradictory piece of garbage. There have been several alternatives offered, but none that are in the least compatible with the draconian measures called for in this unfair and inconsistent piece of “legislation”, which has approximately the same degree of legitimacy as the recent vote in the Crimea for a plebiscite to rejoin the Russian Federation.
In many ways, Vladimir Putin and Barack Hussein Obama are very similar in their view of the people over whom they have been given putative rule. But Putin is vastly much better at exercising his mastery of the game than Obama ever could be. Obama is just a very poor player in a very high-stakes game, and he doesn’t even realize what it is he is doing wrong.
“And all the King’s horses and all the King’s men....”
Somebody somewhere might nod and agree, specially the ignorant illiterates, I sure don't.
Without exception, respect must always be earned. Otherwise it becomes fear, a whole different relationship.
Why do the other branches of government allow the current occupier of the office to usurp their power and authority?
Well, in the South it is pronounced “Respetc”.....
The phrase is worse than meaningless. It is deployed at times when the occupant of the office is a perjurer, has been caught sodomizing an employee, is a crook, is a traitor, is an illegal alien, is a Communist, is a Muslim terrorist, etc., in an attempt to pressure people to give the miscreant respect he does not merit—as though when an illegal alien usurps the office, he deserves respect for occupying it.
Aren’t you a Bush supporter? He had no problems with his feet on the desk.
I respect the office. I do not respect the current holder of the office.
It would be easier to respect the office if it were occupied.
Haha I got a extended time out her 4 refering to Bush as Jorge Delano Arbusto and a few other choice words.
I applauded him for taking the fight to the turd world shat holes...but His domestic policies sucked.
Kind of like the tories telling the patriots to respect the monarchy and George III.
I couldn’t help but think of the classic funny animated short, “The Chubb-Chubbs”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmhgi665Oek
Does it mean that we are a subordinate and do what the person who occupies that position tells us to do? Or is the position one that automatically elevates the person who holds it to a higher plane? Let me be clear, I respected Reagan, not because he held an office but because of what he stood for and what he did. The office did not confer respect on him. It conferred power, but the respect was entirely his.
I respect Sarah Palin even though she holds no office because of what she stands for.
I respect Ted Cruz, not because if his office but because of his courage and his intelligence.
"Respect the office" is a meaningless phrase. It's a throwback to the rule of Kings when the people had to bow to the king because of his title. And if you didn't bow, you would be killed.
It's hauled out by partisans today who use it to tell us that one of their own who holds that office should be respected.
I hope I have made an argument that causes you to re-think your ideas. Thanks for reading this and best wishes.
Thank you for the reply & discussion. I guess I’m using the term respect more generally to mean an understanding and appreciation of the history and power of the office, and more broadly what that has meant not only for American citizens but those around the world. This is why I said it is the president himself who owes the office more respect than anyone else — following in the footsteps of only a small number of men who have been there should be a somewhat humbling experience IMO. Clearly that hasn’t always been the case, and with question the current (illicit) occupier has none whatsoever.
Perhaps I’m misapplying the term “respect.” Can one support the troops but not the mission? Would that be a comparable phrase?
Fixed.
Workerbee, I apologize for the delayed response. I do think that the word “respect” is out of place used to describe an office. There are many other terms that can be used. As you wisely indicated, terms such as “powerful,” “old,” “historical” or even references to the deeds of prior occupants can apply. But the reason that we hear the term “respect” applied to the office, especially now that the current occupant is losing popularity, is because there’s an implicit assumption that the office transfers respect to Obama. People who tell us to respect the office really demand that we respect Obama by virtue of his holding the office. I reject that and that’s why I began questioning the entire premise that we must respect an office, any office. It’s mostly an unexamined assumption, and if people stop to think about it, many will agree.
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