I maintain that Senators are just 100 Federal employees and no more deserving of respect than an ATF agent until they earn that respect.
But I do understand that you are just making a valid point. That analogy is my objection.
I agree, but...the point is exactly as you say, an ATF agnet is equally deserving of default respect (until, of course, you find out they were a Clinton era appointee who agrees with everything Janet Reno did...:)
The point is, everyone is deserving of default respect as a base level. You see an old guy driving down the road? You should give him default respect...he may be an elderly veteran or a father who worked his butt off raising his kids. A young woman might be a dedicated school teacher.
The point I was trying to make (and I suspect you don't disagree with me)is that EVERYONE who is unknown to you should be treated with respect.
How they act or speak when you interact with them may change that, but even if you disagree with them still doesn't mean you have license to treat them disrespectfully.
That old guy who might be a veteran who passed you on the road might cut you off or flip the bird, but that doesn't necessarily cause you to abdicate your default respect.
However, if you do things like spend all your waking hours denouncing in politically motivated, personal and sometimes vitriolic tones the very person doing the most trying to protect you (George Bush) while ignoring the people who actually caused you the harm (Al Queda), to the ADVANTAGE of the person or people who are trying to cause you harm, well, as far as I am concerned, my default respect is out the window. I am pretty tolerant, but I subscribe to freedom of speech unless it could hurt me, my family or my country.
The Jersey Girls possibly fall into all three of those categories.