It will always happen, and there is nothing necessarily wrong with it. But as a practical matter, it is senseless and illogical.
I revere Ronald Reagan. I am so thankful for him. One of the reasons I revere him is, he recognized the danger of adulation.
W has turned out to be an amazingly good leader. But W is admirable b/c he recognizes that he is an historic accident, and b/c he has brought true American values to the totally gratuitous opportunity he has been given.
Giving him movie star status feeds into the debasement of American culture. True conservatism -- meaning the conservatism I espouse (lol) -- wants to dampen the cult of the famous.
Admiration and respect for the president is not star worship IMHO.
You're new here, evidentally, so you don't realize how old and tired your little lecture is. We get this little lecture oh, maybe twice a week, and you know, it never seems to make a difference to
1) those who come here to fawn
2) those who come here to get news on the President, because we never see most of this information, or these pictures on the news.
For instance, without this thread, I probably would never have known about all the foreign trips he made and all the foreign leaders he met in the White House and abroad BEFORE 9-11. So we knew when he called on Jacques Chirac after 9-11 that he'd been buttering the old guy up for months already, laughing at his jokes and nodding intently at his stories.
There is a terrific news value to this thread, and some ladies here, and some gentlemen, too, are just so tickled at having someone praiseworthy in the White House, that yes, they do gush. But that's their business. So, now that you've repeated the lecture for the 100th boring time, please have the manners not to repeat it again.
patriciaruth is right. You're boring.
I think that you're overreacting. Admiration, respect, and genuinely liking a person, mixed in with a great sense of relief that integrity has been restored to the office of the presidency and enjoying the opportunity to share these thoughts and feelings with like-minded people is not the same thing as hero worship.
In fact, I think that one of the things that most people like about this man is the fact that he comes across with humility, fully aware of his human fallibility, and many people relate to that.
Mercy, you protest awkwardly.
I get most of my news about what our president does every day from rintense's wonderful, non-idolizing threads, which often leads me to other news sources on Bush. That is why? Because the network news, which is the only way I get moving picture accounts of Bush's work, refuse to devote much time to him. I greatly appreciate rintense's posts, the replies by others, and the extra info I pick up in the replies about where his speeches have been given, how to get to the audio links, etc. Even by surfing FR it is difficult to pick up on all the major events our president is involved in, but on this thread, which pulls news photos from news sources, one finds an excellent recap of President Bush's activities, which tells me a lot about his priorities, and often, how to be praying for him and for our country.
ROFLMBO, LOL, teehee...........oh, excuse me..you didn't mean that as a joke??? Wow, it's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time, though. If I felt that way, I would no longer haunt this thread for information on what our President did yesterday and today, and what his plans are, what the effect has been on us, etc., etc., etc. Why are you bothering? I don't believe you'll affect any of us or our opinions.
Thanks, Rintense, for another excellent thread.
We've seen both sick and healthy leadership in the Oval Office these last few years. You tell me, Urbane_Guerilla, which is which -- I think you know, or if you don't, good riddance. But don't throw out the baby with the bath water. Don't condemn all leaders because some are big time Clymers, nor all praise of leaders, because some such praise is debasing.
As others have noted above, this daily thread also serves an essential purpose - getting out the news of what our President is up to. The major news media are very seriously biased, and alternative media, such as this thread, are a vital alternative. Indeed, this liberal media bias is perhaps an excellent example of the sicker forms of the leader and follower dynamic, as I mentioned in another post a few days ago.
So, EEXXXCCCCUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSEEEE us if we get a little enthusiastic about having an honorable COUPLE in the WH.
This is a free country. You do want you want and leave the rest of us here in Bush country to enjoy our daily dose of appreciation for having a president we can both be proud of and thankful for.
Don't be such a wet blanket. I thought only liberals were whiners.
In summary, considering the thoughts you expressed in your post, this is probably not a place where you would enjoy hanging out.