There is a line by Robert Duvall's character in the movie "Open Range" that I really like:
"Good health to them that has it comin'..."
I believe in giving people respect in life on the basis of their station, experiences or rank. I grew up in military family, and we were taught to address men as "Sir" and women as "Ma'am", and responding had to say "Yes Sir" or "Yes Ma'am". I understood the concept of rank and chain of command.
The point is, if you meet a military person, you give them respect BECAUSE they are in the military. If you meet an elderly person, you give them respect BECAUSE they have lived a lot longer than you have. If you meet someone who has lost a loved one, you treat them with respect and deference BECAUSE they have suffered. All this is done without a single qualifying action on the part of the person. They don't, and shouldn't ASK for your respect and deference, the right thing, in the abscence of ANY other qualifying factor, is to grant them special treatment by default.
However, if people show, through their words and deeds, that they are not worthy of that default respect, there is NO reason whatsoever to grant that to them, in my opinion.
Benedict Arnold served his country brilliantly, but lost his right to default respect when he turned traitor.
John Kerry wore the uniform of the US Naval Service, and disgraced it. He is not worthy of default respect.
John Murtha served as a Marine. If anyone is worthy of respect by default, it is any person who makes it through Marine Basic Training to become a Marine. He has shown through his words and deeds, he is unworthy of the title Marine.
Ted Kennedy is a Senator, the very title should command respect by default. He has shown himself to be an enemy of everything this Republic stands for, through his legislative actions and slanderous personal attacks on an honorable man who is too classy to fight back.
Helen Thomas is an elderly person, a woman, and someone who has risen in her field to a position of prominence. She should be entitled to deference, but her vicious partisan attacks have discarded any protection those attributes should have provided her. She made a choice.
The best example of this is Cindy Sheehan. Who would dream of disrespecting a woman who has lost her son in the defense of his country? Never in a million years would I have done so, in usual times. But these are not ususal times. She has become a Useful Idiot for the antiwar left, she has used her son (who apparently had a polar opposite point of view on these things than his mother does) as a prop and a tool, and his coffin as a soapbox. She has disgraced everything her son stood for, for her own personal aggrandizement.
I feel EXACTLY the same way about these four women. Anyone who has heard them speak, seen them appearing in the venues they have, to push their political agendas, realizes they have voluntarily surrendered their default deference and respect to pursue a partisan political agenda. It has been their choice to do so.
That's very well put and an excellent post. You neatly summed it up.
Good post!
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Re your #107 - very, very well stated! Bravo.
"Good health to them that has it comin'..."
Absolutely terrific post ~ God bless you.