As the fiasco involving Democratic candidate Frank Caprio and his choice phrase "Shove it" continues to make news across the nation, I find another phrase my liberal friends are using a little bit...hypocritical.
I hate to contribute to the in-fighting already going on, but more than once today I've heard Caprio criticized for not having "respect for the office of the President."
That's not exactly the terminology I would use if I were to complain about Caprio's inappropriate remark to President Obama, if only because during the Bush years, I can't think of one of my fellow liberals who didn't call our President at least one or two choice words.
I, for one, used to refer to him as Huckleberry Hound, which isn't exactly showing respect for his office.
Before Caprio's remark, I didn't like him. He came across as uneducated and blustery, and his remark to President Obama only solidified that. Still, I wouldn't attack him for disrespecting the President, because I believe that at this point, respect for the office has gone out the window.
And why not? Isn't part of free speech and a democratic government the ability to comment and criticize the people at the top?
No, "Shove it," is not nice language, but did anybody read The New Yorker between 2000 and 2008? They used to publish weekly character assasinations of the President, and though they used fancier language, I'm sure President Bush would still have said they were being disrespectful at times.
Did Caprio make himself sound like a fool? Yes.
Was he being disrespectful? Yes.
Is that anything new in the political arena? Not at all.
When Obama was elected and Republicans began criticizing him, most of my liberal friends started trotting out the "Respect our President" banner, while I felt that they were under no obligation to like the President, as I did not like previous one.
I certainly wasn't going to practice selective memory and throw their own words back at them. How would that make me any better?
Perhaps the easiest way for us to start respecting the office would be to put someone in it we can call agree on.
I hate to contribute to the in-fighting already going on, but more than once today I've heard Caprio criticized for not having "respect for the office of the President."
That's not exactly the terminology I would use if I were to complain about Caprio's inappropriate remark to President Obama, if only because during the Bush years, I can't think of one of my fellow liberals who didn't call our President at least one or two choice words.
I, for one, used to refer to him as Huckleberry Hound, which isn't exactly showing respect for his office.
Before Caprio's remark, I didn't like him. He came across as uneducated and blustery, and his remark to President Obama only solidified that. Still, I wouldn't attack him for disrespecting the President, because I believe that at this point, respect for the office has gone out the window.
And why not? Isn't part of free speech and a democratic government the ability to comment and criticize the people at the top?
No, "Shove it," is not nice language, but did anybody read The New Yorker between 2000 and 2008? They used to publish weekly character assasinations of the President, and though they used fancier language, I'm sure President Bush would still have said they were being disrespectful at times.
Did Caprio make himself sound like a fool? Yes.
Was he being disrespectful? Yes.
Is that anything new in the political arena? Not at all.
When Obama was elected and Republicans began criticizing him, most of my liberal friends started trotting out the "Respect our President" banner, while I felt that they were under no obligation to like the President, as I did not like previous one.
I certainly wasn't going to practice selective memory and throw their own words back at them. How would that make me any better?
Perhaps the easiest way for us to start respecting the office would be to put someone in it we can call agree on.
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