As of late
there are people saying that people should be respectful of the “office” of the
President if not the man regardless of what he has done or is doing.
(Understanding that the office we’re talking about is not a physical place but
rather a position.) Should we be respectful of the President simply because of
the office? It’s a fair question and certainly not a new one especially when we
have an unpopular President. People said many of the same things about President
“I am not a crook” Nixon before he resigned from office in disgrace.
President “I
am not a racist” Trump has provided us at least a partial answer to the
question. He wasn’t opposed to criticizing President Obama when he (Trump) was
a citizen and not running for office. He was a vocal opponent of President
Obama then in interviews and through his incessant tweeting before he started
running for office. Trump even questioned the legitimacy of his Presidency by
promoting the completely false accusation that President Obama is not a natural
born citizen. It’s hard to be more disrespectful of the “office of the
President” than that. That’s also disrespectful of our entire democratic system
of government. It is the ultimate rejection of our Republic. It is also a
testament to the gullibility of the masses. He didn’t stop with President
Obama. He was critical of First Lady Michelle Obama as well. He criticized her
for not covering her head when she went to Saudi Arabia. (Incidentally First
Lady Melania Trump also visited Saudi Arabia with her head uncovered.) Those
were just a couple of examples.
So while we
have Trump’s answer by his own example is that really the best answer? Let’s try
a different approach and just deal with respect in general and not tied to a
specific office or title.
Respect goes to a person’s basic character.
- Should we be respectful of a man that likes to be in the room and look at naked underage girls?
- Does a man who gives another man permission to refer to his own daughter as a “piece of ass” deserve respect?
- How much respect should we give to a man that likes other men seeing pictures of his naked wife?
- If a man avoided the draft because of wealth should we respect the accomplishment or is that disrespectful to those that did serve?
- Let’s say an average man or better yet a poor man jokes about sexually assaulting women, would we respect him?
- Should we respect a crass, vulgar, trash-talking, name-calling bully?
- How about a habitual liar? Should a habitual liar be respected? Do you respect people that you know to be such a person? Better yet. Do you trust them?
- How about a racist? Should we respect racists?
- If a man isn’t a person deserving respect before he has a particular office does he become deserving of respect if he obtains that office?
All of the
above apply to President Trump. None of the above is new. And no one has to
just accept media’s claims, because there are complete videos or audio of him available
substantiating his actions, with the exception of his most recent comments
about those from countries where brown people live (however, there are a number
of witnesses). There are also court cases where judgements were rendered and
depositions were taken. If you want to hear and see the man that is now
President joking about assaulting women that video is also available for the
world to see along with all the others.
As a man and
as a President he has not asked for forgiveness for the things that he has not
only done but bragged about. Evangelicals have said that Jesus has forgiven him,
so should they. Jesus forgives when asked to forgive. President Trump doesn’t
ask for forgiveness. He isn’t new to the Christian scene and is a lifelong church
attendee. So let’s just take that off the table in the respect for the office
argument.
Trump
supporters seemingly admire and respect a man that does all the above. They
would have their sons and daughters behave like him. All of the above was known
way before and during the election. I believe that it’s justifiable to say that
Trump supporters admire him for what he is because he came in at number 2 on a
most admired list. (It’s almost poetic that he lost to a black man.) On one
hand that gives me a small hope that our nation hasn’t crossed over completely
to the dark side.
Now this is
where the average President Trump troll (including Russian Trolls) usually
chimes in with “Trrruuuummmmp!” or responds with something about the Clintons,
Obama or email. That really doesn’t advance the conversation but that isn’t
something that they’re interested in doing. They want the attention and
conversation deflected in other directions. Yes we get it. You’ll vote for him
again. You love America being undermined and our Democracy being taken apart.
You love a man that does the opposite of what he says. You love the Russians and
enjoy their involvement. White nationalism is your cup of tea. Some Nazis are
really fine people. A man that does and is all of these horrible things and
more you call a good man deserving of respect even if it’s only because of the
office.
If just the “office
of President” is supposed to command our respect does that mean that the office
adheres to a higher standard than the man that occupies it? Does the position have
a better character than the person holding it? Is there a job description for the
office? Does the office act, say things?
Or do the
people define the qualities of a President that are acceptable? This would be
like a community standards doctrine.
If that’s true
then the fact, and it is a fact, that President Trump lost the popular vote by
millions indicates that he does not have the support of the people and won by
the support of a political system. So again there is small reason to hope. At
least in the popular vote people rejected such a man even if the margin was
small. In defense those supporting the Presidents claim that the vote is a
fraud caused by millions of illegal voters even though this claim has also been
disproved nationally.
When people
say that we should respect the office of President what are they really saying?
What does that mean? In essence it is saying that President Trump shouldn’t be
criticized because he is the President. That defense simply will not work in a
free society with a free press.
Ultimately it
is about the man. He disgraces the office with his vulgar and abusive comments.
That doesn’t mean that he’s being politically incorrect in his language. It
means he’s being racist. He disgraces the office with his daily lies. He
disgraces the office when he undermines our constitution.
The man, President
Trump, is disrespectful of the office he holds. If you truly want to respect
the office of the President of the United States then condemn the man that
holds it.