Hannah's Blog

With All Due Respect

The other day it was reported in several papers that one of the spokespersons for the White House suggested that if there were any disruptions during the upcoming Republican Convention in New York, they would be blamed on Democrats showing disrespect for a ?sitting President.?

Now, that struck me as a rather peculiar choice of words. Considering that millions of people around the world have been left with an image of the current American President sitting in a classroom, being read an inane story about a goat while the sky over New York was exploding in flames, I certainly would choose my words with more care so as not to remind everyone of that moment of ignominy again.
Be that as it may, the spokesperson seems to believe that any man who happens to be President is entitled to be respected, just because of who he is; regardless of how well or poorly he performs the duties that go with the job. So, for example, Richard Nixon was worthy of respect until the moment he resigned and we must be respectful of George W. Bush, no matter how often he tells us lies.
That just doesn't seem right. Fortunately, for those of us with no military training in our background, one of John Kerry's real swift-boat mates has stepped forward to set us straight. John Cory* reminds us that the operative phrase is ?with all due respect.? Which, of course, implies that respect has to be earned. If it isn't, we don't have to give it. And that's the truth.

*http://www.smith-family.com/hannah/archive/000323.html