Jason Reynolds Life and Times

On Killing Our President

// April 24th, 2010 // Economy, Government, Writing

As soon as I saw it, I wanted to comment on this ridiculous Facebook bit:

Dear Lord,
This year you took my favorite actor, Patrick Swayzie (sic). You took my favorite actress, Farah Fawcett. You took my favorite singer, Michael Jackson. I just wanted to let you know, my favorite president is Barack Obama. Amen.

Problem was, when I read it, I literally got sick at my stomach. I took it as a direct threat on our President and our very nation. As a democracy, we have the right to choose our leader and we chose President Obama. I don’t know that I agree with any of The President’s current policies except his environmental ones. Still, even if we don’t agree with the President we simply MUST respect the office. If we don’t honor the Presidency then we have chaos and our national freedom erodes.

Thankfully, a writer friend of mine found the words I didn’t have over here (click). Here is a preview of what she had to say:

My question is this: How is that different from what John Wilkes Booth wanted? How is that different from what Lee Harvey Oswald wanted? Hundreds of cells of Islamic extremists would cheer with jubilation to see this – or any – American president shot in the street.

Lastly, have you ever noticed how former Presidents reference the sitting President as “The President” or “Mr. President”? Have you noticed how the First Lady of the sitting President always references her husband as “Mr. President” or “The President”? This shows the respect the office deserves. It seems to me that if someone like John McCain can find it fit to honor the office that his political enemy holds after beating him out for the position, we should too.

I also like the history lesson Wikipedia offers:

When George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States in 1789, he initially used the style, “His High Mightiness, the President of the United States and Protector of their Liberties,” a title elaborated by the Joint Congressional Committee on titles over the course of a month. Critics charged that it smacked of monarchy. Washington consented to the demands of James Madison and the United States House of Representatives that the title be altered to “Mr. President.”

So, why all the fuss? Because our freedom deserves our honor and not our cynicism. You don’t have to like The President, but you do have to live with him.

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