Now if Redd Foxx were President, that would be different…
I thought the lack of respect his political opponents showed to Bill Clinton was shocking, and dangerous. I thought the escalation in this respect deficit Democrats displayed in their treatment of President Bush was worse. And I think the disrespect shown to President Obama by Republicans and partisan media critics is worse yet. In all three cases, the unjustified lack of respect resulted and is resulting in absurd distortions and accusations. A case in point:
The conservative blogosphere is convincing itself that President Obama made….a blowjob joke. Here is the “smoking gun”, from a fundraising event hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, attended by many gays:
“I want to thank my wonderful friend who accepts a little bit of teasing about Michelle beating her in pushups — (laughter) — but I think she claims Michelle didn’t go all the way down. (Laughter.) That’s what I heard. I just want to set the record straight — Michelle outdoes me in pushups as well. (Laughter.) So she shouldn’t feel bad. She’s an extraordinary talent and she’s just a dear, dear friend — Ellen DeGeneres. Give Ellen a big round of applause…”
The usually rational Ann Althouse polls her readers on the question of whether Obama was being intentionally suggestive, and an amazing 42% voted that he was.
Obama was not making a blowjob joke. Presidents do not make blowjob jokes in public, no matter what the audience is. Cultured men with manners and common sense do not make blowjob jokes in public, and President Obama is certainly that. I cannot think of any President who would be so careless as to utter a crude joke of that sort before an audience. LBJ comes the closest…maybe Lincoln? But never. Never. It would be disrespectful of the office, and a major, pointless political gaffe.
People are willing, indeed eager, to believe such things of President Obama because they refuse to accord him the basic respect any occupant of the Oval Office deserves, and needs. They need to get a grip. This isn’t healthy for the nation, and Obama’s critics look like fools when they show such abysmal regard for the country’s elected leader, and dirty-minded fools at that.
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Source: Ann Althouse
Graphic: Biography
Ethics Alarms attempts to give proper attribution and credit to all sources of facts, analysis and other assistance that go into its blog posts. If you are aware of one I missed, or believe your own work was used in any way without proper attribution, please contact me, Jack Marshall, at jamproethics@verizon.net.
Ethics Alarms 
I agree that he wasn’t making a BJ joke. On the other hand, I can’t forget how many times he rubbed his eye with his middle finger when talking about political opponents.
Good point. (!##$^^%&(*!)
People are willing, indeed eager, to believe such things of President Obama because they refuse to accord him the basic respect any occupant of the Oval Office deserves, and needs.
I don’t know that he deliberately made a BJ joke, but I’m not convinced, that the AUDIENCE wasn’t assuming it was one. Listen to their reaction – and how he milked it the laugh.
What the hell. Let’s stipulate that he didn’t. Personally, I don’t accord him “the respect an occupant of the Oval Office needs” because he doesn’t appear to have respect for the office itself. Oh, he likes it well enough – loves the perks that come with it, and all that. But respect it? I’ve seen NO evidence of that.
Would someone who actually respects the office act like a punk and call out the justices of the Supreme Court during a SOTU address? Be as blatant about rewarding big campaign bundlers with fat contracts? Allow Congress to operate for years without passing a budget?
Could go on, but suspect you get the point. IMO the man doesn’t respect the Presidency – which, by extension, suggests he has very little respect for the nation.
Lets assume all that is true, but thats on him. The amount of respect that you and I show the Office of The President is on us. Just becuase you see him as disrecting the Office doesnt mean you should. I could not stand President Clinton but when he passed me on the street in Alexandria one day and put out his hand I shook it and reponded to his question of how I was with a responce and asked he was. Why I couldnt stand his politics or his actions as President he still was the President and I wont insult the office by insulting the man.
No true scotsman. Cherrypicking data. Attack by innuendo. Falsely assigning responsibility.
If I use your standards, I think I can say that nobody has have respected the office or job they hold.
That’s the point, Bill. I was no fan of Clinton’s either, but it was clear that he had respect (I believe he still does) for the office he held – and what it means to the nation.
You really think Obama has less respect for the office them someone who got blow jobs from an intern in the actual Presidental office?
Yeah, I do.
But you do raise a good point.
Cultured men with manners and common sense do not make blowjob jokes in public
I disagree, but image conscious, cultured, intelligent politicians do not.
NO. The office may deserve respect, but he does not. Not just by his actions, but by his words. This is a president who calls a political party that has NEVER committed a violent act “terrorists”, and calls them the sexual epithet “tea-baggers”. On record.
He doesn’t get a pass because he’s been horribly uncivil and unpresidential. “I won.” Remember that moment? Really classy. NOT.
You get the respect you earn. This man has done NOTHING to earn respect. And no, I’m not a diehard conservative.
I agree with David. Respect is earned. If the president doesn’t respect his office why should we respect him? If he is a man of integrity,honesty,and is otherwise worthy of his position then I will respect the hell out of him.
I’m inclined to think the office deserves respect, but when I ask myself what sort of respect it deserves I can’t say exactly. Where do we draw the line and who decides? The freedom to criticize elected officials — even presidents and prime ministers — is a prerogative that citizens of democracy rightfully enjoy. How shall we separate the man from the office?
I gotta say, I’m with you on this one. I’m no obama fan, but the office needs more respect. Although I am a republican, I believe we started the trend back in the nineties and it has escalated since. While I believe the investigation and impeachment of Clinton was justified, the heyday of public abuse was not and I believe a lot of the bush bashing was retaliatory. Let’s stop blowing the whistle on stupid issues as to not lose credibility on the bigger ones. Which party is going to be the one to reverse this terrible trend?
Neither party will reverse it, as long as the spin works in their own favor. It is up to US to elect those who will throw the flag and shout “e-NOUGH!”
And for those of you who don’t think that’s possible due to corporate or union money, let me ask you this: why the hell are the corporations and unions spending so much money?
It’s all in play. The Founders may have had their flaws, but they were geniuses.
Have to disagree with you on this one Jack. When I read the transcript, I thought it was an inadvertent joke and people were making much ado about nothing. But after hearing the comment and viewing the video of the event I have a hard time believing that it was inadvertent. And I didn’t hear it as a blow-job joke; rather, I think the joke was Ellen lamenting that Michelle didn’t go “all the way down”, not Barack. If this had happened in another forum – with an audience less receptive to such a joke (like Rev. Wright’s church, for example), I might think otherwise.