But he didn’t exactly say it, see, so it’s Presidential.
Me, I prefer…“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. ” – Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Or…”Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ’tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
– George Washington.
Or…”Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”
–Abraham Lincoln.
But I’m not cool, I guess…
Well, I guess there’s not much point in me trying to blow the ethics whistle on lazy ad-writers substituting vulgarity for wit in prime time TV commercials if our nation’s leader and cultural role model is going to do the same thing. The lack of common sense and responsibility, not to mention sensitivity to his obligations as Chief Executive to raise societal standards rather than debase them, has been stunning from the beginning of Obama’s Presidency, but its depth and persistence continues to amaze, depress and disgust.
“The right thing to do” would be not to debase the Presidency by sniggering vulgarity in public (this was broadcast live), and to empower teens to say “Buck off!” to their parents and teachers while citing the President of the United States as authority for why it’s harmless, since he used the same code to say “fuck” in front of a black tie Washington audience.
Sure, why not? Buck dignity, buck honor, buck civility, buck the Presidency, buck Lincoln, Washington, and the rest. That’s Barack Obama, our President of the United States! Hail to the Chief.
I think you know how I’d love to end this post. But despite everything, I still have respect for his office.
Even if he does not.
Ethics Alarms 
I see this same disturbing immaturity whenever I read left-wing staples like the Daily Kos, Huff post, RS, and others. It’s One of a constellation of symptoms. Speaking of, I was just on the Kos, looking at an article about the success of a boycott aimed at getting Rush Limbaugh off the air. I don’t listen to the guy, but to see people celebrating the silencing of a voice of dissent, ANY voice of dissent, is truly frightening.
Yes, articles are often full of snark and condescension, and that passes for cleverness/intelligence. As a group, the mentality seems to be that of junior high bullies…ridiculing those who don’t think like they do, and shutting them up with the online equivalent of shouting them down.
The latest bit of ‘cleverness’ from the President is right on target for that demographic.
The Republicans don’t look much better, albeit for different reasons. Aren’t there any dignified, intelligent candidates available?
You know it’s only going to get worse right?
It depends on what the meaning of “it” is.
“Government is not reason, is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant, and a fearsome master”
George Washington.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.”
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power”.
“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
And maybe most appropriate ones to this thread:
“There is an important sense in which government is distinctive from administration. One is perpetual, the other is temporary and changeable. A man may be loyal to his government and yet oppose the particular principles and methods of administration.”
“While the people retain their virtue, and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government, in the short space of four years.”
Abraham Lincoln
What makes Obama most dangerous is our shortage of virtue and vigilance.
That certainly makes the point, Joe. Likewise, crudity begets crudity across the board in society, but it really gains steam when it’s tolerated and actively forwarded by the very people who should be serving as a high visibility forum against such things. When your words are in the gutter, your hearts and minds follow.
He might have added, “Separation of powers. Buck it. Constitutional restraint. Buck it. Negotiation and compromise. Buck it. Decorum. Buck it.” Unfortunately, he’s just the leading edge of this wave. Behind him are Alan Grayson and Bill De Blasio and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Instead of Ronald Reagan, we’ll have George Clooney. Oh boy.
I’m sorry, Jack.
You are forgiven.
Texas: Life’s like a bucking bronk.
I don’t respect the office, either. It has become a dictatorship. The first half-white POTUS has made that clear. (Maybe in Obama’s “bucket” or “buck it” spirit, it ought to be called a “dicktatership.”) The day I see a POTUS begin, on HIS first day in office, to dismantle the dictatorship – make that, utterly gut it, save for being the Commander-In-Chief of the military and making the Executive Branch MUCH more accountable to (with actions dependent upon ENFORCEABLE prior assent of) the Legislative and Judicial – I will once again consider respecting the office. I emphasize HIS, because SHE (everyone knows who I mean), sure as she’s white and incapable of regret except when not getting her way, won’t do it. It will take a MAN to do it – even if the MAN is a flaming homosexual. Such is in the group of the most MEN with real balls who are still engaging in American politics today. But of course, we all know that dictators must be overthrown.
Absolute agreement. One quick question, though. You are aware that there has never been a successful revolution without outside intervention, I assume. The question is, should the need arise, who would you suggest we turn to for an ally? My guess is that nobody is going to be willing to poke and prod the wounded lion, which is at best, unpredictable.
Excellent point, d_d. The potential rewards of supporting a revolt might be seen as so great that the risk of meddling even beyond what already is (and has been) going on might be irresistible to many potential meddlers. I cannot recommend any particular ally. I am hopeful for a relatively pain-free coup d’etat, with negligible foreign entanglement and a resultant new “regime” that restores accountability to federalized governance and constrains federal powers. But I know too well, how what I hope for doesn’t happen, and how what I hope against does happen.
If the result of such a coup is instead merely a new and even more ruthless dictatorship that is even more beholden to foreign powers than any currently in power and foreseeable, then the America we thought we knew, or that maybe existed during some period in the past, is doomed anyway. An unsuccessful forced transition to a less authoritarian federal government would only prove that there aren’t enough resources – including not enough Americans with enough will – to break the authoritarians. My guess is that there is not enough foreign power or interest in meddling to break such, either. The world is largely comfortable with authoritarian governance. So far, humanity still clearly seems ultimately unwilling and incapable of rising permanently above totalitarianism. The ruins of many past civilizations are mute testimony to that fact of life. They all had royalty and “great leaders,” even the so-called democracies. They all fell down.
So I suppose we should just forget about bringing down the current Executive Branch, eh? That’s what we get (and what we will deserve) for being conservative.
I wouldn’t say forget it, Lucky. Someday, though I doubt that I will live to see it, we may have a charismatic, sane leader who is smart enough to count to ten without taking his shoes off and an electorate that doesn’t think an election is something a man gets when watching a porno movie. Sigh.
It will come to that, unfortunately. I see no way around it. Do you imagine this government ever divesting itself of all this ill-gotten power willingly? No one committed to doing so will be allowed in. Our government is an ever-expanding, stifling black hole swallowing what little remains of our little bubble of freedom every day. We who haven’t been lulled into a narcotic stupor by toys, hedonism, and garbage culture become more powerless to stop it, while the mindless drones aid and abet. I’m sure the beltway vermin get a good chuckle about how much shit the American people take, but there are signs that they’re a bit nervous about what will happen when the bread and circuses stop. I hope my kids and I don’t live to see the day.
Though, I must confess to there being a part of me that thinks “better to die on my feet, fighting, than live on my knees”. I think these bastards need to be continuously engaged, one way or another. Make them fight for every inch of ground, figuratively or literally.