Respect

Anyone who is a regular listener to my podcast or reader of my blog will tell you I’m a fan of respect. I firmly believe that regardless of who the president is, democrat or republican, you should respect them. They work day in and day out for their country and for you. Even if you don’t agree with their politics the least you can do is show respect.

I believe that the majority of Americans display that respect. However there are some that forget it, or believe that not agreeing with someone’s politics and not respecting them go hand-in-hand. Those are usually the people who interrupt speeches with chants of “war criminal” or “Bush lied people died.” Those idiots give a bad name to democrats and liberals in general.

So when I watched the video of President Bush throwing out the first pitch at the new Nationals stadium this evening I was a little disappointed in my fellow Americans. Take a look for yourself.

Understand something, Washington DC is a liberal place, so Bush is none to accepted there. Putting that aside, what have we come to as a nation?

I’m not just decrying the boos because I’m a fan of Bush, I’m decrying them because I’m a fan of respect. This is America’s favorite pastime, an opportunity to sit back, relax, and forget your worries. It certainly isn’t the time and place to give your approval rating for the president, leave that for when Rasmussen calls.

Let me tell you something, if I was at a baseball game and Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton came out to throw the first pitch, I certainly wouldn’t boo. I would stand there and just watch, I wouldn’t clap and I wouldn’t boo. In fact I might even clap. I think people are afraid that if they clap they’re somehow showing support for the president.

How terrible.

Clapping when the president is introduced doesn’t automatically pin you as a supporter. For example, when the president gives his State of the Union, the entire room stands and claps, democrats and non supporters included.

So why do people boo at a baseball game?

Because we’ve lost out ideal of respect. We’ve gotten so divided as a nation in politics that we forget that the other side is human, that they have feelings, and that they work just as hard as our guys. Regardless of what I say or do I respect every democrat that stepped foot in the race this year. It’s a tough thing to do and anyone who has the balls to do it should be respected.

The same goes for the man who’s lead us as a nation for eight years, forget your disagreements with him, you have to respect him for the time and effort he’s expelled while in office.

And don’t forget, he throws a pretty mean fastball too.

–jb

One Comment