In the great 1967 film "In The Heat Of The Night", a black police detective named Virgil Tibbs found himself stuck in a small Southern town where he would surely not get any respect. The locals in the town would still refer to him as "boy" while he was clearly a grown man.
My favorite line in the film was when police Chief Gillespie laughed about Virgil Tibbs name and asked what to the people in his northern hometown of Philadelphia called him, then Sidney Poitier responded with a strong "They call me MISTER TIBBS". That response didn't sit too well with Bill Gillespie who by the way NEVER called "Mr Tibbs" by the more formal name. In both the movie and the television versions of "in the Heat of The Night", the Bill Gillespie character called him "Virgil". And except for "Virgil Tibbs" wife and family, nobody else EVER addressed the man by his first name.
What does my recollection of an old movie and TV show have to do with this post?
Well, this posting started out as a rant. There is a conversation in certain circles that really gets on my last nerve.
I keep hearing people talk about how we should address the President of The United States. There are many people, ESPECIALLY African-American people expressing their demands that everyone (especially news media, talk radio show hosts and non-blacks) say "President Obama" or "President Barack Obama" and NOT to say "Barack Obama" or "Obama" or any other nickname. People are insisting that the president of the United States be addressed with the respectful name title and to "give him the respect that he deserves". Some have even said not to address him or talk about him using "Mr Obama". The demand is that you say PRESIDENT before you say anything.
Before anyone thinks that I am "hating" on the President you should KNOW this about me. I did not vote for him. I am an independent and I voted Libetarian in past elections. Just about NONE of my votes counted for much. And thats ok with me. I simply don' t support Democrats or Republicans. I refuse to support what I think is a disfunctional two party dominated system and I wish we could abolish it. I am a growing minority. However I also refuse to sit on my ass on election day. I have not missed a single election since I was age 18.
Having said that I fully believe in fairness and will call out hyprocracy when I see it. And I think I see it very clearly in this issue some have in how we should address the President.
Why all of a sudden are people so demanding of respect? Are you demanding respect for the position or respect for the man holding the position? The position itself may deserve respect but I think the PERSON holding the position needs to EARN respect. If you think he or she has earned that respect, then respect him with the title or naming of your choice.
Some of the people making these demands about how to address the president may also believe in some illusion of a "freedom of speech" too. But then turn into hyprocrates when criticizing how others speak.
If I were to meet the President personally, I would address him with the appropiate "Mr President" unless the man himself directs me to say differently. But what about his wife? I haven't heard ANYONE express the same demands to properly address her as Mrs. Obama. As she is the President's wife, why isn't everyone addressing her in a more respectful way? Do you know her as well as the girlfriends you hang out with at the mall? Probably not! So why isn't Michelle Obama getting the respect that the die hard fans of her husband are demanding for him?
Back to how people think we should respect the President. If a man in his position should be addressed or talked about with the title President mentioned BEFORE anything else, then where were you people when names like "Dubya", The letter W, "BUSHit" or "Bushy" were thrown around? It seems that the very people who are demanding that everyone properly respect the current president had NO problem using nicknames or disrespecting the previous president. Now the shoe is on the other foot as Republicans refuse to respect the current president. Plus some just forget to say "President" while meaning no harm or disrespect, yet they too get called out for their failure to show the respect that some people think should be expressed.
BTW, many conservatives are demanding that the "hockey Mom" from Alaska be called the respectful title of "Governor Palin". Which also has me wondering why they have bumper stickers with just her first name on it. Those bumper stickers replaced the black "W" stickers in the rear windows of SUV's and Minivans across America.
I don't get it. Looks like people want one thing but do another AND the women are getting no respect. I wonder if a Liberal ever called Sarah Palin a "GAL" how angry would Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity get?
Then there those who claim stupid things like "MY president" or "their president". NO, he is OUR president whether you voted for him or not. And while I think some of the nicknames being used by the people who don't like the current president are juvenile and unnecessary I do think that both sides need to need to get over themselves.
This demand for the world to say "President" before anything else is as much a waste of time as the issues raised during the election over the excessive use of his middle name. And that too showed a lot of bias and hyprocracy as we never heard the other candidate referred to as John Sidney McCain. But wait, that name didn't have a controversial connection.
Anyone ever watch the 1980's TV show "Love Sidney"? Well I would compare that as punishment on par with John SIDNEY McCain's being held prisoner during the Vietnam War. That is my STUPID connection with the senator's middle name. The TV show was that bad.
Anyway, my observation is that Barack Hussein Obama, The President of The United States of America is the ONLY one not making an issue out of juvenile things like name titles. He is the only one working on more important issues while "the rest of us" are behaving like immature and ignorant brats unworthy of respect ourselves. I do respect our President for showing some class.
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