For this one my goal is this:
To share with you one guy's opinions of the goings on of life on this spinning blue orb of ours.
I promise to:
1) Deliver my opinions in a educated (though not entirely politically correct way).
2) To share with you unabashedly my feelings, as they relate to my faith as well as all aspects of my personality to which they apply.
That being said, I'm sure some of you may wonder why I choose to voice my opinions of life in a separate blog from the discussions of my life. Its because this is more of a newsletter, where my other blog is more of a journal. This is meant to be a more active place, the other blog is more or a reflective piece.
Now as to why do this blog at all, I must give credit where credit is due. Bethany Guersney inspired me to try my hand at this. Mostly because I had left a rant on a Facebook note of her's trashing the video contained therein, and during my subsequent apology she challenged me to find a more constructive outlet to express my own opinions, and thats what I'm doing.
And now my first official post...
"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
In 1789, with the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America, came a new executive power among the states, The President of the United States, who by those words came into being. Now while the exact limitations of the office and its powers and responsibilities have changed over the years the basic rules have remained the same.
The video that began me down the road to this blog was from the site The Onion. This site, admittedly, does not limit the range of those it mocks, but all the same it does almost seem to make its goal to push the buttons of every member/group in American society. The video was making fun of George W. Bush, not a rare practice mind you, but one that has always bothered me. Not the mockery of him specifically,I mean he has had many memorable moments that are comic gold.
My issue, rather, is with the lack of respect the office garners. Going back to that day on April 30th, 1789, who would have expected that a position so highly revered in our country as the one held by our first President, another George, would fall so far in its public esteem. Some would argue that to be the cost of letting people choose their leaders, someone will always be left dissatisfied. Fair enough, but I must disagree. I feel like thats a cop-out, a sorry attempt at alleviating the stresses of finding the real root of this developed disrespect.
Overtime, almost every President has failed in certain aspects of their careers, those that were widely successful, are those we immortalize: Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George Washington are quite consistently found in the top 5 best Presidents of all time, as ranked (in many polls of historians and political scientists over the years). It is interesting to note how these polls are conducted.
One such pole conducted by William J. Ridings, Jr. and Stuart B. McIver from 1989-1996 had more than 719 people took part in the poll, primarily academic historians and political scientists. Poll respondents rated the Presidents in five categories (leadership qualities, accomplishments & crisis management, political skill, appointments, character & integrity), and the results were tabulated to create the overall ranking.
Now I'm not planning on ranking the current Commander and Chief by these categories, because I wouldn't know what I was doing. I think its about the same as trying to compare Athletes from different eras of a sport. For example, if a big, cigar smoking, guy tried to play for the Red Sox today he'd be out of his mind, but in the early years of baseball Babe Ruth got his shot. How would you rank the severity of 9/11 against Pearl Harbor, or the Burning of Fort Sumter, or the British occupation of Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812? All of those were abhorrent crises in their times.
I think it is fair to say that at his current pace George W. Bush, won't go down in the books as the greatest strategist, or domestic caretaker, among the 43 men who have carried the title of President, but he may be unfairly ranked because of our ability to see every flaw so easily in the here and now. The problem, where respect for the office is concerned, comes as a result of those same 43 men.
Lets check out the Presidential "Top 10 Presidential Blunders of All Time" for a moment. Though this list is borrowed from an 2006 article, I tend to agree with it.
Number 10: Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinski Scandal, ranked as such because the affect it had on his Presidential Legacy.
Number 9: Ronald Reagan and the Iran-Contra Affair, the effort to sell arms to Iran and use the money to finance an armed anti-communist group in Nicaragua.
Number 8: John F. Kennedy allowing the ill-fated Bay of Pigs Invasion to overthrow Cuba's communist government that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Number 7: Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act of 1807, a self-imposed prohibition on trade with Europe during the Napoleonic Wars.
Number 6: James Madison's failure to keep the United States out of the War of 1812 with Britain.
Number 5: Richard Nixon's involvement in the Watergate cover-up.
Number 4: Woodrow Wilson's refusal to compromise on the Treaty of Versailles after World War I.
Number 3: Lyndon Johnson allowing the Vietnam War to intensify.
Number 2: Andrew Johnson's decision just after the Civil War to side with Southern whites and oppose improvements in justice for Southern blacks beyond abolishing slavery.
The Number 1 biggest Presidential Blunder of All time is... President James Buchanan's failing to avert the Civil War.
So what is the common thread these events have? It can't be what we think of those Presidents, because Clinton, Reagan, Kennedy, Jefferson, and Madison, are all widely hailed as some of the greats, where as Buchanan, Nixon, and Johnson are consistently seen as some of the worst. The common thread, as I see it, is that they all deceived us: LBJ said we were on the verge of victory, Buchanan said it would resolve itself, Nixon was covering for the misdeeds of his subordinates, and yet by their actions all ten of these men as well as others, have chipped away at the respectability, and more over, the trustworthiness of the office of President.
Thats where the lack of respect comes from everyone. Its that we (Americans) have been trained over the past 200 years or so to distrust that man in the White House.
So what can we do to fix this cynical view of the President? I have a few thoughts on that, too. Consider for a moment that that man, who sits in that Oval Office is bombarded daily by threats to this nation, the weight of the world, as we Americans now it, is on his shoulders. Take a moment, when your done here, before you go back to Facebook, or websurfing or whatever brought you here and look at them at their first inauguration and as they left. You'll find that their bodies aged rapidly in an 8 year span. For example:
Isn't it astonishing every bit of color gone from his hair, wrinkles plague his face. Its mind boggling to me to thing how he went in as a healthy looking 46 year-old and left the office a 53 year old who vaguely reminds me of my withering great uncle who is well into his 60s. The stress of the job is taken lightly by the press (and by many of us), but I don't know of many people who would willingly take the job if they knew the extent of the stresses they'd be under for 4-8 years. Even going to far as to say that most candidates for the position don't really understand what their in for if they are elected. I think if we all seriously looked at that job, the pros and cons would show that we wouldn't want that kind of position ever in our lives.
In closing I'd like everyone to think of the most difficult thing you have ever attempted in your life, something where you tried your hardest and when you were done you had absolutely nothing left. Whether it was an academic feat, or a physical attempt, just really focus on it, and gather together in your mind all the stress, pain, exhaustion, and anguish you felt mentally and physically. Now imagine having a couple million people all telling you all at once how easy it really was and how much better they could do it. Ladies and Gentleman you've just gotten a small glimpse into the life of the American President.
-Flowers
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