The President, the King, and the Letter

I recently read an Internet circulation of a letter to the President by an angry citizen. The writer had recently seen news reports of President Obama's visit to Europe and his speeches in which he seemed rather apologetic for his Americanism.

The tone of the writer disagrees with me, and I disagree with some of his content. The letter was passionate and disrespectful.

Some have said that it was a hateful letter. I don't think any of this person's opinions crosses the line between obnoxious and hateful, though. The First Amendment still protects that, doesn't it?

My cousin was bothered by the letter. He said that it understated President Obama's performance. In many respects I agree that President Obama is a fine representative of the United States in the larger world.

I believe that diplomacy is the first and an essential step in establishing or re-establishing relationships in our own lives and in our world.

I disagree with the direction that his administration and the congress appear to be taking the domestic affairs of the country.

One small change I think I would have made in the President's remarks - and I did not hear or read a lot of them - on his recent tour of Europe around the economic meetings would have been to acknowledge in some small way the American role played in the great and proud histories of each of the countries he visited.

I would have liked to have heard him reference specific aspects of a long and cooperative relationship between the US and his host country. What I did hear reported on the network news was very polite, and I felt it was so polite that it was almost one-sided. Just my opinion.

On the matter of bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia (or any other monarch, for that matter), I think that proper polite respect is warranted in given situations. If, for example, President Obama had been invited to visit the court of the king of Thailand, it would have been appropriate for him to bow to the king as he entered and departed the throne room.

In the context of President Obama's meeting of the king of Saudi Arabia, however, his bowing was inappropriate. The two heads of state (peers) met in a crowded hall outside a meeting room where many other heads of state were gathering. The president appeared to have had an "OMG! Like... it's the Saudi king!" moment.

When I first saw the video, I was taken aback. In retrospect, I'll admit, since I've never just bumped into a king before I might have bowed, too. (Although I would have a hard time forgetting that this guy's government - meaning himself - is busy paying for training and equipment for people who think it's in accordance with the will of Allah to blow up people who disagree with you on a philosophical basis and who allows, and tacitly endorses, the mutilation and torture of Muslim women, among other horrific violations of human rights outlined in the first ten amendments to the US Constitution.)

My cousin believes that President Obama is coming under far more ugly and personal attacks than any president he can remember. (And he is not a young guy.) As far as the personal attacks and animosity aimed at President Obama go, I believe that every president of the United States has dealt with that - except, perhaps, George Washington.

I don't notice an increase in the level of animosity over the George W. Bush years. It's just different voices, now. But all that is anecdotal.

I feel very strongly that, as Americans and as some of us profess to be Christians, we have a duty to respect the President of the United States. By no means does that imply that we must agree with his policy stances or appreciate his personal style or turn a blind eye to his mistakes.

Americans on both sides of the aisle have never been much for that. And those are two of the things (respectful dissent and vigilant oversight) that place our nation among the very greatest in the history of this world.

My aunt read the letter and was REALLY mad. I understand being upset by the way someone expresses an idea or opinion. Even if I agree, I'm often offended.

We need to consider her statement very closely. She said, "The danger in this vitriol is real. In a Democracy this guy will vote...."

Is there really "danger" in ideas? Is there "danger" in a particular American citizen exercising his or her right to vote? Those thoughts leave me suspended somewhere in time between Confederate 1863 and Orwellian 1984.

When thought and expression in America become dangerous, undesirable, or illegal, then we will have real problems!