TO THE LEFT: Where’s the Respect?

     We elect the person knowing he faces a monumental task in running the most difficult position in the world. Whether one feels a president is the right person for the job or not, once the position has been won, in the interest of keeping a good face to the world, we allow the president significant leeway to effectively run the office.

     It’s a matter of respect. For instance, although former President George W. Bush won the 2000 election in a clearly debatable manner, once he was in office, even his defeated opponent, Al Gore, offered a measure of respect for the office of the president by not criticizing the position.

     After the 9/11 World Trade Center destruction, America knew that all differences needed to be put aside to allow the president leeway to handle what was clearly a major crisis. And even though he appeared paralyzed for 15 agonizing minutes in the classroom when he got the news, we could somewhat empathize with the monumentality of the situation.

     Bush ushered us into a war against terrorism, stating that he finally found his purpose, not realizing we were facing a faceless enemy that might attack again in any number of unpredictable ways. We gave him that, with little criticism, and went to war in Afghanistan, one we are still fighting and dying in a country that clearly does not want us around. Afghans see us as yet another foreign interloper with little chance of winning in a rugged and untamed terrain. And even though we never found weapons of mass destruction, and Bush faced deserved criticism, he ran out his two terms with far less thunderous vitriol than President Obama has faced in less than a year in office.

     President Barack Obama has taken much flack for staying in Hawaii over the Christmas holiday following the attempted airplane bombing, especially from, of all people, former Vice-President Dick Cheney. There has been a distinct lack of respect on Cheney’s part, making the claim that “"As I’ve watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war.” 

     Sorry, Mr. Cheney, President Obama is fully aware we are at war. Mind you, former President Bush spent more time vacationing than any previous president; estimates range upward of two years worth of accumulated vacation time away from the Oval Office in the eight years he ran the country. President Obama clearly knows the depths of the near-tragedy, and in recent days has taken a strong stance to find the lapses in security, with Homeland Security leader Janet Napoletano sure to take the biggest hit over those well-reported breaches.

     But the fact that Cheney has taken it upon himself to be the Republican Party’s spokesperson against any and everything regarding our national security and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq reveals that he does not respect the office of the President, and feels free to espouse his criticisms while the world stands slack-jawed at such out and out disrespect. 

     It’s a hard pill for Americans to swallow, especially when one must consider that Cheney, through his evident Halliburton ties, benefits from a continuation of current war efforts. Yes, national security is our highest priority. Yes, we will undoubtedly be under siege until who know when. Yes, there are many that must pay for the egregious lapses of security, but, Mr. Cheney, America is getting tired of rants against President Obama, especially from you. May I suggest you heed a line from the Staple Singers’ “Respect Yourself”: “Just get out the way/and let the gentleman do his thing.”

Gary D. Jackson is a freelance writer based in Southern California. Contact him at: soulmates1@roadrunner.com.