I realize I am old fashioned, but I was watching John King interview "Emily" a senior graduating today from Notre Dame about the controversy some have chosen to make about President Obama making his remarks to the graduating class and their family members on this day to highlight their achievement and milestone in their life, graduation from one of the nations famous colleges and expensive.
I am sure in their classes they were taught about language, titles and proper use and where and when to use them, and how it affects how people chose to decide if they are relevant or not. Emily showed me during her interview, her parents wasted their money. Not once did she address President Obama as the President, she just called him "Obama". She may not have voted for him, she may even dislike him, which is her right.
It is also my right to decide she is an "airhead" and the rest of her argument was lost to me. It would be similar to me calling President Bush, "bush", or Dubya, or Congressman Boehner (Boner) hey phonetically that is how I would pronounce his name, but he insists it is pronounced (Baner) and to respect him as the Minority Leader of the House I would call him Congressman Baner despite the fact I think he is a (Boner).
I do not agree with anything Congressman Boehner professes other than a love of country. His ideas are like other Republicans a waste of breath and have helped take this nation down a road we should have never traveled, a war of choice in Iraq, torture, lower taxes for the rich, bail out Wall Street and NOT Main Street.
I went to the school of hard knocks, I went into the U.S. Army after high school, I took my college classes thru mail courses, on post colleges that worked around field training exercises. To complete my college I went to City College during the days using my G.I. Bill and working the night shift at an aircraft factory. Being married with children, not working was not an option, the G.I. Bill did not pay enough to cover books, tuition, housing, food, clothes, etc.
But thru this education I learned that you only get one chance to make a first impression, and even if you do not agree with someone you still owed them the respect they are owed either thru a title like Doctor, Senator, Congressman or Congresswoman, General, Colonel, Major and yes even Mr. President or President Obama, or President Ford, President Nixon or even dead Presidents are all referred to as let's say President Washington, or President Lincoln. They earned the privilege by being elected by a majority of the population, despite your preference they are still YOUR President also, so to demean them by just using their last name when discussing them, or addressing them, you do not harm them, you are just showing you have no respect for yourself and you are not educated, or rather choose to have people assume you are not educated.
Myself, I have found the political right's decision to attack the President for giving these commencement addresses that he was invited to give, and then for in Arizona University case they decided to not give him the customary "honorary degree" for a BS reason that his body of work was not sufficient to deserve one WTF, anyone elected President of the United States has a respectable "body of work" in my opinion. The people that decided this was the appropriate way to handle the controversy have not accomplished anything close to what President Obama has nor will they.
"Emily" has the right to "free speech" and her opinions as I have the right to express I think she wasted 4 years and all of her parents money they spent on her education, she did not show me that she has learned anything about etiquette, first impressions or how to refer to people. As a future employer I would be embarassed to have people think I wanted people like her to represent my company, it does not say much for their choices. If she has no self respect when discussing the President of the United States in a television interview that will be seen by millions of people, how would she be an asset or could I risk that she would disrespect a potential client or give another interview about my products or public personna as she did for herself, I could not risk that, she only made herself look bad, the University of Notre Dame and her parents. Her interview which I am sure she is proud of, made a bad impression.
She is an American, she does not have to like the President, but she should in a public interview act like an educated person, and in my opinion she failed.