Booing the President
Booing the President
Maybe I’m just old school, but it seems to me that there are lines that American citizens should not cross, and one of those lines is booing the President of the United States. Three years ago I attended opening day for the Washington Nationals Baseball Team. It was their very first game as the Washington Nationals and as a part of the celebration of this event; the President threw out the ceremonial first pitch. It’s an old, old tradition that began in 1910 when President William Howard Taft threw out the first pitch for the Washington Senators. From that day forward it became a tradition for the President of the United States to throw out the first pitch.
It is, in my mind, a very nice tradition and until recent years the President, whoever he was, Republican or Democrat, received a nice round of applause for getting the grand old game off to a start. That’s why I was disappointed in 2005 when President Bush threw out the first pitch. While most fans gave him a nice round of applause, the boo birds were there. In fact, the couple I took to the game couldn’t see the President because a couple of protestors held up signs of protest when the President stepped on the field.
More recently when I attended opening day at the new Nationals ball park, there was more booing when the President stepped on the field.
Good grief, as Charlie Brown would say. It’s a baseball game for goodness sake! Are we becoming a banana republic where everything must be political? No matter how much you disagree with the current President, be he Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, doesn’t he or she deserve your respect?
As Paul says in Romans 13:7 in regard to government, "Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes, if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."
This doesn’t mean you have to surrender your freedom or you don’t have a right to disagree with the President on policies. I certainly disagree with the current President on a number of issues and I’m sure I’ll disagree with the next President on his or her policies. But I hope I will always give them respect and pray for their protection and wisdom in crisis.
Is America becoming such a coarse society that we no longer maintain a consensus of common decency and courtesy? As an American you have all sorts of freedoms. Nevertheless, there is a difference between what you can do (like booing the President) and what you should do.
Next year when I go to out to opening day for the Nationals I plan on applauding the President who throws out the first pitch whether her name is Hillary or his name is Barak or John. It’s just the right thing to do.
I can not agree with you more on this subject. I also attended the opening night game and was not only disgusted at the booing going on but also the other comments being yelled. A man beside me was yelling murderer and the lady next to him was yelling that Bush was a killer!
It doesn't matter if you agree with the war or not but lets ask this simply question. Can one man really put the United States into a War? No. We have a government set up with Checks and Balances to insure that no one man/person has too much power. The president can declare war but only with the approval of Congress.
"After intensive lobbying by the Bush administration, in early October 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives and then the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to give President Bush broad authority to use force against Iraq. Then on November 8, 2002, the Bush administration won a unanimous vote by the UN Security Council requiring Iraq to demonstrate that it is disarming its weapons of mass destruction or face "serious consequences." The UN then sent a team of weapons inspectors to Iraq to verify Iraqi compliance with this resolution, known as UN Resolution 1441."
Everybody is quick to blame just the president for this war but the truth of the matter it was our entire government that OVERWHELMINGLY approved the use of force. But, put aside the war and whether you like the man or not. He is still our ELECTED leader. The ELECTED leader of the free world. If you don't like it then go out and exercise your right to choose your next leader by voting. But if you agree in the system of voting for a leader then you must accept whomever wins the race in the end.
As Americans we are all supposed to be "united". No matter what. Much like a family should always be united. Now, I didn't always agree with my parents while growing up and we would have problems because of these differences but you are supposed to keep your problems in the family. Don't air your dirty laundry for other to see. This is the same thing. Lets not let others tear us apart and show them that they are dividing our Country.
Respect the man who's job it is to protect our freedoms. If you don't like it then keep it in house by voting somebody else into his office when the time is right. Also, let me set the record straight, I am not a Bush supporter. I just don't like what I saw on Sunday, March 31st at Nationals Stadium.
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