Respecting the president.

I try not to badmouth the president regardless of who he is. If I have disagreements with the commander-in-chief, I try to be as respectful as possible while being truthful at the same time. I don't act toward President Obama like the left did toward President Bush (which was disgraceful). So when my son and I talk about the current president, I am always respectful even though President Obama has been a disaster thus far (I don't want him to be a disaster but his policies are hurting my country).

We talked about President Obama last night. I was watching the news and the president came on and I said to my son, Bobby, "That's the president of the United States."
"I know." My son replied matter-of-factly.
"Do you remember his name?" I asked.
My son thought for a minute and said, "No. But he's the first black president."
"Yep. His name is Barack Obama." I replied.
"Oh, yeah!" Bobby exclaimed.
I went on, "You know I voted for the other guy, John McCain. But even though my guy lost, Barack Obama is still my president. I just don't think he's doing a very good job right now. I want himn to be a good president but right now he isn't a good president."
My son looked at me and said, "Why?"
I took a deep breath and said, "Well, the country is hurting right now because we, as a country don't have a lot of money."
My son, who is seven, surprised me with his reply, "Yeah, I know, people spend too much money."
"Yep," I said, "People spent too much money and got into trouble and now President Obama wants the government to spend even more money because he thinks it will help ."
"Well that doesn't make any sense." Bobby replied.
My son is right, of course, it doesn't make any sense at all.

When I discuss President Obama (as in the example above), I do so respectfully even though I think he lacks depth and his policies are hurting my country. We should all be respectful toward the president even if he isn't "our guy".

Here a gaffe, there a gaffe.

You know how President Bush was mocked by the mainstream media and late night comedians mercilessly because he would fumble a line during a speech or mispronounce a word here or there? If you believed Chris Mathews and Jon Stewart, President Bush did this all the time and it was a sign that he was stupid.

Never mind that President Bush's slips were infrequent. Never mind that he made no more verbal mistakes than any other public figure. Never mind that his mistakes were played over and over and over again by a media anxious to make President Bush look like an idiot. Never mind all that because the former president has nothing on President Obama when it comes to gaffes.

Just go to YouTube and type in "obama gaffes" and you'll be deluged with videos of the current president and his endless gaffes. They mostly come in three flavors:

1. Innocent errors - Innocent mistakes are ones anyone can make. Like referring to Rapid City as Grand Rapids as he did when he was campaigning last year. No biggie, right? Right. Except if it were President Bush that said it, the media would have played it over and over again and mocked Bush for being out of touch or something.

2. Factual errors - President Obama makes a lot of these. Claiming President Kennedy's meeting with Soviet leader Khruschev averted disaster during the Cuban Missile crisis (when in fact Kennedy's meeting led to the crisis) is just one of many There is no excuse for historical ignorance from a president of the US. President Bush did not make mistakes like this. President Bush was far, far more historically literate than President Obama is.

3. WTF?!? errors - These are ones that simply leave me--and should leave you--dumbfounded. Powerline commented on a recent gaffe that, frankly, left me stunned. This one is simply bizarre and, if the media reported on it, would make President Obama look like a moron.

And what the hell is the deal with the teleprompter? Barack Obama takes it with him everywhere. If President Bush used a teleprompter half as much as President Obama does, he would have been ridiculed endlessly.

Good gravy, folks!

My point here is not to mock President Obama for his gaffes (though his historical ignorance is troubling). Rather, I am trying to illustrate how biased the media is: They hated President Bush so they would grab onto the smallest thing to make him loo bad; they love President Obama and will purposely avoid making him look bad. George W. Bush is a smart guy. So is President Obama. They, like everyone who gives a lot of public speeches, will make mistakes. It doesn't mean they're stupid or incompetent (President Obama may be incompetent but it has nothing to do with verbal gaffes), it simply means they are human.

Yes, Barack Obama is human.