It's PRESIDENT OBAMA.... not Obama

[RollWithIt]

I'm not calling out DU'ers. I understand why people continue to do it. It's just a carryover from the primaries and the general election. But every day I see 50 threads with Obama this and Obama that. It's PRESIDENT OBAMA. He has been President for a month and a half.

He deserves our respect. Call him what he is.

[LakeSamish706]

1. Yep, you are correct and I agree.... This is a President that deserves our respect... n/t

[firedupdem]

2. I think people just get comfortable here. However, I love to call

him President so I make an honest effort to do that. I hate it more when the talking heads don't call him President...or Mr. Obama.

[treestar]

3. Besides, it's a lot of fun

I grin every time I write or say "President Obama."

[Cirque du So-What]

4. I've been saying either 'President' or 'Mr.' Obama at every opportunity

It's very gratifying and there's always the chance of pissing off some freepazoid.

[Skip Intro]

5. And it's Secretary Clinton, and Representative Kucinich, and Senator Kennedy.

And they are known to us as Hillary, DK/Kucinch, and Ted Kennedy.

Come on.

I'm not going to be calling anyone, let alone a public servant, "your majesty."

[tonysam]

9. And Face It, Republicans Are Called by Their Last Names

all the time. This is simply ridiculous.

[peace13]

6. PO?

[silverweb]

7. Except when...

...we say:

GObama! GObama!

[Deja Q]

8. Sometimes I've slipped, but you're right - he is indeed the President.

Some will exclude "President" or "Mr." for reasons of disrespect. Others just get forgetful. Plenty of possible reasons...

[WinkyDink]

10. It's the typing thing. No disrespect intended.

[AllentownJake]

11. During the Election

I would sometime refer to him as that son of a bitch and he was a senator, or course I was leaving his office after working 15 hours.

Am I a bad DUer.

[IndianaGreen]

12. It's Obama, as it was Kennedy, or Johnson, or Nixon, or Bush, or Carter.

Your vapid concern has been duly noted.

[shanti]

95. oh please, debbie downer

we're finally proud to call our own "President". why is this vapid? after 8 years of a moron in charge, give us a break!

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. That's stupid

There's no protocol on a message board.

You're acting like a fascist.

[ddeclue]

31. Do we have a graphic to use for "protocol Nazi"?

since we have one for grammar Nazi and spelling Nazi?

[Abq_Sarah]

80. It's fascist to suggest

Paying the President and his office the proper respect?

If you were going for a job interview with the President of a company, would you walk into his office and address him by his last name?

[alcibiades_mystery]

83. Yes, it is

fascism is the love of power, regardless of variety.

[Abq_Sarah]

87. Fascism is not "a love of power"

It is much, much more than that.

[alcibiades_mystery]

89. Not really

At its core, that's what it is, and if you behave as somebody who loves power, you are tapping into the bottom-line desire of fascism. All the political science definitions merely describe the forms or manifestations we've encountered thus far of successfully organizing and tapping this desire. But the desire is the real force: the love of power in any form.

[Abq_Sarah]

91. So you're saying that every person who runs for political office

Is a fascist?

[Abq_Sarah]

88. duplicate

[mvd]

14. I try to work that in

I don't feel the need every time, but yes it feels good to say sometimes.

[stray cat]

15. We don't use titles for anyone else do we? ie Secretary of State Clinton

Vice president Biden. Senator Feingold. He deserves respect but lets show it by helping him get his programs passed and being tolerant and patient even if we don't always agree with him on every detail or understand exactly what his motivations are.

[uberllama42]

16. AP format dictates that elected officials be referred to by their full name and title

on the first mention and by their last name only on subsequent mentions. This board, however, doesn't conform to AP format.

There is nothing in the DU rules about using someone's title on every mention. There is no disrespect conveyed by referring to someone by their name.

[ddeclue]

33. Thanks and we aren't even controlled by THAT since this isn't the AP but DU. nt

[Captain Hilts]

69. I make an effort to use "Prez Obama" in post headings, such as this one, but not in text. nt

[Kalyke]

85. Yay!

I was about to post a very similar thing.

I think it's far more degrading to call SOS Clinton, "Hillary," than to call the president, "Obama."

[Onlooker]

17. Jesus, what a load of crap

I worship no one. He's Obama, and the fact that he gave Brown a DVD collection as a gift proves he's an ordinary guy not caught up in childish pretensions.

[otohara]

61. Worship?

what does worship have to do with addressing the man by the title he earned?

[Occam Bandage]

18. It's Reagan. It's Bush. It's Clinton. It's Fuckhead. It's Obama.

[Hieronymus]

19. Republicans are all calling him Mr. Obama, have you noticed?

[ddeclue]

32. Welcome to the First Amendment - they are perfectly entitled to do so

and that is actually quite respectful given the alternatives. Just consider the names used about "W" on this board including "Jr.", "Chimp", "Chimperor", etc.

Get over it and move on to a non NONtroversy already.

[Beacool]

20. Sorry, he's still Obama.

Hillary is still Hillary, same goes for Biden, Bush, McCain, Palin, etc.

We all know their official titles but we are posting on a message board, not writing copy for the news or an article for a newspaper.

[sampsonblk]

21. Dude. Roll with it. (nt)

[LWolf]

22. Interesting.

I never referred to GWB as "President Bush." I did my best not to refer to him at all, and when I did, it was "Bush."

I never referred to Bill Clinton as anything other than "Bill Clinton" or "Clinton."

I never referred to GHWB as anything but "Bush" or "George Bush."

I never referred to Ronald Reagan as "President Reagan." He was "Reagan," or "Ronnie."

I never referred to Jimmy Carter as anything but "Carter" or "Jimmy Carter."

I never referred to Ford as anything but "Ford."

I never referred to Nixon as anything but "Nixon" or "Tricky Dick."

And I didn't refer to Johnson or Kennedy at all; I was too young.

I respected some of the above more than others, but not because of a title or because of the office. The office doesn't confer respect onto a person. The person earns respect beyond simple human decency, or not.

Most politicians don't earn much respect from me.

Why should Barack Obama be any different? What about him "deserves" my respect, beyond the same respect for another living being that I offer to anyone?

[ddeclue]

34. Well said, the President is the people's servant regardless of whether he's a Democrat or a Republic

-an.

To his face I think it is appropriate to stand when he enters the room and refer to him as "Mr. President" when addressing him or "President Obama" to a third party but this really only applies in his actual presence and if you work for the man in the government.

Otherwise you are free to refer to him however you like in the third person.

I usually referred to Bill Clinton as either Bill or mostly as Clinton when he was President. Since Hillary became elected to the Senate I've referred to them as Bill or Hillary or President Clinton or Bill Clinton so as to distinguish the two.

Otherwise I'm very likely to use:

Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Buchanan, Lincoln, Cleveland, McKinley, TR, Wilson, Coolidge, Harding, Hoover, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower or Ike, JFK or Kennedy, LBJ or Johnson, Nixon, Ford or Jerry Ford, Carter or Jimmy or Jimmy Carter, Ronnie Reagan or Ronnie Raygun for Reagan, H.W. "41" or Poppy Bush now that there have been two, and "W", George, Bush "43" or Jr. to refer to the obvious recent disgrace and finally Obama, Barack, BHO, BO, or "44" to refer to Barack Obama.

[LWolf]

60. Yes, to all of those.

And to the other point: if I were addressing him directly, or introducing him directly to someone, I'd use the title.

[Captain Hilts]

70. I address all - even Prez Bush here - as "Prez." It's the office, not the man. Nation of laws, not

men and all that stuff.

[flyarm]

23. nope..nobody tells me what to say or how to say it. eom

[Louis-Emmanuel]

24. It's Yankee third-baseman Alex-Rodriguez. Not Arod

Show some respect.

[JTFrog]

47. Sorry, respect has to be earned. n/t

[Vattel]

25. Obama works for me.

[bigwillq]

26. Obama is fine.

We called Bush, Bush (besides other names)...We call Clinton, Clinton. Nixon, Nixon....etc, etc, etc.

[DesertRat]

27. I agree with you.

President Obama deserves the respect.

[Catch22Dem]

28. Obama is fine by me (Roosevelt, Kennedy, Carter, Clinton)

I have no problem with any of those references.

[demokatgurrl]

29. I have no problem with us doing it-

but on the front page of the NY Times it should be PRESIDENT Obama.

[ddeclue]

30. Oh bite me.. there's nothing wrong with referring to him as "Obama" or even "Barack"

in the third person on a website or in print anywhere. Just watch "The Civil War" by Ken Burns and count how many times in 10 hours they refer to "Lincoln" as opposed to "President Lincoln" or "President Abraham Lincoln". Just look anywhwere in an historical work about a President and you'll see:

You're wrong - this is a NONtroversy - and you are being self-righteous towards the other DU'ers here who should feel free to refer to OBAMA as OBAMA or as Barack as much as they want to.

It would ONLY be inappropriate to call him Barack or Obama to his face (provided your name isn't Michelle Obama) - in this case it would be correct to refer to him as Mr. President.

If you worked in the White House and he actually was your boss it would correct to refer to him as "the President" or "President Obama" to a third party. Otherwise this is a free country so get over it already.

[Captain Hilts]

71. I think 'Barack' is disrespectful, actually. We don't refer to 'Franklin', or 'John', etc.

Clinton gets 'Bill' often as Hillary gets 'Hillaried' because it differentiates the two.

Just as, since 'Eleanor', first ladies have been referred to buy first names because they are the secondary use of the name in print.

[QC]

81. Sometimes we do refer to John.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbnaaz75M4g

[ddeclue]

93. THANKS for that... I've never heard any version but the Dion version before...

this is great - and GOOD point...

[ddeclue]

92. It's been rather common especially since Eisenhower

to use a President's first name beginning with "I like Ike".

It's been very common to refer to Jerry, Jimmy, Ronnie, George, Bill, George (or W) and NOW Barack.

It is NOT disrespectful to do so outside of the strict parameters that I've already mentioned.

Doug D.

[Runcible Spoon]

35. Filed into the "I don't give a rat's ass" category

Call him whatever you want, I'll do the same.

[Lisa0825]

36. See my siggy...

[BluePatriot21]

37. It's President Barack Hussein Obama

and he is our President of the United States. For short we can call him "The Man" or "El Hombre"

Gotta have the Hussein in there as a eye poke to the right. Pisses em off somethin fierce.

[Rebel Scum]

64. You betcha! (pun intended)

I've been doing the same thing to watch the Rushlings heads explode.

[LiberalPersona]

38. I don't need to call someone

by a special title to respect them. I hate formalities.

[Hippo_Tron]

39. Not really necessary unless you are addressing him in person

Then it would be President Obama. Referring to him colloquially is not an issue when you are not formally addressing him.

[Egnever]

40. It's Mr. President !

to you!

[question everything]

41. A recent post here, by one of DU most revered member

recently had a tongue in cheek - I think - referring him as Mr. O, or Barack and got gazillion recommendations. OK, this person will get gazillion recommendations with a simple sneeze. I did not read it, not beyond the first line, but did comment along your line that it is President Obama.

I just remember, during the 90s when I would be in meetings with too many Republicans who would talk about "Hillary" (this was before she chose to campaign like that) and responded: Mrs. Clinton, for you. And President Clinton.

If we, here, do not demonstrate that the current president is a legitimate one, how can we expect this from the Republicans?

(I often refer to him as Obama in many of my posts, but addressing him should be as you say).

[tritsofme]

42. Its always amusing to see people demand a president they support be draped in the same niceties and

formalities that they would never even consider bestowing upon an opposition president.

Its not a partisan thing, I've seen it happen on both sides over the years, but no less amusing.

In the end, he is a public servant, call him whatever you want.

[NoSheep]

43. I could not call the last bastard, who sat in the oval office for 2 stolen terms, "President".

[Adelante]

44. Nonsense nt

[depakid]

45. "I'm not calling out DU'ers."

Then why did you post this?

[DRoseDARs]

46. It's PRESIDENT CLINTON.... not Big Dawg

This thread is inane.

[polmaven]

63. Or...

Bubba!

[Captain Hilts]

72. I sometimes use 'Bubba' to differentiate him from HRC. nt

[DRoseDARs]

75. It's PRESIDENT BUBBA.... not Clinton

I wonder if RollWithIt is done having the Vapors over this...

[polmaven]

77. And I don't think it is inappropriate.

he was not the King of America. He never pretended to be, as W did. He was, as is our current president, down to earth and one of the people. Nicknames, particularly fond nicknames, are perfectly appropriate.

[Captain Hilts]

78. I like the NYDaily News' 'Bam' for Obama. I've used it a few times here. nt

[old mark]

48. The people on MSNBC are as guilty if this as those on Fox.

Our President deserves the respect of all of us. He certainly gets enough of the disrespect and hate, and has a tough job that he is doing well. It is little enough that he gets the recognition he deserves.

mark

[Wetzelbill]

49. it's either

However I frequently use "Barack" or "The Big O." We're tight like that.

[biopowertoday]

50. oh just roll with it. obama is fine.

[mwb970]

51. Ding ding ding! This is the dumbest DU post I've read this morning.

Clinton was Clinton. Carter was Carter. Let Obama be Obama.

[Brazenly Liberal]

52. Nonsense. There's nothing disrespectful about calling him "Obama"

If it was customary to always refer to Presidents with their titles, I would agree with you. But that's not the case. In informal speech or writing it is common and completely unremarkable to refer to them by their last names only.

[MadHound]

53. Sorry, I don't stand on ceremony for anybody

Be happy that I refer to Obama using his given name. Bush was about the kindest thing that I called the last president so calling this one Obama is doing good.

I generally refer to all politicians by using their last names. Don't like that, oh well.

[polichick]

54. I would address him as President Obama, but a message board discussion...

...is a far cry from that ~ posters often skip titles here but it has nothing to do with disrespect.

[tomp]

55. worry about something important....

...or go jump in a lake.

[acmavm]

56. Another Obamabot telling people what to do. Sheesh!

edit: Just to say there are more bosses here than we know what to do with.

[immoderate]

57. Obama has my respect.

Get it?

--imm

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

58. Oh F'ing please...

It SHORTER TO TYPE and unambiguous.

"Oh no, I wonder whether they mean president Obama or Swiss speed skater Heidi Obama? Which one of them just proposed a budget to the US Congress? Oh, why can't people be more precise?!?!?!??"

Guess what, nobody types out President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in an internet discussion forum either. In fact they don't even write President FDR because that would sound idiotic.

They say FDR.

Words are tools to communicate, not rituals of deference to mollify head-cases.

[alwysdrunk]

59. It's both. Respect ME

..with respect

[KalicoKitty]

62. I always refer to him as PRESIDENT Obama!

Never once could I ever refer to Bush as that. I get sick when I think that McCain was a candidate!!!!

[Thrill]

65. Campbell Brown Pisses me off with this BS. She calls him

Barack Obama or Obama all the time. Like she just has the hardest time calling him President Obama. How often did she say George Bush or Bush?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

66. So you're making the rules now?

I thought it was Skinner, Earl G, and Elad.

Looks like it's Skinner, Earl G, Elad and RollWithIt.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Honeycombe8]

67. Get a grip. Either way is fine. It's interchangeable, when said by a supporter.

I call him Pres. Obama sometimes, and just Obama sometimes. As I did with Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter, Ford, etc.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

68. oh dear god

[4lbs]

73. Whenever I make a post, my first reference to him I say "President Obama." The rest of the times in

that post, I use Obama.

[quakerboy]

74. Sorry. That boat sailed away and was Sunk.

Bush took what little respect remained from the office he usurped. I respect Obama. The presidency? Not as much.

[cali]

76. Fuck that. I don't feel remotely disrespectful when I refer to him as Obama

don't like it? Tough.

[Orsino]

79. The constant repetition would be reminiscent of those stupid "still the president" bumper stickers.

Or "I am the president. I am the president. I am the president."

Until there are other presidents, or other Obamas in the publice eye, "Obama" will do nicely.

[Divine Discontent]

82. a bit reminiscent of B*sh still the president. I respect your sentiment, that the president be

given the respect he's earned. I still believe if he's not present, we can call him President Obama once in a comment and then say Barack or Obama. I think it's too pretentious to ask people to always be redundantly calling him President Obama every sentence. That'd get a tad silly. If he was before me, I'd say hello Mr. President.

[PBS Poll-435]

84. Nine people

Need their heads examined.

[NashVegas]

86. Obama Has My Respect, Too

Self-appointed shepherds can blow me, though.

[aikoaiko]

90. Lighten up, Francis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrllCZw8jiM&feature=rela...

[shanti]

94. President Obama

I love saying it....and that's President with a "P"! I've called him that from day one!

[QueenOfCalifornia]

96. and

it's The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.

Did you care at all when we called W "Dubya?"

I doubt it.

Obama knows he is the President. So do I.

[vaberella]

97. My teacher called him Mr. Obama-My response: Huh! Then I found out he was Libertarian. - Response:

Ah-ha!