Your Poor Man quote of the day

[mmcirvin]

The Editors expand on the words of Teddy Roosevelt:

The deference owed the President is the deference owed to the lady behind the counter at the DMV; your duty to attenuate your criticism of a war or a visa policy favored by either of these officials equals your duty to stifle your disapproval of their favorite hat; and all of these terms added together - in a plane or on a train, with a baboon or on the Moon - equal zero.

Actually, I'd argue that you owe at least a tiny default bit of human-to-human deference to the lady at the DMV, at least while you're there. I mean, she's right there in front of you, and probably rarely gets any appreciation from anyone. The President can at least go to one of his caged rallies with ideologically vetted audiences when he needs some love.

Comments

Agreed

[kmo.livejournal.com]

The lady at the DMV wasn't born a sphexish bureaucrat. Years of institutional conditioning and interactions with a hostile public have molded her into her current form. She, more than most, could use a break and a generous dose of slack.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

And then there are people like Congressman, Senators, Judges and Justices, who really don't owe the president deference because they are in some respects his equal, or at least someone who should be immune to the president's command (though perhaps not his leadership). Of course, sometimes protocal calls for deference, and so does politeness, but those're mainly why you should defer to the DMV lady-- that and because she has something you need.

[muffyjo]

I would agree, I think that you should try to show some respect to everyone in person. That seems like a fine way to make it through a day and I would love it if everyone did that to me when they saw me. Not ingratiate themselves or fall all over themselves fawning (although that has a place and time), just simply acknowledge I am in the same breathing space and we are sharing oxygen.

Since the chance of me seeing the President in person are highly unlikely, I don't think I will suffer any crisis with this approach and will probably not cause me any mental anguish about my desire to go back in time and explain to his mother the benefits of birth-control.