Mr Nomanners
The Times has a Republican’s Guide to Presidential Etiquette that it has updated to take in recent incidents in correct behavior.
Republicans used to care a whole lot about how a president comported himself, and whether he acted at all times with the dignity his station demands.
“Is President Obama Disrespecting the Oval Office?” Fox News asked in 2010, with a link to images of Mr. Obama and his aides tossing a football, or eating apples just inches from the Resolute desk.
“Wear a suit coat and tie,” said Andrew Card Jr., President George W. Bush’s former chief of staff, in reaction to pictures of Mr. Obama in shirtsleeves in 2009.
I remember that shirtsleeves nonsense. I don’t think I knew there were complaints about eating apples. I have a feeling I blogged something about substance versus appearance, and the fact that wearing a tie at all times did nothing to disguise Bush’s lack of qualification for the job.
“I do expect him to send the message that people who are going to be in the Oval Office should treat the office with the respect that it has earned over history,” Mr. Card said.
But hey, that was then! In 2017, there’s a whole new bar for tolerable conduct by the commander in chief. Our original guide cataloged several dozen examples. Almost five months later, it’s clear that an update is necessary. This expanded list is meant to ensure that Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and other congressional Republicans never forget what they now condone in a president.
So, if you are the president, you may:
- Mock a foreign leader with a demeaning nickname and threaten his country with nuclear annihilation over Twitter
- Call for the firing of “son of a bitch” athletes who choose to exercise their right to free speech
…
Say nothing when a foreign leader’s bodyguards brutally attack peaceful protesters in the streets of Washington, D.C.
- Tweet GIFs of yourself violently attacking the media and your former political opponent
…
- Deliver a speech to the Boy Scouts of America that includes mockery of a former president and winking references to sexual orgies, and then lie by claiming that the head of that organization called and told you it was the best speech ever delivered in Boy Scout history
…
- Welcome into the Oval Office a man who threatened to assassinate your predecessor, whom he called a “subhuman mongrel,” and who referred to your political opponent as a “worthless bitch”
And tweet tweet tweet, and lie lie lie. It’s a useful list.
There was another Obama thing – one time he was wearing a tan suit, which apparently threw all his opponents into a total turmoil, because he should only wear black or blue (in spite of pictures of Reagan the Sainted Martyr having worn tan suits as president).
In reality, the only real unacceptable behavior in the Republican Guide to Presidential Etiquette is this: Don’t be a Democrat. If you can clear that hurdle, whatever you do is fine. If you can’t, they will make up all sorts of things to claim you are disrespecting the office.