<p>No parents would send their kids to a school because they (the parents) could "relate" to the teachers. </p>
<p>No drivers would trust their brakes to a mechanic based on how folksy he or she was.</p>
<p>Nobody would visit an oncologist because that doctor didn't go to some hoity-toity Ivy League school.</p>
<p>Very few employees would tolerate having a boss who was not more qualified than they were in almost every aspect.</p>
<p>Yet when it comes to the most powerful and important position in the world, we have a bunch of low-information narcissists that turn education, intellect, and knowledge into negatives while making dumbassery and ignorance into noble traits. </p>
<p>Why does this happen? Because Americans don't respect the presidency enough. Electing people like Bush certainly doesn't help increase the prestige of the presidency. But there are probably some people out there that think that being president isn't that hard. You just make some speeches and appoint some people and go to fancy dinners with world leaders. George W. Bush should be thankful he's not Hank Steinbrenner, because that's a stressful job. </p>
<p>Just ***, you know? As Jon Stewart said, I want a president who is embarrassingly superior to me. I want the most elite president possible. The smarter he or she than me, the better. </p>
<p>Conservative people seem to have no problem with inequality when it comes to money, yet they're extremely sensitive with intellectual inequality. Maybe it's because they know that any schmuck can win the lottery, but it takes actual effort and gifts to be a brainy person.</p>
<p>wise people avoid positions like the presidency. the smartest man right now is obama out of all 4 people running as P/VP. it's not really saying much either. it's just choosing between the lesser evil.</p>
<p>I think it's the office. Citizens and the media will always criticize the person who holds the office. A little criticism is normal, but I find that most Americans are very disrespectful towards President Bush. Regardless of what opinions I may have, I always still respect him and avoid blatant, uneducated rudeness.</p>
<p>The American exceptionalism myth has been debunked. World War II gave us a head start, but that is quickly fading. Globalization is leveling the playing field creating a multipolar world with plural hegemonies (China, EU, Russia). Iraq has proved that we can't use our cowboy ways any more.</p>
<p>That is why Obama gets my vote- he is more open to the international community and is perceived that way. I don't care what McCain's policies are- the simple fact is that people perceive him as a maverick who makes his own rules. We should not further project that imperialist unilateral image. We had a cowboy for 8 years who screwed up the economy to make his friends rich, so I'm not giving the Republican party a second chance.</p>
<p>One of the president's original and most basic jobs is to represent the people. If people feel George Bush represents them than it's completely legitimate that they vote for him. That's not a bizarre concept. I feel the people who care about the environment represent me, so I vote for them - yet caring for the environment is no more an inherent part of the office of presidency than any typical conservative position is.</p>
<p>I'm not a conservative and I don't support George Bush, but you seem to have a strange idea of what respecting the office entails. It seems like your problem is with who your fellow citizens believe represent them, and in turn the values they find important, rather than with them "disrespecting" the office.</p>
<p>You don't vote for your president to be your best buddy. You vote for him/her to run the country. I'd have a beer with Bush, but I certainly wouldn't let him take command of the US of A.</p>
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It seems like your problem is with who your fellow citizens believe represent them, and in turn the values they find important, rather than with them "disrespecting" the office.
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<p>Too many people want to vote for someone who is "like them". I've got news for them: ninety-nine percent of Americans are unqualified to be president, so if a president reminds you of you, chances are that that candidate is UNQUALIFIED.</p>
<p>I'm sick of people misinterpreting the egalitarian values of the United States as meaning that any ignoramus can become president at any given moment. It's true that anybody can and should be able to become president in the U.S., but that doesn't mean you don't have to put in the work and effort. People are energized by Sarah Palin (and in years past, by Dubya) because she offers an enticing and easy answer: by sheer and sole virtue of being, to put it harshly, a white hick, she is entitled to the presidency over a supremely experienced senator, and a visionary black leader. In these contemporary times of eroding white privilege, isn't that an irresistible sales pitch? </p>
<p>Dubya and Palin scream out: "Be white and ignorant! That's all you need to be!" Since many Americans seem to fit these two prerequisites, these politicians seem to be very popular.</p>
<p>I've got news for you, nbachris: very few people voted for Bush (or will vote for McCain/Palin) simply because they're white. All you're doing by asserting this is making yourself seem ignorant and/or bitter.</p>
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I've got news for you, nbachris: very few people voted for Bush (or will vote for McCain/Palin) simply because they're white.
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<p>Of course it's not that simple, at least on the surface. But all this BS:</p>
<p>"I can relate to them"
"I don't know Obama"
"Obama's a Muslim"
"Palin's a hockey mom. Yay!"
"Culture wars"</p>
<p>All this can be tied, among others, to race and identity. If you deny this, well, I bet you'd fit in pretty well with the 50% or so of white people who thought racial equality existed in pre-Civil Rights America. Another interesting statistic: the percentage of white people that identify themselves as racists is far far far outpaced by the percentage of white people who say that they know white racists. So if only 13% of white people admit to being racists, how can 50% of white people say that they know other people who are racists (same sample)? The math's not right here.</p>
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If you deny this, well, I bet you'd fit in pretty well with the 50% or so of white people who thought racial equality existed in pre-Civil Rights America.
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<p>Not only would I love to see your source that backs that statement up, I'm surprised you can feel comfortable judging someone based on one internet posting.</p>