The Ugly Side of the Inauguration - A Missed Opportunity

Sherman Frederick of ReviewJournal.com writes:

"Ironic that on Inauguration Day, when President Barack Obama told Americans it was time to take personal responsibility and "grow up" as a country, some of his supporters behaved like spoiled children in booing George W. Bush.

And, sadly, neither Obama nor any leader in the public spotlight that day seized the moment to admonish the boorish behavior.

It would have been nice had Obama had the presence of mind in his inaugural speech to not only allude to scripture in saying it's time to put away "childish things" but to also have told the boo-birds that their behavior was inappropriate and the embodiment of those "childish things."

He might have said: "Isn't it enough to be just happy for me? When you boo the former president, you fail to understand what this solemn event is all about -- the peaceful transition of power. This is not a football game. Nor is it a Third World bloodless coup. This is American democracy at work. If you can't respect that, then leave. Now."

But no one mustered the courage to say that. While I thought Obama's speech was otherwise thought-provoking and worthy, he missed an opportunity to call out these boors and chastise their behavior. By not doing so, I am afraid that Obama essentially condoned this kind of mob intolerance. There is already a hateful mean streak among some Obamamaniacs. Left unchecked, it can fester into something quite un-American and un-democratic.

In case you missed it, when President George W. Bush was announced to the crowd, some booed loudly, shocking even the commentators on the official Obama network, MSNBC. One section of onlookers sang, "Nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye." And, finally, as Bush left the White House, one deep thinker took the opportunity to give the "one-finger salute," thus saying more about himself than anything else.

This from a movement that fancies itself all about peace, love and global karma."

Please read entire article at: http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/38291659.html

My thoughts on the matter are these. Jimmy Carter was the worst president in my lifetime. Not for a second did I consider standing outside the White House as he left to boo him or give him the one finger salute. The same goes for Clinton. It never even entered my mind and here we define the true depth of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Even when he took the high road and never said an unkind word about Obama, even when he and Laura and their two girls embranced Obama's family, even when Bush said that Obama was a good man, Obama could not find it in himself, nor could his "followers" to take the higher ground and act as adults.

It wasn't just booing and finger salutes either. Some nimrod had a blow-up effigy of President Bush and people were throwing shoes at it. How old were these people. I am ashamed to say they were adults, some of them not so short in the tooth. BDS is a disease and we now have a president who seems to cater to it. I hope I am wrong on that point, but I certainly have not heard a word from him or anyone on his staff condemnig it either. That speaks for itself.