by Hanna M. Jagow

Created on: October 05, 2009   Last Updated: October 07, 2009

I think that whether or not President Obama went to Denmark to lobby for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago was ultimately his choice. He has a right to exercise the powers inherent in the office he was elected to. Also, other world leaders were there and he might have been thought of as "stand-offish" if he had not gone.

Many people in Chicago were hopeful that they would have the honor and influx of money for their city produced by hosting Olympic games. However, it was not awarded to them, and they took the news with disappointment, as most Americans did. Others cheered, because it represented a failure for Obama. Where is this coming from?

It seems that no matter what President Obama does, even as a popularly elected President of the United States, he is criticized for every choice. Ever since Nixon, and continuing with our last President, a mention of the President produces something like a shark feeding frenzy mode. Whether or not we like a particular person does not mean that we have a right to be disrespectful to the office, as Laura Bush so eloquently stated.

One of the strengths of our democracy has always been our ability to have open and honest discussions of our differences, and it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable.

Lately things have been aired on television that make one wonder where our patriotism has gone. The governor of Texas wants to withdraw from the union and become a separate country, saying he hates the flag and the government it stands for.

Burning the flag is not new, but for an elected officials to condemn the very system that gives him his title, seems appalling in a nation where the blood of so many has been shed to preserve the freedom on which he bases his right to speak his mind.

It seems we are left to choose between trying to sort out the voices who are vying for our attention at every turn, and some kind of censorship that would still all voices. We also have voices saying they hate the President so much that they want him to fail, even if it means the country has to fail with him. Where is this coming from?

When I was in high school, our music teacher taught us flag etiquette. This meant that we did not fly the flag unless the sun was shining, we did not put it up before daybreak or after sundown, and when it was being moved, everybody within eyeshot stopped and stood respectfully. It was folded a certain way and handled like the precious object it is. Nobody follows those rules any more.

We had an election and voted for the person we wanted to represent us from a place of leadership in the world, but those who lost that election are so bitter they are willing to sacrifice truth, respect, honoring the sacrifices made by multiple families whose sons died serving us, and their own integrity. That's where this is coming from.

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