Recently, Politico ran an article Obama interrupted by heckling reporter by Byron Tau and Donovan Slack, discussing The Daily Caller reporter, Neil Munro, who interrupted President Obama’s speech by asking a critical question. This event stirred some controversy in the comments section following the article.
The article stated:
In a surprising breach of etiquette, President Barack Obama’s Rose Garden remarks on Friday were interrupted by heckling from reporter Neil Munro of the website Daily Caller, whose editor-in-chief is conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
Following the article, many internet commentators suggested that this reporter wasn’t showing the President the proper respect he deserves. I totally disagree with this point of view.
Who determined “proper etiquette” and that Munro broke some sort of protocol? Is it rude and/or insulting to ask the President a question? If I was giving a speech, and Munro interrupted and asked me the same question, would it still be considered rude and/or insulting? Does the fact that Obama happens to be the current office holder of the presidency matter?
Remember, the President of the United States isn’t a king, whether your last name is Bush or Obama. The fact is, everyone has the same individual rights, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The fact a person holds the office of president doesn’t make him or her superior to you or me.
This fact is one many people in this country have forgotten. Politicians are, in the scheme of things, inferior to the citizens (I would assume this would already be considered self- evident!) because they are public servants doing the public duty. They are meant to serve us – not the other way around. I would argue that when a politician leaves public office and returns to private life, he actually gets a promotion.
Therefore, presidents (and politicians in general) don’t deserve the lofty pedestal many place them on. Now, if you want to say that the reporter was rude to Obama in general – as a person, that is fine. But keep it in context. It was rude because one man was interrupting another man. The fact that Obama is the president has nothing to do with being rude, nor should it even considered a factor.
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