Easy Offense

I have actually begun to feel sorry for the most powerful man in the world.  You would think that when you finally claw your way to the top of the political heap and become President of these United States of America, people would begin to show you a little bit of respect.  The other day though, our Commander in Chief was disembarking from Marine One, and he gives a casual salute to the Marine security detail, with a cup of coffee in his hand.  It's really a wave, a half a nod to a Marine in full dress uniform, which means he's mostly there for show (Marines don't dress like that when they have to fight).  I've seen this little act before, a lot of times the president doesn't even acknowledge the guard, why should he?  In case you're unaware of the structure of our executive branch, the President is actually the highest authority when it comes to the armed forces, that's why we call him Commander in Chief, yet he's also a civilian, which means he is not necessarily bound to the code of military protocol.  If, as a civilian, I see a soldier, I may choose to salute him out of respect or even just vague gratitude, but I am not bound to do it.  However, within the system, salutes mean something a bit more, you'd better do it when you're supposed to and do it right (which I'm not even sure what right is, but I've seen movies where people get all angry about a sloppy salute, so I'm going to assume that there is a right and wrong way to do it).  I get it, in the service, a salute is a sign of respect, but I've seen lots of them done hastily and not in perfect form, particularly when carrying something or when there's something distracting, like, I don't know, a big honking helicopter running in the background.
Obama gave a Marine a sloppy salute for sure, but he didn't have to do it at all.  Of course certain media outlets are treating the whole thing as though the President peed on the poor guard's shiny black boots.
In my lifetime, I've seen Presidents criticized for everything from refusing to eat broccoli to having a little in-office hanky panky with an intern, but I'm really starting to think that nothing Obama does is ever going to make certain people happy.  People have made him a villain, and they're willing to believe that almost anything he does is crap, and avoid giving the guy any credit whatsoever for his successes (I've heard the Affordable Care Act called Obamacare a lot less since it started actually working).
I'm guessing, by this point, he's probably super glad that we have a two term limit for the oval office.
But I can't wrap my head around something, or maybe I can, but I just don't want to admit that it's true.  Why is it that we seem to have something called a "scandal" involving Obama almost on a weekly basis?  I mean Clinton was being impeached for lying to Congress, that was an actual scandal in the proper sense.  Obama gets a howling crap-storm for wearing a tan suit and having a cup of coffee as he's getting off a helicopter.  Don't we have bigger and better things to get upset about?
Maybe it's just that we're almost 20 years down the road of polarization towards the extremes.
Maybe it's the fact that we're just that much more "tuned in" to everything that happens.
Maybe it's because Barack is not as approachable and charismatic as Billy.
Maybe it's because he's black.  That's the one that really turns my stomach, because I was so proud of our country when we put him in office, because I thought it was a real step in the right direction in terms of our long-standing problem with regard to racism.
Why doesn't he get the same sort of deference as Bill Clinton (also a Democrat, also during the era of the 24 hour news cycle)?  See, I think that Barack Obama is a pretty ordinary President, he's not a cult of personality like Kennedy, Reagan or Clinton, he's not sinister and ruthless like Nixon, he's not a Bush (nuff said).  He's sort of balanced and moderate in most regards, he's actually pretty darn boring as a President.  As a matter of fact, he's more like Jimmy Carter than anyone else, except Mitt Romney was no Ronald Reagan so B got a second term.  He has been frustrated by an obstructionist Congress, and mired by economic and military realities that he had nothing to do with creating, so why do some people want to blame him for every calamity, real or imagined, that comes down the pike?
I'm not saying everyone should love him, but cut the guy a little slack. He's got a hard job, and sometimes he has a cup of coffee in his saluting hand.