The relationship that Americans have with the presidency has always been a love-hate relationship. We treat each president pretty much the same way. It starts out new and exciting, kind of like any new relationship. We are excited to get to know each other, and have great hope for the future. Every time we tell ourselves this it this one is going to be different I can just feel it. Then pretty soon those cute things that enticed us in the beginning start to become annoying. President Obama’s eloquence that held our rapt attention before now seems to be empty words. We complain that he’s all sweet talk and no action. Soon we feel rejected and hurt, all his promises empty and unfulfilled. Basically the citizens of the United States have serious commitment issues.
The citizens’ relationship with the president is like a lot of high school relationships. We start out thinking of forever, but as soon as the going gets tough we bail. We are quick to start blaming every little thing on him, and are ashamed we even entered into the relationship in the beginning. Before we even really give him a chance we are already looking ahead scoping out the prospect for a new one something better, in say 2012 or so never mind it isn’t even 2010 yet.
In today’s world we are simply incapable of patience. We are a nation of speed, all about the efficiency. The idea of waiting a year for anything just seems preposterous to us. We want change and we want it now. Never mind that our governmental system is based on patience, and gridlock. That does not matter to the American people all we want are results damn it and we want them fast. I feel like the whole 24-hour news cycle is just too much, and is not helping with or already pretty serious commitment issues. The news is just like those friends in high school that were jealous of your relationship and are trying to get you to break up. They are always there buzzing in our ears telling us all the naughty things our president is doing behind our backs.
I do not think this relationship is ever going to change. We are never going to have a president that lives up to our expectations and high standards simply because the president is human and bound to make mistakes. The cycle will continue, and our love hate relationship will remain.
I think that this is a very creative post, there seems to be a lot of truth within it. When you phrase the presidency as a high school relationship, I think that it definitely changes our perceptions and brings human nature to light. However, I also feel that questioning the presidency might not be as similar to a high school relationship as we think. Our government was designed to have checks and balances because our founders knew that men weren’t perfect (thank you Madison). Thus, it isn’t a one sided issue. Although America might be speculative (and sometimes unfairly) I think that it is also for good reasons. It’s not an unhappy relationship, it’s the way that our country was intended to run; with the freedom of speech and the freedom to question. It’s important that we continue to do so in order to uphold the checks and balances within society. So when Madison sees us critiquing the president and voicing our concern, i think he would argue that we are actually having the intended, mature relationship that our country was designed to have with the president.
I agree that it is definitely healthy to question the government. I just think that when we are specifically talking about the president it seems that American citizens are always quick to place doubt and mistrust, as soon as something goes wrong. It is not always a bad thing and it is not always unfounded, but sometimes it is. We are focused more on results and forget the aggravating slow process that our government must go through to achieve any new legislation.
I thought you made some great points about being impatient, but I think the issue at hand is not necessarily being impatient, but rather is the issue of seeing certain policies fail. After President Obama passed the stimulus package the nation waited to see if it would indeed help the economy, but after months of watching the economy continue to take a turn for the worse the nation became fed up with the President. I think another issue that needs to be adressed is the idea of campaign promises. Candidates often promise way to much, and when they are elected into office they ultimately have to go back on those promises. I think you were correct with your analysis of being impatient, but I think we must also look at the empty campaign promises that our political officials make.