Petty Leaders

When national leaders act like petulant children, American political institutions are in deep trouble.

In recent years, one of our political parties, all the way up to our current president, has devolved into childish name calling. Right wing pundits and politicians refuse to call the opposing party by its official and popular name: the Democratic Party.

From Rush Limbaugh to Dick Cheney and George Bush, Republicans and right wing pundits are consistently referring to the opposition as the “Democrat” party. Apparently, calling it the Democratic party makes to close a connection to democracy. Several pundits have even spent the past few years trying to tie Democrats and Progressives to Hitler and Mussolini.

Meanwhile, in Colorado, documents have turned up showing it to be official Republican policy to never refer to Governor Bill Ritter as “Governor.” They are to call him Bill, Mr. Ritter, etc., anything but Governor. To call him Governor would legitimize his victory in the 2006 election, something the Colorado Republican party is apparently not mature enough to handle.

Finally, for the moment, there is the constant use of Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein. Although meaningless to anyone over twelve years of age, these supposedly mature adults continue to act like small mean children … and unfortunately, “lead” our Nation.