(Todd A. Smith)
In the hit song “Swagga Like Us” by T.I. featuring Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Kanye West, “Jigga” said, “You can pay for school, but you can’t buy class.”
During the swearing-in of Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb), her husband Bruce Fischer proved that theory correct as he refused to shake Vice President Kamala Harris’ hand during the ceremony.
Nina Golgowski of Huffington Post reported, “The husband of a Republican senator refused to shake Vice President Kamala Harris’ hand during his wife’s swearing-in ceremony on Friday, as seen in a now-viral video that captured the awkward exchange.
“Sen. Deb. Fischer (R-Neb.) appeared to be all smiles while being sworn in by Harris for her third term in the U.S. Senate while standing alongside her husband, Bruce Fischer.
“The moment appeared to turn frosty, however, as the senator repeatedly nudged her husband to stand closer to the vice president as he held a cane with one hand and a Bible in the other.”
Conservative tabloid New York Post said that Sen. Fischer’s husband did not shake Vice President Harris’ hand because he was struggling with his walking cane.
However, Fischer’s having to nudge her husband to get closer to Harris shows a level of disrespect that the vice president should not be subjected to.
The positions of vice president and president deserve respect.
The Bible that Fischer’s husband held during the swearing-in ceremony tells people to respect their leaders.
However, the same people who claim to represent the teachings of the Bible have been ignoring those scriptures (Romans 13:1-7) since the administration of former President Barack Obama.
When former President Obama broke a major barrier by becoming the first African-American president, many people vowed never to address him as Mr. President.
Republican lawmakers rudely interrupted him during a State of the Union address, ignoring centuries of precedent regarding decorum.
Speeches by leaders like President-elect Donald Trump have become undignified and classless.
And social media is used to disparage other politicians and sew discord among the people.
Although politics has always created friction because of the passion of both major parties, there was a time when people would disagree with their colleagues without disrespecting them.
But now disrespect has become so commonplace, that a regular civilian like Bruce Fischer has the unmitigated call, the quote ESPN sports personality Stephen A. Smith, to disrespect the sitting Vice President of the United States.
Furthermore, media companies feed that disrespect because it gets them views, clicks or likes, which helps their bottom line.
However, the real bottom line is that the disrespect hurts our beloved country and makes us look weak to the rest of the world.
While people love to criticize African-Americans for playing the so-called race card, I do not remember such disrespect for the White former presidents and vice-presidents.
The far right loves to criticize woke culture.
But their behavior created the need for people of color and women to wake up and fight the racism and sexism that pervades American culture.
The fact that so many people had no respect for a woman of color will lead to four more years of chaos, hatred and tomfoolery.
It will lead to politicians only working for the citizens they like or respect and not for all the people.
President-elect Trump has often vowed to only help survivors of natural disasters if they live in an area that voted for him.
If that happens, the disrespect that he gave birth to, could become deadly.
What is truly ironic about the state of politics is the fact that America is currently saying goodbye to former President Jimmy Carter.
Although many say he was not a great person, no one is calling him a bad or disrespectful man.
His life and life’s work are what is missing from American politics and the public discourse at large.
Former President Carter lived a life of true service and leadership.
He put his country before himself and before his party.
Some say he was too decent and nice of a man to be a successful president.
However, I beg to differ.
True leadership is not loud, disrespectful and abrasive.
A real leader is selfless and caring, putting the welfare of others before himself or herself.
A true leader will do what is best for others even if it is detrimental to their career aspirations.
True leadership does not seek attention.
Instead, it gives attention to those who need it the most.
Carter was an intelligent man.
He was a caring man.
The 39th commander-in-chief was a strong man.
Most importantly, he was a respectful man.
Because of leaders like him, people all over the world had respect for America.
As a new administration comes into office., hopefully, respect will replace the disrespect that the president-elect was known for during his first presidency.
While every person is responsible for their own actions, leaders do have an enormous amount of influence over the people.
If the president can act disrespectfully towards other leaders, why can’t regular Americans behave just as poorly?
The last decade or so has seen America lose its way because many have lost their respect for our institutions and leaders.
American leaders and people once took pride in class and sophistication.
Now, America celebrates leaders who are crass and undignified.
As a result, the people have become classless and disrespectful.
And until we get back to normal, that disrespect will destroy our union.
