# Is a president that you dislike, still "your" president? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 12, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671 "2017-10-12T19:19:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/61 "2017-10-13T13:38:41Z")
I find calls of “not my president” to be rhetorical drama. Maybe it feels good to say, maybe it expresses a dissatisfaction or extreme anger with the current state of affairs, but it’s a meaningless sentiment. A few posts above **BigT** says “he’s not really the president.” What does that even mean? There is an elected human holding office. Signing shit. Tweeting his tweets. Golfing his golfs. Grabbing his pussies. The executive branch may be dysfunctional, but it is functioning. Until legislation in this country bypasses the president’s desk and foreign governments cease recognizing that Trump is president of the US, he is in fact “really” the president. Expressing outrage is fine, but trying to build logic that defends a factually meaningless statement like “not my president” starts to sound silly. I’ll also echo what **Ann Hedonia** says just above. I’ve never felt like a president was “my” president, as if I owed some allegiance to or had some ownership of them. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/62 "2017-10-13T14:37:34Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Out of curiosity, does anyone remember seeing any such comments about presidents/elections earlier than 2008? Definitely. It was there for Clinton in 1992-1993. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/63 "2017-10-13T14:44:09Z")
Did this question come up on this board when Obama was still Prez? ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/64 "2017-10-13T14:55:24Z")
Trump is not president by any standard I can imagine. He has keepers. There are government officials who lie to him to keep him from wigging out. They don’t let him see some information because it is too important to trust him with. Right now we don’t have a president. We have a disabled man filling the chair with the whole Republican party covering for him. And it scares the hell out of me. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/65 "2017-10-13T16:38:46Z")
I voted ‘no’ given only that and ‘yes’ as my choices. That answer is true but misleading. My answer would be ‘no’ for a candidate I support, as well as one I oppose. Whoever wins the election is “the” President, regardless of party. But I have never regarded the President as “my” President, even if I supported them. Just “the” President. And since the real question lurking under the stated question is, “is your attitude towards the legitimacy of the holder of the office _the same or different_ depending on party?” with a ‘yes’ = ‘same’ and ‘no’ = ‘different,’ and my answer to the real question is ‘same,’ my ‘no’ is a true answer to the stated question and a false answer to the underlying question. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/66 "2017-10-13T16:44:37Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Definitely. It was there for Clinton in 1992-1993. Yeppers. I remember seeing bumper stickers during the late 1990s saying, “My President is Charlton Heston” when he was NRA President. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/67 "2017-10-13T16:46:54Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Yeah. He’s not only not “my” president, I don’t think he’s a president in any sense of the word. He’s just an embarrassment - and this has nothing to do with politics. He’s an embarrassing human being. I wish I could like the post a thousand times. Completely sums up how I feel. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/68 "2017-10-13T17:52:49Z")
NO ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/69 "2017-10-13T18:13:42Z")
Absolutely not. He’s an unlawful inhabitant of the Oval Office, put there by a hostile power. The day he dies will be the happiest day in the history of humanity. I only hope I live long enough to pour piss on his grave. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/70 "2017-10-13T18:14:32Z")
Trump doesn’t even know what he is President of: [In a speech Friday, Trump said he’d recently “met with the president of the Virgin Islands” to discuss the recent hurricanes that have devastated Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the island.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/president-trump-doesn-apos-t-154524421.html) ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/71 "2017-10-13T18:23:49Z")
Presidents preside over the executive branch of _government_, not regular citizens who aren’t employed by the government. No president has or ever will be “my” president. Okay, I take that back. I was in the Army during Bush’s two terms, so I guess, no matter how much I hate saying it, Bush was “my” president, because he was my boss during those years. But no other president was or will be. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/72 "2017-10-13T19:20:33Z")
He has the job. Like him or hate him, he is the guy with the job. My fellow countrymen voted him in (and I have bone to pick with _them!)_ Saying ‘he’s not \*my \*President’ sounds idiotic to me. Just as idiotic as when the idiots on the right were saying it. Like that silly act of denial could mean _anything_. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/73 "2017-10-13T19:26:22Z")
Of course he is. I’m just morally required to oppose him at every turn. Resist. ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/74 "2017-10-13T19:44:08Z")
Yes, and has my support. Of course not every issue has my support, and I will oppose items he wants, that I believe and not in best interest of US. But President Trump is my president, and has my support, as President Obama was my president, and had my support. I hope my president is a success, although I may hope many of his ideas are rejected. Then through compromise and common ground a better idea will immerge. and yes, I am often disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/75 "2017-10-13T19:47:52Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Presidents preside over the executive branch of _government_, not regular citizens who aren’t employed by the government. No president has or ever will be “my” president. > > Okay, I take that back. I was in the Army during Bush’s two terms, so I guess, no matter how much I hate saying it, Bush was “my” president, because he was my boss during those years. But no other president was or will be. I think it of terms of shareholders, not employment. A president is elected by the share/stakeholders and beholdent to them (not to the employees). We are all stakeholders in this country. Lets not lose that vision or we will all sink to the level of employees/slaves and in that lose that very right. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/76 "2017-10-13T19:53:26Z")
It’s never\* my\* president, it’s always _our_ president. ---
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/77 "2017-10-13T22:39:42Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Further to my earlier question, I’m curious how this “not my president” thing works. Let’s say you live in a hurricane prone area, and you need assistance from FEMA, which Trump has dispatched to your area. Do you decline the assistance? I’m not in hurricane country, but I am in earthquake (and for the moment, quite horribly, wildfire) country. I’ve got no problem with the rest of the government, FEMA included. My state pays out more in federal taxes than it gets back–that’s our money too, and we deserve it. What I don’t want is him hauling his orange ass and attendant air-traffic-control nightmare out here to “show support” and hurl paper towels at us. We rejected him in overwhelming numbers. His presence does not provide comfort. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/78 "2017-10-13T23:52:09Z")
He’s my president, to the degree I have any president at all. I mean, I don’t have a _different_ president. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/79 "2017-10-14T00:06:43Z")
Sure he’s my president. But I reserve the right to flip him off whenever I please. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671/80 "2017-10-14T02:26:52Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I may have a vigorous discussion with someone over the merits or otherwise of the Prime Minister of the day, but we’d both close ranks if he or she were attacked. Perhaps for you, but [The Exploited disagree](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwnkFlVRCZc). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-president-that-you-dislike-still-your-president/798671.md?page=5)