Republicans used to care a whole lot about how a president comported himself, and whether he acted at all times with the dignity his station demands.
“Is President Obama Disrespecting the Oval Office?”
Fox News asked in 2010, with a link to images of Mr. Obama and his aides tossing a football, or eating apples just inches from the Resolute desk.
“Wear a suit coat and tie,”
said Andrew Card Jr., President George W. Bush’s former chief of staff, in reaction to pictures of Mr. Obama in shirtsleeves in 2009.
“I do expect him to send the message that people who are going to be in the Oval Office should treat the office with the respect that it has earned over history,” Mr. Card said.
But hey, that was then! In 2017, there’s a whole new bar for tolerable conduct by the commander in chief. Our original guide
cataloged several dozen examples. Almost five months later, it’s clear that an update is necessary. This expanded list is meant to ensure that Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and other congressional Republicans never forget what they now condone in a president.
So, if you are the president, you may:
Mock a foreign leader with a demeaning nickname and
threaten his country with nuclear annihilation over Twitter
Call for the firing of
“son of a bitch” athletes who choose to exercise their right to free speech
fig.2
Refer to the White House as “a real dump”
Spend the weekend golfing at your private club while the mayor of an American city wades through sewage-filled water to help citizens after a catastrophic hurricane, then
accuse that mayor of “poor leadership” when she criticizes your administration’s slow response to the storm
Criticize victims of that hurricane still living without drinking water or electricity by saying they “
want everything to be done for them”
During a visit to some of those victims,
throw rolls of paper towels at them and tell them they should be “very proud” that only 16 people have died so far, unlike in a “real catastrophe”
Attack a senator battling terminal cancer
Pick nominees to the federal bench who
call a sitting Supreme Court justice a “judicial prostitute” and
refer to transgender children as part of “Satan’s plan”
Campaign hard for a Senate candidate; then when he appears likely to lose,
say “I might have made a mistake” and later
delete your tweets supporting him
Behave so erratically and irresponsibly that senators of your own party resort to saying you're treated like an
adult day-care student to keep you from
starting World War III
Spend one of every three days as president visiting at least one of your own properties
ig.3
Publicly and
privately humiliate your own attorney general for recusing himself from an investigation into your campaign
Say nothing when a foreign leader’s bodyguards brutally attack peaceful protesters in the streets of Washington, D.C.
Tweet GIFs of yourself violently attacking
the media and
your former political opponent
Encourage police officers not to be “too nice” when apprehending criminal suspects
Help draft
a misleading statement about the purpose of a meeting between your son, other top campaign aides and representatives of a rival foreign power intent on interfering in the election
Deliver a speech to the Boy Scouts of America that includes mockery of a former president and winking references to sexual orgies, and then
lie by claiming that the head of that organization called and told you it was the best speech ever delivered in Boy Scout history
fig.4
Hang a framed copy of a fake Time magazine cover celebrating your business acumen in your golf clubs around the world
Mock a female television anchor’s appearance, saying the anchor was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” at a holiday gathering at your private resort
Force your cabinet members to take turns extolling your virtues in front of television cameras
Welcome into the Oval Office a man who
threatened to assassinate your predecessor, whom he called a “subhuman mongrel,” and who referred to your political opponent as a “worthless bitch”