Why does * refer to people by their first names?

[sabra]

In the current press conference, we've already have Tony, and Condi...

it drives me crazy

</rant>

[leftofthedial]

1. he's an asshole

and his brain is addled

[Pirate Smile]

2. It is disrespectful and he is a bully. He would freak if someone

called him "George".

[tallahasseedem]

5. or Chimp.

Now that would be hilarious. We need a Freudian slip somewhere.

[Az_lefty]

6. He freaked when a reporter called him "Sir"...

chimp: "who are you talking to?"
reporter: "you Mr. President"
chimp: "Oh, that's what I thought"

[Pirate Smile]

13. Exactly. I couldn't remember the specific details of that so I didn't

mention it. Such an asshole. It is amazing.

[tallahasseedem]

3. It makes him feel like he has the upper hand...

Paul O'Neill spelled it out fairly well in his book. In other words, he is an ass.

[VOX]

20. Hammer. Nail-head. Wham.

Center shot, tallahasseedem. :thumbsup:

[lolly]

4. Hierarchy

Calling someone Mr. or Ms. is a form of respect--that's why we use it with teachers, people we don't know well and don't want to insult.

Note, however, that teachers call students by their first names.

AWOL wants to make sure everyone knows HE's the one at the top.

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. Also a passive-aggressive thing.

Apologies to the sane southerners on the board, but since moving to the south I've seen it a lot. Never used to see it back in the mid-west. I work at a job where I have to wear a name tag, and have people addressing me by my name, not in a friendly way but in a quite condescending way, expressing their conviction that they as the customer are quite superior to me as the lowly worker. And they know I have to just smile and take it.

I've lived in many places, but never have I seen passive/aggressive behavior so marked as in the south.

Probably a result of their insecurity for having fought to retain what they know is an unconscionable social order.

[livetohike]

7. Barbara didn't teach him any manners

when he was growing up. I guess he called all his servants by their first names.

[Qanisqineq]

8. Augh! I hate that too

I think it seems so unprofessional or unpresidential. If he called me by my first name, I'd call him George.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

9. Because they're holding up big cue cards?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Maybe because he's a rude, arrogant prick

who knows he can demean people a little by being overly familiar. Kind of like how slaves and servants were only ever called by their first names instead of "Mr." or "Mrs." He's putting people "in their place."

[brainshrub]

11. He's a bully.

[City Lights]

12. He's an arrogant sonofabitch.

He thinks it makes him look folksy.

[KT2000]

14. nicknames too

Paul O'Neill for one found it to be insulting.

he has to "reduce" other people, a tool of arrogance.

[mitchum]

16. It is how a patrician pantywaist refers to the help

[cestpaspossible]

17. To show disrespect. nt

[HullBoss]

18. It drives me crazy when he does that

especially when he's speaking about foreign leaders -- Vladimir, Tony and I'm sure his good buddy Osama.

[newyawker99]

21. Hi HullBoss!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[HullBoss]

23. Ha, fooled you....

I'm actually Blue_In_AK forced to use HullBoss's computer while mine is being rebuilt. I didn't even know HullBoss was a member, so imagine my surprise when my first post came up under his name. Anyways, I'll pass on your welcome when he comes back from Texas, and tell him he'd better get on here and speak for himself. He only had two posts. Pathetic. :) I've passed 2,000 already.

[LibDemAlways]

19. If Malloy could figure out a way to get into

a chimp press conference, we'd hear the dumbass referred to as "man or monkey." That would be a moment for the ages.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

22. Because Commander CuckooBananas was taught you always

address your social inferiors by their given names. Its an elite, frat boy kinda of thing his Mommy taught him very early on.

That and his coke addled, booze soaked brain can't remember anything but first names. Why do you think every reporter is called Stretch?

Wish Blair had enough sense to be offended but unfortunately Poodle Boy is vying for a promotion - he wants to be Chimpy's pool boy at the ranch in Crawford after he leaves the prime minister's position. He doesn't understand that Chimpy & Co. will drop him like a bad case of syphilis as soon as he can not help them any more.

[karlrschneider]

24. Not to defend the chimp but I have addressed people by first name for

about 40 years (and I ask them to address me the same way.)

But then, I'm not the "president"...if I were, I would restrict it to
people I considered friends, and in private. It's a subtle but significant distinction; as a private citizen I reserve the right to use the given name to anyone I meet (and I've pissed off a few people doing so but tough shit, I say) Even when I was in the USAF, I very rarely addressed my superiors by 'title' alone and never in private or semi-private encounters...but in more 'group' settings, I'd say "Colonel Mike", "Captain Jack", etc. Never created a problem.