• Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        8 months ago

        Reminds me of this haha:

        The President in particular is very much a figurehead — he wields no real power whatsoever. He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage. For this reason the President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it. On those criteria Zaphod Beeblebrox is one of the most successful Presidents the Galaxy has ever had — he has already spent two of his ten presidential years in prison for fraud.

  • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    51
    ·
    8 months ago

    Emily Post says:

    When addressing a former President of the United States in a formal setting, the correct form is “Mr. LastName.” (“President LastName” or “Mr. President” are terms reserved for the current head of state.) This is true for other ex-officials, as well. When talking about the person to a third party, on the other hand, it’s appropriate to say, “former President LastName.” This holds for introductions, as well: A current state governor is introduced as “Governor Tom Smith,” while you’d introduce an ex-governor as “former Governor Jim Bell.”

  • Zip2@feddit.uk
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    29
    ·
    8 months ago

    I believe “Cunt” applies to the last one. Mr or President, take your pick.

  • TheBananaKing@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    8 months ago

    :stares in Australian:

    We don’t address people by their job title here, and we’d laugh in your face if you insisted on it.

    Perhaps a small exception for ‘doctor’, but that’s acknowledging the doctorate, not the job.

    • z00s@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      8 months ago

      We do, but only for the current PM. Once you’re out though, it’s back to Mr / Ms

      • TheBananaKing@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        8 months ago

        If you think the words ‘prime minister Morrison’ would ever have passed my lips…

        … or ‘prime minister Albo’ for that matter, they’re all overgrown fucking real estate agents.

    • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      8 months ago

      Yet the idea underpinning it is sound. It’s to separate the office from the individual. If you attach reverence to the role, not the person, you make it easier to change the person and avoid dictatorship.

      • TheBananaKing@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        8 months ago

        It doesn’t read that way to me - I see it far more as “you have won at life, you are better than other humans”, exactly the kind of thing narcissists crave.

        • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          Not if the alternative is that people begin to see the role and the person as the same thing. That’s the dream of every would-be dictator. A certain chancellor of Germany knew this very well in 1934 when he abolished the titles of Chancellor and President and made the army swear its oath to him personally.

          This is just standard political theory: to protect democracy, respect its institutions. Absolutely does make sense to me.

    • HubertManne@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      8 months ago

      I find using doctor without a medical degree to be, I dunno, crass. Its the old. IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE. Im a doctor. thank god can you help this man. of philosophy.

      • gerbler@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        8 months ago

        Eh, you earn the title by doing your thesis and expanding humanity’s sphere of knowledge a little bit. Medical doctors may claim it but they don’t get exclusive rights to it just because they want it.

        • HubertManne@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          oh sure. not saying they earned it but I find the ones who get one and actually want to use the title to be folks I don’t vibe as well with. I do tend toward academia though so there is professor in that case.

  • HubertManne@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    8 months ago

    depends. normally “former president X”, but if they have been impeached then you say “IMPEACHED former president X” unless they lost the popular vote then its “UNPOPULAR IMPEACHED former president X” unless they lost an election like a one termer then its “ONE TERM LOSER UNPOPULAR IMPEACHED former president X”. Its important to be accurate.

  • Furbag@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    8 months ago

    The current President is “President <lastname>”.

    Former presidents are “Mr. <lastname>” or “Former President <lastname>” depending on the context in which they are being referred to.

    Anybody still calling Obama or Trump “president” are just virtue signaling.

  • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    8 months ago

    However they wish to be addressed. Nothing in properness or etiquette is necessarily objective. If I was president, I’d let you use my actual name.