Recall that 'respect the president' thing?

Columbia County residents mostly are conservative, and typically vote Republican. Most of us voted for the other guy in the last presidential election .

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Our residents also generally are well-educated, reasonable people.

Unfortunately, the political views of some in our community seem to have clouded their intelligence. How else to explain the apoplexy at the very notion of the president seeking to (gasp!) speak to school children?

Of course, there are a host of problems with such a request from President Obama that have nothing to do with his politics. Foremost is what seems to be his administration's view that public school students represent a captive audience.

And Columbia County school officials made the right choice in that regard: The central office said unless they're directed otherwise by the governor or the state Department of Education, they aren't going to set aside scarce instructional time for a speech by anyone - the president included.

Sure, that's passing the buck. But it also helps defuse the hysterical, Internet-whipped frenzy from otherwise-sane parents shrieking about "propaganda" and the "indoctrination" of their children. And parents who want their kids to hear the president's message still can catch the speech via the Internet.

More to the point, though, Obama's critics should take a deep breath. While there are lots of reasons to oppose this administration's policies, Obama is still president.

As such, all those in our community who were so adamant in demanding that opponents of the last president respect the office should heed their own message now that the other party holds the White House.