The Chronicle editorialists begin a paragraph of a staff rant about “unfettered authoritarian government” as follows:
Bush likes to view the threat of terrorism in black and white, which in many instances is a perfectly defensible stance. But the president should be equally decisive in ensuring that impingements on intellectual freedom, which the current Patriot Act abridges, are carefully crafted.
Bush is a band.
President Bush, on the other hand, is the elected leader of the United States.
Whatever the Chronicle editorial board’s views towards the man and his conservative policies, the respectful way to address him throughout an editorial is President Bush.
UPDATE (06-24-2005): It’s pointed out in the comments that my real beef is with the AP style guide. That’s fair enough. I’d like to see media outlets make an exception on this one, which is probably the political scientist in me speaking.
