What happened to respect and dignity?

How do you handle that?

There was a time when we addressed men and women as Mr 'surname' and Mrs 'surname'. Some people, preferring to be addressed in less formal terms, would ask that you address them by first name. This is not unheard of and is perfectly acceptable if that is a person's preference. In more familiar circles of friends or acquaintances people may be called by a nickname or more familially by their surname only, sometimes even in abbreviated form. That, too, is perfectly acceptable if you are comfortable with it.

There are times, however, when people need to be afforded the dignity of being addressed in the most respectful manner possible because of the circumstances or simply because of their status. With that in mind, when did it become acceptable to address the President of the United States as Obama? I don't recall people addressing the former president as Bush. I find this particularly disturbing to realize that this latest phenomenon is occurring most often in the media, that our anchors and correspondents are the ones primarily addressing our president in this way. And these are not merely the younger correspondents, they are experience field correspondents and anchors of both local and national news programs. While the president might not be offended, I certainly am. Is it asking too much to add a syllable or three to one's repertoire? They don't address their corporate presidents in such a manner publicly thus I think the President of the United States should be afforded the same respect. He shall be called Mr. or President Obama.