Turning down the President

I am an avid Pittsburgh Steeler fan. If you know me personally, you are probably know that already. This made this story about the team’s visit to the White House especially interesting. The blogger calls Harrison “sort of a fool” for not visiting Obama with the rest of the team. For his part, Harrison has been bi-partisan in his President spurning as he didn’t join the team when it visited President Bush the last time the Steelers won the Super Bowl.
It’s nothing personal against Obama or Bush. In fact, Harrison points out:

If you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don’t win the Super Bowl. As far as I’m concerned, he [Obama] would’ve invited Arizona if they had won.

The fact is that politicians of all stripes like to surround themselves with winners to make them look good. Obama and Bush are no different. Sure, there are lots of people who would kill to meet Obama, but if hanging out with politicos isn’t your thing, and it doesn’t seem to be Harrison’s, then why bother? So, I support Harrison for having the strength of character to say “no” to a President (and not just any President). It would be great if more of us avoided the hero/celebrity worship so prevalent in our culture, especially when it comes to politicians.