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"You're the ambassador for the city."

How do we know that isn't exactly the role Anderson was fulfilling?

The issue is hospitality, not politics.

You are 100% right, Doug. The mayor of any town or city should act with some degree of decorum. Respecting a distinguished guest isn't a sign of agreeing with his or her politics - it's just good manners and respect for the office, as you say. If Bill Clinton was still president and he visited Charlotte (where the mayor is a Republican), I'd say he should be treated respectfully, too.

Political disagreements should never be a license to behave rudely. Those should be the types of things Democrats and Republicans alike can agree on.

I guess that depends on what one thinks the role of their mayor should be. Should he be an advocate for the citizens he represents or a mascot?

How does offering a polite greeting to the president when he visits your city turn a mayor into a mascot?

Arguably, you might have a point if the issue in contention had something to do with municipal affairs. Even then, however, good manners would dictate a better approach by the mayor than joining a public protest during the president's visit.

When you are the mayor and a guest visits your city, you should treat that guest respectfully. It's no different from having a guest in your home - you wouldn't treat a visitor like that. Not because you agree or disagree with the guest's politics, but simply because it is the right thing to do.

Without concepts like respect and common courtesy, all we have left is mob rule. But somewhere along the line, treating others with respect has become a sign of weakness while acting like a jerk means you are an "advocate."

The unknown to the rest of us Mayor of Salt Lake City has finally received his fifteen minutes of "fame."

I'm never shocked by the depths some people go to harshly criticize our President, current as well as his predecessor.

I never got the impression that the people of Salt Lake City were advocating for their Mayor to lash out at the President. Being a primarily Mormon state, most Utahians are fairly conservative as witnessed by their overwhelming support for this President during the election of 2004.

Just another thought: Could anyone imagine President Bush denouncing Rocky Anderson during a reception for mayors at the White House?

Whoa. Let's get our facts straight, Doug. Why didn't Mayor Rocky welcome Bush to Salt Lake City? Because the American Legion disinvited him, apparently. So, this notion that the mayor was somehow rude to Bush is simply innacurate. What Mayor Rocky did was speak before an anti-war, bi-partisan demonstration of an estimated 1,500 to 4,000 residents. One can watch the full speech here.

Whoa yourself, Roch. I haven't tangled up any facts. The American Legion's decision not to invite Anderson to its convention has nothing to do with the mayor's actions toward Bush. The mayor didn't have to attend the AL convention to welcome the president to SLC. He could have chosen his own venue to do that, and I contend simple courtesy should have compelled him to do so. My view of Anderson's bahavior is that it was rude. I'm willing to grant you your own standard of rude behavior, which apparently is quite different.

For the mayor to welcome Bush, he would have had to have been where Bush was and allowed to speak. Customarily, the American Legion invites the mayor of its host city to deliver the welcoming address. The American Legion abandoned that traditionin Slat Lake City and did not invite the mayor to deliver the welcoming address or to speek at all.

It was the American Legion that made the mayor's welcoming of Bush impossible. What was the mayor supposed to do, prop up a cardboard cutout of Bush on the steps of city hall and issue a welcome to that?

By the way, what did you think of Rocky's speech? Rude or honest (for a change)?

The American Legion made it impossible for the mayor to greet Bush? Now we're getting silly. It was possible for the mayor to greet Bush at the airport, outside the convention call or anywhere in between. That's totally beside the point, which was Anderson's unnecessary rudeness in criticizing Bush during the presidential visit. Whether the criticism itself was misplaced or on target also is not the subject of this discussion.

I meant convention hall, not call.