Oneeyed, I see what you're saying. People observe all of us and may even base their life and beliefs off of an observation.
We see the president and we have a perception about him. If we come to learn something that is different about that perception we would naturally be hurt.
I completely see your point and concern, and it's a noble one. I don't live my life for others though. Yes that may be hard, but it's an honest truth I have with myself. We're only given so many cards and it's up to us to choose how to play them and make best use of the ones we're given, and who knows, if you have crap cards and bluff you may just take the pot ;-).
Best advice I could give is to not take things at face value. It's often much more complicated then that.