How President Obama Can Resurrect His Presidency
posted with permission from
http://sane-ramblings.blogspot.com/2010/11/open-letter-to-president-obama.htmlThe intent of this letter is not to attack you but to help you redeem yourself and become the leader the American public desperately needs you to be.
But to do that, we must be candid about the situation. You took office promising to end the Iraq War in 16 months but instead you adopted the George Bush "SOFA" agreement in its entirety. Then you tried to deceive the American people by announcing an "end to combat operations" while continuing to commit the lives of 50,000 U.S. soldiers, plus a secretive 3,000 Special Forces plus a secretive 50,000 "contractors," all in support of a failed puppet government.
In Afghanistan, you keep another corrupt puppet government in power by committing the lives of 100,000 U.S. troops, another secretive 100,000 contractors and some undisclosed number of secretive Special Forces.
But Mr. President, if you feel these wars are vital, then propose a war tax to pay for them. This way each American will bear the cost and not just the families of soldiers sent off to fight.
Meanwhile, as President Bush had done, you sneak the dead and severely wounded troops back to America so the public doesn't see them, nor feel their loss, nor feel what their families feel. Of course the costs of these wars is now in the trillions of dollars and mounting.
Which brings us to the economy, another disaster.
In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron told the British people they are on the verge of financial collapse and his government is dramatically slashing expenses, including those of their military. They are going to lay-off a half million people from public sector jobs and will raise taxes as they fight for their financial lives. The U.S. is worse off, yet you and the Congress keep spending money we don't have!
You have made a big issue out of the depths of the awful situation you inherited. But on November 22, 1963 Lyndon Johnson took office on board Air Force One standing next to the blood spattered widow of President Kennedy. America was stunned by President Kennedy's assassination and joined by the rest of the world in mourning for the sudden death of the charismatic young president.
Yet in less time than you have been in office, Lyndon Johnson overcame strong Southern opposition and got the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. And in 1965 he got Medicare passed. He would also later get the Civil Rights Acts of 1965 and 66 passed, Civil Rights Acts that changed America and opened the door to your presidency.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in 1933 in the depths of the Great Depression. And later he would lead America through World War ll. Like you and President Kennedy, he too had charisma and he used it to communicate regularly with the American people during his "fireside chats," over the radio.
On February 23, 1942, just 21/2 months into World War ll, he gave his famous "Map Speech" in which he told Americans how bad the war was going and asked them to follow along with him using their own maps to understand where the fighting was taking place. He didn't deceive them but instead built trust and confidence as he explained the situation and assured them of their government's actions.
President Obama, these are all examples of leadership. We don't need any more pep talks from you, we need you to rise to the occasion, as America is now under the control of lobbyists whose influence you had promised to reduce.
We need you to be candid with us and to implement a plan to help us resolve our financial problems, not try to spend our way out of them by going ever deeper into the quicksand of debt. This will mean slashing our expenses, raising taxes and getting out of the wars and out of the grip of the military industrial complex.
And out of the grip of Wall Street lobbyists. Despite one of the biggest financial collapses ever, there is no new oversight to prevent the actions that caused this economic meltdown from happening again, nor was anyone held accountable. The big bonuses continued and it is business as usual. We also have for the first time in our history giant banks and corporations "too big to fail." All of this leaves taxpayers subject to future bailouts. What are you going to do about that?
Mr. President, you have often expressed your respect for President Abraham Lincoln and now it is your turn to do as he did and lead America in confronting the difficult issues of the day. You were a novice when you took office but not anymore. It is not too late for you to become a great president. Rise to the occasion and the American people will support you. Make us proud of you.
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