Dear President Obama

Dear President Obama,

May I first congratulate you on your hard-won victory and ascendency to the presidency. You, like many before you, have inspired new generations of young Americans who look upon such an election and finally come to realize one of the greatest blessings of this nation: anyone can aspire to one day become President of the United States. The trick is to want it badly enough to prepare for it.

I must tell you, Mr. President, that I was not among those dancing in the streets upon your election. Truth be told, I was sorely disappointed because I was then, and still am, quite uncertain about your public policy philosophy or your preparedness for such a daunting task. Given my cynicism toward campaign rhetoric, it is extremely difficult to listen objectively when I am internally convinced that public office seekers will say and do almost anything to win votes. Why else would senators and representatives have political advisors? Aside from my cynicism, you seem to believe government to be the answer to all citizen’s prayers whereas I believe government is constitutionally restricted in what it can or even should do. Having said this, however, I was prepared to embrace your election and give you the benefit of the doubt because, after all, this is my country. You are now the duly elected president. You became, therefore, my president.

I have a couple of issues, however, that have caused me to step back and question my allegiance to the office, and I will be blunt and succinct. Mr. President, with the stroke of a pen you put the people of the United States on the financial hook for worldwide abortions. Essentially it is, Mr. President, that you are forcing me to pay for abortions in other countries. The United States has gotten into the business of actually and actively exporting and promoting death, and I am sorely disappointed that any human being with a conscience would or could do such a thing, or at the very least, pretend to speak for an entire nation in moral issues as this. Life is fundamental, Mr. President. It is the foundation of our very existence; to actively promote abortion itself as a fundamental right is to deny this reality. To actually put money out there to finance such a heinous practice is, to say the least, absurd in light of the extreme economic circumstances we face here at home. At most, it is teaching younger generations that human life only has the value governments choose to assign it. This was the worst thing you could have done.

You did it, however, and you did in fact promise that you would. This great and progressive nation took a giant step backward as it pertains to defining an enduring civilization and a culture that intends to survive by announcing to the world that if there are women across the globe who want to kill their unborn children, the US will provide the necessary funds to make it happen. We publicly loathe the Chinese “one child” policy, and yet you singlehandedly have offered to finance this very policy in other parts of the world. Very poorly done, Mr. President. My disappointment cannot be adequately expressed in words, and you cannot give any speech that will salve the open sores you have agitated.

Even beyond this, however, I must also take exception to your calling upon the American people to be prepared to “make sacrifices”, presumably for the sake of the federal budget, the deficit, and ultimately the national debt. Often there have been questions pertaining to the willingness of the American public to make sacrifices for the good of the country. Many recall with fondness the evident patriotism expressed in the many sacrifices made during the WWII era, there, too, for the war effort and the “good of the country”. It was indeed a different time and a different people, a whole other generation that still believed in our government. This was a government of, by, and for the people, a government that believed in the survival of subsequent generations, not their destruction. This was the government that led the prosecution efforts at Nuremberg against Nazis for their heinous crimes against humanity. Little would we know then that one day this very government would actually embrace the abhorent practices we once prosecuted and condemned.

Today the support and the confidence is just not there. Not only do I believe that younger generations are predominately of a “me first” attitude, but I also believe that government officials who live like royalty, vote themselves pay increases, work to protect their own interests, and spend money as a means of gaining public favor (and votes) regardless of the financial or economic consequences have actually contributed to such selfish attitudes and have no right or business asking Americans to sacrifice even more, especially when it is abundantly clear that American “public servants” are unwilling to share in these sacrifices. Yes, it happens on the state level as well when, in the big middle of a horrific recession that will get worse before it gets better, our own state legislature votes itself a pay increase and justifies it, as our house speaker did, by saying, “I need the money; my wife’s pregnant.” Clueless, Mr. President. Or complacent. Or selfish.

Let us be clear, Mr. President. I do not percieve that you are a leader; it seems more that you are willing to follow the Democratic majority in the Congress, this same Congress (regardless of party dominance, incidentally) which has been running roughshod over the American public for far too long. But because far too many members of this Congress have ignored the people of this country for far too long by working to protect their own interests above the interests of the nation, I for one am no longer willing to offer any sort of “sacrifice” to this or any other government. I once proudly wore the uniform of the US armed forces and was willing to do my part in defense of this nation. But until I see more of a willingness from you and the members of Congress to give more of themselves, I am no longer interested in “sacrifice”. My country is not my God.

I do not pretend to speak for others, Mr. President, though many may agree with me. And this piece may never make it beyond my own personal blog, but I do hope these thoughts and the upcoming TEA PARTY’s which will be held across the nation this April 15 may actually survive to the next election, and I sincerely hope that at least half the current members of Congress lose their jobs. Only then, I am convinced, will this government begin to turn around and actually represent the people rather than the party.

Respectfully,

Michael P. Daniel
Magnolia AR