Dear Mr. Obama:
I am not entirely please with how your presdidency has gone to date. I, and many Americans, bought the promise of "change we can believe in." We thought that you would be able to do things to improve our lives that were real and achieveable. Sadly, what we've witnessed is a strictly pragmatic approach to solutions combined with a sort of naivete about how to accomplish things. That is almost a pure contradiction but I think it best describes what has happened.
You pulled out all the stops to get some kind of health care reform done. That, I can appreciate in some ways. It's not the reform that I would have chosen, but it IS an improvement. You didn't communicate what it does very well; you still have an opportunity to do so, but I guess since it's done you've moved on to other things.
I am severely disappointed with your stance on gay rights. Yes, it might not be completely popular among the African American community (a core constituency) to support gay rights, but there is a plurality in favor of them. And, screw the polls-- there is something called justice and another thing called morality. I'm quite certain that you feel the same way but wonder if "America is ready"; well, you know what? America wasn't ready for de-segretated schools, but it was the right thing to do. Support removing restrictions on gay marriage; hell, leave it to the states but support the removal of federal restrictions. And STOP directing the DOJ to defend "don't ask, don't tell." It's a solution that even in the early '90s was recognized as backwards and controversial. That's right, I said "directing." Yes, the DOJ makes its own decisions, but it's not like you can't say "stop." The DOJ is part and parcel of the executive branch of the federal government. You have the power. Young people and the future think it's wrong; it IS wrong. End it.
I suppose global warming is on the rocks at this point. Screw it, right? Won't happen for years and years, so we can punt it. That's the problem with issues like these, though-- we don't have the perspective or ability to solve long-term externalities. We all hoped and thought that you would, but you just didn't. Two years with strong majorities in Congress, and you just couldn't pull it together. Yes, your opposition--Big Oil--is tough, but in January 2009, they were weak and you were strong.
And now. Taxes. Even after the new Congress takes office, Democrats still will have a majority in the Senate and, of course, you as President, but somehow, someway, the Republicans have the bully pulpit. What the hell? Listen, this is what you do, okay? You tell the Republicans that you'll extend the middle-class tax cuts--hell, you tell 'em you'll even cut the mid rates a bit so that you're not only keeping things the same but giving middle class people a little bit more-- but you tell the Republicans to just shove it on the rich people tax cut. And if the tax cuts expire, come on! SERIOUSLY! Where did you learn to negotiate??? You're driving me crazy here, Obama! You can't out-argue, out-politic, out-communicate on THIS issue? Then what the hell are you doing in office?
You haven't been treated quite fairly, I'll admit and acknowledge. From Day 1, the media has been out to get you: Fox, because they're conservative; CNN and the rest, because, well, they were looking for a chance to burst the bubble. There's also the shadow of racism, which I think is the fount of some of the Tea Party criticism (just like the visceral hate of Hillary Clinton because she is a powerful woman, among conservatives, you being black stirs up some hate and anger). And, of course, there's the shitty economy, which punishes anyone in charge. But you have brought much of this on yourself with your ham-handed and naive negotiating tactics and poor communication. I expected more, and I hope for more. I'll likely vote for you again in a couple of years, but it'll probably be more because I don't want a President Palin than any other reason. Make me vote for a different reason. Please.
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3 comments:
I think Obama has done a good job, considering the challenges he faced upon entering office. Don't get too swept away with the prevailing current of criticism, mostly sourced over at "Fair and Balanced." As you know, I never drank the Obama kool-aid (and would have preferred Hilary as president), but I'm impressed with the job Obama has done.
The most important things for Obama to accomplish upon election were 1) rationally respond to the financial crisis and so avoid another Depression, 2) get out of Iraq without a meltdown, and 3) pass health care reform. He did all three--not perfectly, of course, but against total filibustering-scorched-earth opposition--and I am quite impressed with that. (Then there are scores of less important policies that needed an injection of rationality and, yes, pragmatism, rather than right-wing ideology, but that is mostly just how the Democratic-Republican axis works these days.)
In fact, I believe some thanks may be in order, rather than all the criticism. Here's Warren Buffet's angle on it, though he never mentions Obama specifically.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/opinion/17buffett.html?src=me&ref=homepage
I am not entirely DISsatisfied, though it may seem that way from the post. I'm pretty frustrated with what I consider to be some poor messaging and leadership to set the legislative agenda.
I do give Obama (and the Democrats) some credit for health care reform. I think that it could have gone better if Obama had taken a firmer lead--you might recall the Democrats floundering around and the forum that Obama had to convene to sort of save it.
Point 1--rationally respond to the financial crisis--I give Obama a middling grade there. TARP was passed before he and his team took office, and they basically continued the policy set from there. I think that there should have been some changes in policy; the emergency stopgap measure was fine, but derivatives needed to be regulated strongly, and they STILL aren't, and the federal mortgage relief progam was an abject failure. That last one was something that could have been fixed last year-- could still probably be fixed. But instead, we bailed out Wall Street and the big banks and screwed the little guy. (I think the safeguarding of the banks was vital in the first instance, but later on, it should have been ABOUT the little guy).
Getting out of Iraq--we were on our way to doing that, so I don't really see a lot of credit he gets there. I do give him credit for a general foreign policy shift towards getting our military to be less interventionist. I VERY MUCH like that.
Thanks... well, no. I think other Democrats could have done more or just as well. So, while I am thankful that we have a smart, meditative president in office, I am frankly a little disappointed in the results to-date.
P.S. How about the Uggla trade? I'll miss Infante, but... wow. That was a good move.
You left out the car company bailouts, which were a success and a big risk for Obama. And no matter how you slice it, the economy we have now is not what might have been if we had elected a right-winger to the White House. If McCain had won the election, then despite Bush's support for the Wall Street bailout (for which he deserves some credit, imo), there might well have been a Repub backlash to that level of stimulus spending. (I recall Boehner supporting it reluctantly--and of course now he abjures TARP--only because everyone on the executive side wanted it.)
Regarding Iraq, McCain (especially) and Repubs did not want to withdraw. If they had won, we would likely have built up more troops there and now have a major permanent base.
Re: healthcare. Don't forget Repubs pretended to cooperate and then took up a total-opposition political strategy (which ended up working). So I think passing it was a major accomplishment.
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