Dear Mr. President:
Let me preface this by saying that I am not only a supporter, I am also a fan and admirer of you on many levels. And with that out of the way, let me also say that you have pissed me off so many times in the last two years that I need a mulligan now; thus I write this letter.
There is no doubt in my mind that you are one of the most cunning politicians I have ever encountered in my lifetime: but that's for another venue. And I presently have no doubt that you will be re-elected next year, since you have outmaneuvered the Republicans in ways they can't even discern (as yet). But there comes a time -skillfulness aside- when the situation demands displaying some gonads; and I am calling your attention to two of these times that are quickly approaching.
Let me put this in better context so that you can ascertain where I am coming from. When you campaigned during the primaries, you suggested that ordinary folk should have the option of acquiring the same quality health plan that members of Congress had; remember? Then when the debate on health-care reform started, you walked away from both single-payer and public-options stances. In fact, you walked away so quickly that some now say you abandoned those positions with nary a fight; and that you caved-in to the insurance companies.
Again, during the campaign you said that you will never allow the Bush tax cuts (favoring the rich) to be renewed: but you did. And as much as I understand the tactics (and timing) behind all this, it still demonstrated that your over-willingness to compromise with Republicans has no limits; and maybe no boundaries. I am not sure your rationale was convincing to many of your hardcore supporters. And yet, as political tactics go: all in all, it was quite a sound gambit.
In the debates, you also talked tough about reforming Wall Street (with its many excesses and abuses), the Finance Industry, the Auto Industry, the Insurance Industry, the Banking Sector et al, but watered down legislation and political compromising became the order of the day. Fine. That was your prerogative as president. It is your style as a politician: you have never denied that.
Again, politically speaking, you came out of all this quite well: relative to your chances for re-election via job-approval ratings. But there is a cost to everything; and that includes political-strategy, and cold, calculating, hard-nosed political tactics. The last thing you want perceived by most is that you don't stand for anything: it is getting there faster than snails move.
Apart from the aforementioned, you continually refuse to deal with racism in any real and concrete ways. You haven't commented enough, on the metastasizing black communities; nor about the plight of black males in US society -beyond some needed admonitions; nor about the fact that blacks get less than two per cent of all governmental contracts (federal, state, city/local) in this country; nor about the ridiculously widening gap between the rich and the poor of all colors, races, nationalities, religions and ethnicities (and here you offer no new economic ideas); nor about the need for reparations to the descendants of slaves; nor about the fact the the social-security system has been stiffing blacks for decades (especially black males); nor about our burgeoning prison population snuffing out life from too many minority-youngsters; nor enough about poverty and crime in communities of color; nor about so many other issues (social mainly) that it isn't funny any more. Look; I could go on and on; but to many like me, the view is this: let's give the president until his second term to address some of these broader issues, while he presently focuses on getting the economy in a better place. And I can live with that: for now; and only up to a short point.
I was quite impressed with your initial handling of the Afghanistan-War build-up. At least you admonished your generals to move off their open-ended plans (a la John McCain and his 100 year war). And you stated emphatically that you will start drawing down on troops this coming July: so that's the first area where you will have to show some balls and not back down: the whole world is watching. And yet I sense that you are missing the larger points in all this; and even as brilliant as you are I wonder if you do get it.
Remember when you were campaigning for this job, you promised to close down Guantanamo? You also berated the Bush administration for their renditions, secrecy, torture, domestic spying and the like. It seems now that that your administration is just as surreptitious (and deadly) when it comes to the so-called wars on terrorism and drugs. I say “so-called” because there is very little tangible evidence that these wars are being successfully waged. There are instances where your administration is doing many things similar to our last president's. There are also instances where your administration seems to be doing worse things (I won't go into that here). Can't you do something morally significant like Jimmy Carter did in 1977, when he ordered the CIA to get out of the political assassination business?
Mr. President: are we still torturing prisoners on Guantanamo, and in other clandestine corners all over the world?
Mr. President there are too many people in this society vested in both wars and drugs. Folks like former vice-president Dick Chaney and his family, have millions of dollars invested in companies that supply the Pentagon: companies like Haliburton for example. How many times haven't Haliburton and its subsidiaries been investigated by Congress, for wrongdoings: including murder, mayhem, theft, corruption, overpricing, fraud, bill-rigging and the like? The one word answer is: countless. What do we ever do with these findings? Are people being held accountable for the daily misery they grow, reap and sell?
Sir, is it any wonder that the US is directly (and also indirectly) caught up in nearly 100 countries, relative to political disputes, insurrections, civil-instability, military actions, military issues, military advice, military strategies, military supplies and the like. Is it any wonder that our foreign policy often subtly suborns warmongering and insurrection? Didn't President Eisenhower warn us about the military-industrial complex?
Another place where I need you to take a hard stand is with a recently introduced bill: “Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011”. Senator James M. Inhofe, the republican from Oklahoma is behind it. And it is part of a forty one year effort by republicans to dismantle the Clean Air Act of 1970. Republicans are tenacious and you know it. There are many issues that they refuse to give up on: this is one (environmental laws/limits); abortion is another; affirmative-action type legislation is a third. There are others. They have long memories.
This bill is similar to other Republican attacks on cap and trade legislation aimed at strengthening environmental-protection laws and policies. It is aimed at lowering environmental standards mandated way back in 19970. These standards weren't high enough mind you, since the auto/industrial pollutants and emissions continually defiling the earth are still way too high. Last summer, you saw what “drill baby drill” can do: via the BP fiasco. And who can forget the Exxon Valdez spill? We need to toughen standards not lower them. You have to take a strong stand here. You can't be wishy-washy on this one.
The Clean Air Act of 1970, which created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 2nd 1971, is one of the best pieces of legislation ever passed by Congress. Ever. And yet, many in pro-environment circles still feel strongly that it didn't go far enough in dealing with environmental abuses. The amendments passed in 1990 were aimed at strengthening the law, and now we see that republicans are brazenly intent on undermining the original act in the first place.
You must keep your veto-pen ready, sir. If this bill gets through Congress you are the last line of defense for environmentalists. I am sure you understand that. This landmark legislation, must be protected with everything you have got. I know you are up to the task.
Take care and do stay tuned-in: much respect.