Jims
Juvenile Justice Specialist/Research Specialist
Administrative Staff
Hero Member
 Offline
Posts: 4726
Throw Away the Key
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« on: November 05, 2008, 02:31:30 pm » |
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Dear President-Elect Obama,
You have been handed a great gift from the American people. I am not just talking about the Presidency of this great country; you earned and won that with your extraordinary and extensive campaigning.
What Americans have given you is our hope, our trust, our yearning to be free of the closest our nation has ever come to being a totalitarian state. We listened to your speeches and we not only liked what you said but how you said it. You spoke with confidence so you gained our confidence. You spoke with a cool calmness so you kept us cool and calm amidst a frightening economic crisis.
The road ahead of you is daunting, but we have faith you will succeed. We also know you are not Superman. You're not a magician and you're not a character out of "Bewitched." We know you cannot snap your fingers or wiggle your nose and solve the myriad problems that will beset you on Day One of your administration. And trust me, Mr. President-Elect, people will come knocking on your door with their expectations high, their hopes even higher. They will want to see unemployment lowered, stock prices higher, affordable health care for everyone, our education system revamped, racial problems solved forever, and our presence removed from Iraq. And that's just on the first day! I don't think God himself would be capable of accomplishing all that you have before you in a short amount of time. Sure, He may have created the entire world in seven days, but then He didn't have testy, curmudgeonly Republicans fighting him over which districts should get the lakes and streams and which ones get stuck with the deserts.
The problem with inspiring so much hope in people is that everyone has their own idea of what their hope is and what they want you to accomplish. For them. Your eloquence and your carriage invoked memories of John F. Kennedy on his inaugural day. I wish you would have gone one step further and reminded everyone of the most famous words of Kennedy's speech: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Never before have those words been so true. You can inspire us, you can lead the way, you can negotiate on our behalf. But you cannot do it all. If people want change, then they're going to have to be willing to help make the change happen. We started with electing you as our President. Now you need to let us know what else we can do, what else we need to do. And then it will be our turn to step up to the plate and help make it happen.
You made some direct promises and you made some indirect ones, too. You never promised to reduce long prison sentences, but you did talk about doing away with mandatory minimum sentencing for certain drug crimes. And you promised to appoint federal and SCOTUS judges like Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Our hope, at IPT, is that a change of attitude regarding prisons and how we use them will begin at the federal level in your administration and filter down to the states.
If I had one wish for the direction of your administration it would be for all the partisan sniping, lobbying, deceit, conniving, scheming, and negativity to stop. Let me live with the hope that the days of one party doing everything in their power to stop the progress of the other party are over. I think I speak for most Americans when I say we're sick of it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if our Congress became, once again, a hallowed hall where statesmen debate issues and make decisions based on the good of the country, not the good of someone's party. Or pocketbook.
Many people are going to be lurking around waiting for you to fail. They are chomping at the bit to say, "I told you so!" They are certain the economy will fall, the war will be lost if and when you bring our soldiers home, and we will come under attack from terrorists. They are waiting to see if you take the oath of office with your hand on the Koran instead of The Bible. They're waiting to see you fill your Cabinet with Louis Farakhan, Bill Ayers, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and maybe Bin Laden himself. They are waiting to see this inexperienced elitist community organizer fall on his face and cry "Uncle."
I only hope all the naysayers will have the integrity to recognize good when they see it, progress when it comes, and change when it's made. I hope they can and will admit that they were wrong when you prove them so.
Congratulations and good luck, Mr. President-Elect!
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