Dear Mr. President,
I’ve written to you before, though I doubt you ever had the time to read my letter, much less visit my dark, cobwebby, and rather obscure corner of da Interwebs. I’m but one of millions of American voices in the squawking cacophony that is our grand experiment in democracy. Still, this being a democracy, my voice deserves and has a right to be heard…and so I shall weigh in on your (so far, at least) ineffectual, some might even say failed, Presidency.
I, like millions of Americans, voted for you in November, 2008. It was a time of great hope, and I (like a lot of us) may have been rather naive in our hopes and expectations. We actually thought things were going to be different- perhaps because you told us that things we going to be different. Being the hopeful sort that I am, I took you at your word…only to have it brought home time and time again over the past two-plus years that nothing is different. “Change We Can Believe In” has become little more than a punchline from a bad joke…a joke which appears to be on those of us who believed in you and your message.
The thing is, we didn’t have to be where we are. When you took the oath of office, you had a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate. You had a golden opportunity to push your agenda…and yet, when given the opportunity, you punted. In virtually every case, when you had an opportunity to exercise leadership in the pursuit of your agenda, you caved to Republican obstructionism. Instead of taking advantage of your majority and your bully pulpit, you acted (and continue to act) as if the idea of angering Republicans was just more than you could stomach. Because of this, your agenda has been hijacked, blunted, and rendered virtually irrelevant.
Be it Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, health care reform, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, infrastructure, education, etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseum, you’ve failed to back up the rhetoric of your campaign. I understand that you feel, as did the late Tip O’Neill, that politics is the art of the possible. Compromise can be a good thing…unless you’re trying to forge common ground with a party for whom “compromise” is code for “slash and burn” and/or “take no prisoners”. Republicans have demonstrated time and again that they have no interest in or desire to compromise with you…yet you’ve persisted in pursuing the approval of an opposition dedicated to your political demise. That being the case, why not take it to them? Why not pursue the agenda you campaigned on? If Republicans are going to stand on obstruction, then why not bypass them altogether? After all, Democrats were the MAJORITY party in both houses of Congress.
Now, of course, Republicans control the House, and your agenda is, for all intents and purposes, dead on arrival. If you couldn’t get things done when Democrats held majorities in the House AND Senate, how can you expect to get anything done now the Republican control the House? You’ve hamstrung yourself, and your refusal to get out front and lead has alienated many of those millions- myself included- who supported you so ardently in 2008.
I’m proud to be a Liberal Democrat. I’m proud to be a member of a party that looks to the future instead of trying to drag us back to the past. Having said that, though, I’m sick to death of seeing Democrats in Congress (and the White House) conduct their business like a pack of spineless weenies. I’d like to be proud of what you’ve accomplished over the past two-plus years, but it’s hard to be when your balls are in a jar on Sen. Mitch McConnell’s desk.
Mr. President, you had a golden opportunity to effect real change in this country. When that opportunity presented itself, you caved into a Republican minority dedicated to destroying you. You failed to display leadership, you failed to display political courage, and, perhaps worst of all, you failed to pursue the agenda you campaigned on. Now we’re treated to pundits comparing you to Ronald Reagan- and if that isn’t a “WTF??” moment and a wake-up call, I don’t know what would be.
At this point in time, I have only one request of you: either find your spine and begin pursuing the agenda you campaigned on, or become a one-term President. I want a Democrat in the White House who’s willing to act like a Democrat. I want a President who says what he means and means what he says. I want to see this country moving forward. I want to see the interests of ALL Americans taken seriously, NOT just the upper 2% of income earners.
If you can’t do these things, then I would respectfully ask you to step aside and not run for re-election next year, because WE DESERVE BETTER.
Sincerely,
Jack Cluth
