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Zigzagman
9-4-11, 7:00pm
I thought this (http://juanitajean.com/2011/09/03/dear-mr-president/) letter from Susan D Bankston, Richmond, Texas was worthy of showing to everyone. I totally agree with this.

I love you. I voted for you. I worked for you. I believe in you.

The reason I supported you over Hillary Clinton in the primary is that Hillary was unsuccessful in getting health care for all Americans, and then she quit the fight for the next seven years. She dropped it. I want someone who will fight for me. And even when they lose, they will get up and fight again. I believed you would do that.

Fight, Mr. President. Fight for us.

For the past decade, we have tried it their way. The Bush tax cuts do not create jobs. All the cards are on the table face up, Mr. President, so nobody should have a problem seeing that. Tax cuts for the wealthy do not create jobs. Well, except for former Republican Senator Phil Gramm who is helping them hide their money in tax havens overseas (http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/phil-gramm-and-the-ubs-tax-case/).

It didn’t work for Hebert Hoover and it’s not working for you. Since the rich did not create jobs with their windfall profits, we can. Put the tax rate back to what they paid under Bill Clinton and start rebuilding this country. People need jobs and, frankly, they don’t care if their paycheck comes from Joe’s Pavement Company or the United States of America. We still have buildings, walking trails, state parks, bridges and schools built by the WPA. They stand today as tribute to a man who fought for America and Americans, Franklin Roosevelt.

The Republican Party has made it clear that they are willing to destroy this country to get elected. Please prove the opposite, Mr. President. Simply say, “I do not care if I am not re-elected. I will save this country.” I know you believe that. We need you to act on it. Now.

When I read yesterday that you had ditched the EPA’s smog standards, I cried. I am on supplemental oxygen 24 hours a day. Yes, I smoked for 20 years like you and John Boehner. But, I also grew up in the heart of the petrochemical industry and now live 5 miles from the largest coal burning plant in America. There are days that I cannot go outside because the ozone levels are unsafe for even healthy people.

But, I did not cry for me. Hell, I’m old. I smoked. I knew I lived in foul air. I cried for the children on the playground, who have become victims of a profit line. We are no better than a third world country. We need you to fight for our children’s lungs.

You have an opportunity to save this country before Grover Norquist drags it to the bathtub to drown it. Tell them how the cow ate the cabbage and dare them to stall, play games, filibuster, or tell the unemployed to stuff it. I know you can stand up to John Boehner and Eric Cantor. I’d just like to see it.

I know your political consultants are telling you some horsehockey that the American people are tired of fighting in Washington. Are they also telling you that your base is tired of getting beat? Didn’t you hear that loud and clear in 2010? We didn’t lose, Mr. President, we stayed at home because we were tired of having sand kicked in our faces and taking it. We need you to muscle up, Sir.

I also know that your consultants are telling you that your base will still vote for you because they cannot vote for Rick Perry. It breaks my heart that the Democratic Party has become that cynical. Has our ethical baseline fallen that low? Worse yet, it is unimaginable and horrifying that the United States of America is governed with that philosophy.

Like the deadbeat dad Republican Congressman Joe Walsh, I will be watching your speech on tv next Thursday night. It seems to me that you can either speak to him or speak to me, but Mr. President, you cannot speak to both of us.

The Republican Party has boxed you in so that you cannot govern as a Democrat anymore. It seems to me that you have two choices: you can accept that you will spend 6 more years capitulating to them or, you can take the training wheels off the bicycle and put the petal to metal by learning from Harry Truman that you can fight against a reactionary Congress and give the American people a choice, not an echo.

And if you cannot bring yourself to fight for us, if you do not have the stomach for a battle, that is understandable. But step aside and give your base an opportunity to elect the champion we so desperately need.

We will always love you, Mr. President, but your base is weary. Lift us up.


I would be interested in hearing what your letter to the President would be? I not sure that recipes or frugal daily activities would qualify.;)


Peace

Square Peg
9-6-11, 11:35am
This letter is fantastic. Sums it up for me in a lot of ways. Thanks for sharing.

folkypoet
9-6-11, 11:48am
*Loved* this!

Gingerella72
9-6-11, 11:58am
I would add that if he says "yes" to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, it will be the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

Would I vote for him again just to keep Perry out of the white house? Yes, but I would do so with a feeling of just having picked the lesser of two bad options.

creaker
9-6-11, 12:10pm
Would I vote for him again just to keep Perry out of the white house? Yes, but I would do so with a feeling of just having picked the lesser of two bad options.

Me too - but I feel our choices have gone from between bad and worse to worse and worser [sic]. It's like we ordered something besides another round of Bush last election and it's tasting more and more like we got served Bush Lite.

LDAHL
9-6-11, 1:29pm
What is it the President's portside constituents expect him to do, in concrete terms? He's already gone the "I'm taking my case to the people" route several times, without much result. What kind of kinetic political action are they looking for?

ApatheticNoMore
9-6-11, 1:57pm
There are a lot of things in which the majority and the core democratic base consitutency would agree, such as ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. That Obama is not going to take the proposal to anyone, well of course, those are not his positions except when he's fooling the gullible and running as being against the Iraq war.

I'm sure he could probably take a case to the people for a job program with some sucess. How this actually works long term without really FUNDING IT (by taxes not debt) or finding some other way to boost the economy long term so eventually it is no longer needed (repairing a highway isn't going to do that - although getting the country entirely off fossil fuels could possibly - because dependence on cheap fossil fuels does act as a cap on economic activity), I'm not sure.

Hasn't the Keystone XL Pipeline already been approved? If you are placing your hopes in protests from environmental groups, activist organizations, protestors, and democratic core constituencies who voice their disapproval to stop it, well protest and loudly voiced disapproval are the best hope of stopping it!! If anyone places some blind faith in the "goodness of Obama" to stop it that's just an incredibly naive position, the Obama administration covered up for BP AFTER the oil spill! So the test perhaps is, is the protest loud enough to influence Obama.

Rogar
9-6-11, 2:17pm
If I could write better, my letter to the president might be quite similar. The exception I wonder about is whether Obama is feeling boxed in by the republicans, or if he is just responding to strong public opinion. Every day in the news, it's jobs, jobs, jobs. Not to mention the budget, budget budget. What is the president doing about these, the media asks. So when the environment takes the back seat to the popular issues, maybe the president is just listening and responding?

The letter is certainly a criticism of Obama cloaked in complimenrts and niceties.

The recent EPA ruling just got a little bit of press. And I also thought Obama signed off on the XL pipeline, but when I googled it today I just couldn't even tell for sure, which maybe says how important people think it is?

Gregg
9-7-11, 4:20am
Enjoyed reading the letter Zig, thanks. What would I say to our President? I would say something like... "during these trying times our country needs men of strong will and clear thoughts to take us in a new direction. These are times when decisive actions are needed more than hopeful speeches. Thank you, Mr. Obama, for your service, your passion and your eloquence. Now please step aside and allow us to move forward." And at that point I would sincerely hope that someone more qualified will step forward and take the job.

I believe the Keystone XL pipeline is in the hands of the states that it flows through, not the Federal government. As far as I know most of the fighting left is being done by individual land owners who will ultimately lose in a case of eminent domain.

Gingerella72
9-7-11, 10:50am
There's two pipelines. The first one, the Keystone Pipeline, was already approved and I believe is already in existence. The Keystone XL is the one that is hotly being contested, and the one that Obama has to give a yay or nay on by November. The states don't have a say in it, except for being able to negotiate minor things like compensation to farmers whose land the pipeline would invade. This XL would pipe oil from Canada down through 5 states to refineries in Texas....but the planned route would have it going over the Ogallala Aquifier, which provides water to 8 states, and the potential for oil leaking into and contaminating that aquifier is one of the major debate points.

As far as protesting, people are! I'm surprised you didn't hear about the Tar Sands Sit In that took place at the end of August outside the White House where several people, including celebrities and noted scientists, were arrested. There have been online petitions flying right and left about this.

More about it can be read here. http://www.foe.org/keystone-xl-pipeline Although since he's dissed the EPA, and allows himself to be Monsanto's puppet, he's clearly shown he has no interest in environmental issues so I'm pretty sure it's a lost cause.