I remember it clear as day...sitting in Valencia with my good friend, watching the election results flow in. Not only were we going to have a Democrat in office for the first time in eight years, we were going to have a charismatic, highly-intelligent, smooth-as-silk politician who actually made me once again proud to be American. After eight years of apologizing every time I traveled abroad, always with my token, “well, I didn’t vote for that illiterate ass*#!e,” which, of course, always fell on deaf ears.
The fact that this country, this United States of America, had come so far...to finally vote in a President based on their platform rather then the color of their skin...my God, it was 2008 and we would have an African-American President riding on a platform of Hope & Change! Could things get any better? Could I be any prouder? After eight years of watching a stubborn, semi-literate, good ol’ boy from Texas run this country into the ground with Cheney, Wall Street, and all their Big Oil buds, there was a true chance for Change. Yes, it was going to take time to turn things around, but President Obama, you made that loud and clear to this nation, and I for one, believed you.
Most of us gave you 2009 without much of a fuss. Then in 2010, when things started to LOOK like they would be getting better, you bailed out Wall Street and I was with you....there seemed to be no other choice. But, just as the average American is responsible for any loan they take, whether it be Federal, private, or from a street level loanshark, you will be expected, at some point, to pay up with interest. The economy seemed to stabilize for a bit, even a few quarters of positive gains. The housing crisis bottomed out and seemed the only way we could go was up.
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I know you had a tremendous load on your plate, but just as you had chosen an amazing team to run your election...an election that spoke to me as an individual, I believed you. Something I don’t think I had ever experienced in my lifetime as a voting age citizen. And because of that, for the first time in my voting life, I gave to your election campaign. It was smart and savvy and wasn’t promising impossible things...but instead, very tangible goals. Green jobs. Investing in infrastructure. Putting the watchdogs on Wall Street. Yes, of course, it would take time, so I continued to give you my support through 2010.
It is now July of 2011. To date, you took out Osama Bin Laden, and bravo to you for that, Mr. President. It was a quick and decisive move (even though I’m sure it took years of planning). But, it took balls and it took decisive measures. It is now July of 2011 and over a third of my friends are unemployed and still without Universal Healthcare...where did it go? I know it was talked about and pushed for, but it is now July of 2011 and I still know more citizens than not that don’t have health care.
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We have given you three years, President Obama. In your defense, you had a massive, sludge-filled, crater of s--t that you had to pull our country out of, courtesy of the reckless ways of Mr. Bush and the Fabulous 1 percent who rule Our Country. According to my watch, time is running out. You have about a year remaining to do something. To make that Change. To give us some of that Hope that you so eloquently spoke of three years ago.
There is no longer a middle class in America. There is a large, desperate, lower class that’s falling deeper into debt and poverty. There is also a small, elite upper class that continues to gain ground, power and influence. The depressing part is that for the first time in your constituency, I believe this small, elite class has had an affect on you. Our great leader. Our President that was going to bring Change. Hope. You were the closest thing I had ever experienced to being in the presence of a Super Hero. A Great Man. JFK. Lincoln. MLK.
But as July turns to August and you fight your fight against the Republicans for your re-election bid, have you taken a moment to look at the world around you? Just a quiet few moments? Americans are silently drowning. Europe is in disarray. Japan is a dying ghost. China is the silent red beast ready to become the New America.
President Obama, I implore you to use that laser focus, the same you had at the beginning of this term and direct it at the economy and the creation of jobs. Make that your single focus for the next year and do whatever you can within your Presidential means to do so. The United States is drowning. Katrina is again upon us...and if history does repeat itself, the poor will again be left to die and the rich will be helicoptered into air-conditioned ranches in Texas.
You have the power to be great, Mr. President, but the time is now. The time is NOW. It is now July of 2011. President Obama, you must reach deep inside and find the man that you once were, the man you can so easily again be. The time for cooperation and patience and appeasing both parties is over. Fight for the Hope and the Change and the Jobs you promised us three years ago--or else in a time very soon--maybe a year, maybe two--the poor will rise up. The disenfranchised will rise up. The drowning citizens of the United States will become the citizens of Greece, of Egypt, of every other country that is on the verge of collapse.
President Obama. The time is now. Stop playing nice and become the Great Man that you told us you would be.
