Occasionally I have thought about what I would ask the President of the U.S. if I ever had the opportunity to sit down for one on one conversation. It's a strange little wish of mine. I had quite a few questions in mind for our current President when it occurred to me that Obama, like all presidents is first and foremost a politician which means that asking him questions would be an exercise in futility. Politicians generally don't answer questions, they use them as a springboard to get right to their talking points. Obama is one of the best/worst at it. Any question asked of him is a predetermined one that he has an answer/speech all lined up for, or he just goes right into the old "dodge the question, change the subject" routine that politicians are good at and he is great at. It is so frustrating to watch an interview and have questions that most of us would like to hear a response to, constantly go unasked or unanswered.
With this realization in mind, I have changed my little fantasy. What would I say to the president if I were given the opportunity? Here goes:
Mr. President, although I did not vote for you, I truly hoped that all your fancy speeches about hope & change were true. I sincerely hoped that I would be proven wrong about the reasons that I didn't want you to win the election. No sour grapes here, although there are plenty of folks that hoped you wound fail, I am not one of them. I love America and the direction of this country is much more important to me than being able to say "I told you so" to people that I disagree with politically. My biggest hope when you took over was for change. I should clarify why I didn't vote for you. Contrary to what many of us were accused of, it had absolutely nothing to do with the color of your skin. I know most of your supporters just can't accept that. I am also smart enough to realize that there are those who are against you because of your race, but it is very wrong to discount any detractors as racist. I voted against you because of your lack of experience, the political leanings of many of your known associates, and the many inconsistencies in your stated background.
My greatest dissappointment with your presidency is the lack of change in the way government is run on Capitol Hill. It is apparent that the corruption and political "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" mentality has only worsened since you took office. I cite the appointments of your fundraising cohorts to ambassadorships that they are clearly unqualified for as my evidence of the position. I acknowledge that one man can't completely change Washingtons corrupt culture, but if you had been true to your campaign promises, you could have started the ball rolling. To me it's the same old, same old, only worse. Two things that do not impress me is blaming it on opposition, and people defending this behavior by saying that presidents before you were corrupt also. Not doing what others before you did is the definition of change. I'm sick of the blame game from ALL politicians. It's so dissappointing.
......To be continued
( I don't want to my blogs to become like homework, as in too long of a read. I would love feedback. Please let me know if you think they get too long.)
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