Dear President Obama:
No one knows better than you the dire situation that our nation is in. And there is no one better positioned than you to address these actions, and bring the change that so many believe is possible.
I realize that you are surrounded by those who believe that progress is only possible in small incremental steps. I realize that the DC conventional wisdom says that so-called pragmatic politics must be observed. But it does not have to be this way. If there is anyone who can break this pattern, Mr. President, it is you.
I know that you are surrounded by political enemies who would see every attempt to change our course blocked. I know that our congress is rife with corporate corruption, with special interest monies and with legislators who care only for their own well being. But if there is anyone who can call them to task, who can show them for what they are, it is you.
The right doesn't seek bi-partisanship solutions; they will thwart change at every turn. And there are many within the Democratic party who will also seek to sabotage any change to the status quo, though they are more subtle about it. Do not reward them, do not attempt to appease them. They have changed the rules of civil, democratic governance; thus, you too must change your approach. This is not to say that a George W. Bush, decider-esque mentality must be assumed, but rather, that you must be willing to face those who would stop any steps towards change, to call them out by name, and to fight them openly, regardless of the party they belong to.
Mr. President, sometimes you have to be willing to risk losing in order to truly win. You showed that level of bravery during the elections. We sent you to Washington because we hoped and believed that you could truly change things. Our nation soundly rejected the ideas of the right; there is no reason to attempt to appease them. We also rejected the course of the experienced Washington insider and chose you to represent us instead of Hillary Clinton; we chose you to lead us on a new course.
But, Mr. President, our nation is still in deep trouble. Our incremental steps are not getting us to where we need to be. And we have limited time to affect change. We need truly bold leadership; we need those who work at your pleasure and who are masters at the DC political game to apply pressure to those who would thwart change, and stop worrying so much about self preservation. When great solutions are achieved, the politics will take care of themselves.
We are still mired in two wars, and these wars are slowly but steadily destroying us. They are draining our economy; we simply cannot afford to continue to pour the amount of our nations wealth into these wars and into our military that we are. Our education system, our health system, our infrastructure are seeing the results of underfunding. We simply cannot afford to pour so much of our resources into these wars.
Furthermore, these prolonged wars continue to warp the nature of how we view ourselves as a nation, and how the world views us. You were given the Nobel Peace Prize not so much for what you had accomplished, but in recognition of what you could accomplish. Fulfill that potential. Find a way to truly get us out of Iraq without needing to leave 50,000 troops permanently stationed there. Decide what constitutes victory in Afghanistan, and find a way to get us out. Throughout history, empires have broken themselves on the lonely mountains of Afghanistan. Do not add us to that long list.
At a larger scale, we cannot continue along the chosen course in our War on Terror. We are destroying everything that our society stands for in our chosen manner of pursuit of this thing. We cannot continue to allow torture to go unaddressed, to wire tap, to maintain Gitmo and Bagram as they exist and continue to be the America that we were all taught to believe in. These things destroy the soul of our nation and significantly undermine the rule of law. Find a way to end these practices, and hold those who initiated them accountable.
And while we continue to fight these wars, to send our brave men and women overseas to fight our wars, our nation continues to suffer. We have passed health care reform, but it is only a first step. Our nation must push for the promised second step. The insurance corporations have been fighting hard from even before the HCR legislation was passed to use it as a tool to continue to maximize their profits at the cost of American's health and lives. What was passed can perhaps be viewed as a first step, but without taking the next steps, that first step will be nullified as the insurance industry bends the law to their will and continues to find ways to exploit the law. Take that second step.
And just as the insurance corporations continue their fight to maintain their profits, so do the Wall Street and financial corporations. They continue to increase their power over our nation. Their practices remain largely unchanged; and given the amount of wealth they control, and the impact their actions have on our nation's economy, it can truly be said that they gamble daily with the nation's wealth. They must be reigned in, or we will soon see yet another crash, and the need for even more taxpayer sponsored bailouts to prevent an overall crash of the nation's economy.
We have allowed controlled capitalism to become ruled by the unmitigated avarice of the owners of the corporations. We have allowed the wealth gap to continue to grow, the middle class to shrink, and the poor to get poorer. Our nation has elevated the corporations, and thus their owners, to a status of citizenship and personhood far above that of the everyday man and woman. We must reverse this trend. Competition is a great thing, but without limits, our capitalistic system of corporations becomes destructive. And this is what has happened, and what continues to happen.
Consider the situation in the Gulf of Mexico. British Petroleum is using its corporate might to control that situation. Despite the fact that it has been almost two months since the disaster began, they still control the access to information, press access and the cleanup efforts. Our nation is going to pay for this disaster for generations; from the economic damage from the loss of fishing and tourism, to the damage that we will be caused by the loss of the natural storm barriers provided by the now dying wetlands, to the medical costs inflicted as the toxins poison the people in the region, the cost will be generational. We must assume control of this situation; we must find ways to prevent these disasters from happening again, and we must hold those responsible accountable so that other corporations are not so caviler about how they go about their operations.
At the same time, this is the time when we should not just be talking about new routes to clean energy. We hear much talk of the time to transition, but we do not have infinite time. Climate change is a reality, as is the growing populations of the world, the fact that other economies are deamanding and getting larger slices of the energy pie, and the fact that our limited resources are dwindling. This is the time to declare an Apollo-esque program clean energy program, with huge solar and offshore wind farms. We cannot afford to simply rely on so-called clean coal and nuclear energy. We must truly start changing to actual clean energy, and soon. Given that our time is limited, if we do not choose a new course now, a course will be chosen for us, and it will not be pleasant. We must begin to truly learn to conserve our energy and resources as a nation, and to slow the curves of man made climate change.
And finally, please don't disregard those who have so strongly supported you. Please do not denigrate the Unions. They need the support of the administration, not its scorn. Please remember the hopes and your words concerning our GLBT citizens. They deserve their day. Please remember that progressive causes are the root of the Democratic Party Platform. The planks of the platform are not just symbols to get votes, they are ideals with meaning, ideals that if fulfilled, will make our nation a far stronger and better union.
In closing, be the great man that we saw was in you to be when we elected you. We gave up vacations and luxuries, we skimped and went to cheaper things that we might donate to you that you might change our nation's course. We pounded the pavement, we made calls, we organized, we did everything we could to see you in the White House. But we live in a representative democracy, and we can only do so much outside of electing leaders to represent us. Fulfill your promise and potential. Be the great man you can be. Realize that history demands great leadership at this time, and that time is short. Lead us to the America you talked about daily as a candidate. Be willing to risk losing in order to win; you cannot truly win without risking failure. Twist arms, call out by name those who try to block the path, do not be afraid to confront those who would destroy the remaining hope for change. Do this, and the politics and electoral support will fall into place; results count significantly to the American people. Do this, and the nation will be a better place for it, for us and for our children.
This is a time for great leadership, a time for greatness. I know that you are a good man; I can see it in the way you look at your family, in your words to the nation, in your efforts to take us to a better place. But I also know that you have it in you to be a truly great man, a truly great leader. Rise to that potential. Be that great man.