Dear Mr. President,
Barely a week after we pounded the pavement and manned the call lines, we learn that the main reason we were working so hard has been pulled out from under us: that is, to put the brakes on the debilitating divergence of the wealth and lifestyles of the super-rich from the rest of us and the devastation of the middle class in this country. Was the vote on the tax cuts delayed until after the midterm elections to make sure we would get our election work done before being told, once again, that we are expendable?
There is despair among us, - those who do the yeoman's work of getting out the vote and putting aside our $2400 for our candidates. (I am not "the professional left" so hear me out.) I, along with many others, are ready to give up on you, Mr. President, and on the Democratic Party. My husband, a West Point grad and former Republican, had never worked for Dems in an election before, but did this time for the first time. Disabled, I did all I could. We have both become increasingly concerned at seeing what is happening to this country.
(November 11, 2010)
Not making the rich pay their fair share of taxes (on money which has been sucked from the middle class!) is simply the last straw. If you cave on this, I am through - with being a Dem, with voting, with everything. I have already started telling my older children to move to Canada or Germany and am making my teenage daughter learn Chinese.
THIS WAS YOUR "SIGNATURE ISSUE." This was the rallying call. Where is the leadership, the courage, the guts to stand up to bullies? Where is the President you promised to be?
They say Bush wrecked the GOP. Well, the Democratic Party is cracking apart right now. I am in despair for my country and my children. If you can't do the job, resign! Give Biden a chance. This capitulation cannot go on for another two years. There is no time left. This is it. What in God's name happened to the "fierce urgency of now." Was it, as my 23 year son says, nothing but a PR stunt to cover up the emergence of a new multinational plutocracy?
I don't want a boilerplate response. Send this through the text analyzer and pull out the key words. Turn us into a semantic cloud of magnetic dust. I will scream into the wind unheard and know, finally, that your Hope is nothing but cynical seduction; and we have again been fooled, - as our beloved country continues its long slide into mediocracy.
God bless you, Mr. President. And forgive you.
UPDATE 5:20 am CST, November 12
This morning, Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe said that left-wing blogosphere," was responsible for the White House pulling back on Axelrod's statement yesterday morning about the White House being "ready to deal" on the extension of the Bush tax cuts for Americans' richest two percent. Of course, Joe being Joe, he then spun off into a mini-rant about 'when will the White House learn to stop listening to those people who keep dragging him off to the left'(!!!). But, the discussion went on to say that it seems possible there may be a 'new age of bipartisanship.' emerging, with Mika adding that the these tax cuts cannot be extended forever since they are blowing "a huge hole in the budget" - to murmers of agreement. The discussion then pivoted to questions of whether the Tea Party movement will peter out, now that it seems that Rand Paul may be isolated from having much of a legislative impact.
Anyway now, I find myself feeling like Rosanne Rosanadana, of having to say after a rather self-revealing rant, "Um... Never mind."
It looks like we - all of us - busted through "the Bubble" -- at least for a couple of hours.
So, it looks like I can vote again...
But we'll be keeping our eyes on you, Mr. President, and "hold your feet to the fire" until you can walk across a bed of hot coals, which may be what it's gonna take to get to that just and prosperous future we all know must be out there.