This is not a diary.
I've had it up to here (raises hand high above his head) with those on the left who say our president hasn't done enough, or that he hasn't done what he HAS done fast enough, or in the right way, or with the right facial expressions, or loudly enough, or in the right outfit, or with the right words (Keith? Rachel?), or with the right amount of anger, etc. Enough!
Those who don't fit into that category, please follow me below.
It's clear to me now that we should all hope and pray (if that's your thing) that the president will hang up his presidential hat after the first term; it's clear to me now that this country doesn't deserve him. It's clear to me now that many Democrats don't appreciate him or what he has done or what he has attempted to do; somehow they don't understand the environment in which he has to do and try to do all these things; they don't seem to understand that he is president of the entire country, not just the left and center left. He doesn't have the time or power to make all of us happy in the exact manner we want to be made happy. He has to make this country better for ALL of us.
Many on this site are blind, deaf and, quite frankly, dumb. They will wake up on the morning of November whatever, 2012 and realize what they have done, hopefully anyway. They'll realize what we had, and what, by that time, we will have lost. They'll realize that they helped the ultra-right to kill a great presidency; they will have helped Rush and Palin and Beck to make sure that Obama wasn't able to succeed. And you know what, they will have lost a lot of people like me, people who will give up on politics and voting, because if we cannot rally behind this incredible man, this president of the ages, then it is impossible for us to rally at all. Our nation is doomed beyond all hope of repair.
No? Too glum? Too pessimistic? I think not. FDR was a great man and a great president, but he needed the country to stand behind him as he chartered strange and difficult tides; he needed the cooperation of the masses to make sure that his efforts to get our country beyond the Great Depression succeeded, to help with our war efforts and to help win WWII. How many would be willing to accept rationed food stuffs today? Would the left stand for the draft? In short, it's painfully clear to me that if WWII were to have waited until today, America would lose.
Abraham Lincoln was besieged much as our current president is now. Yet, thankfully, without the 24-hour noise machines and internets, Mr. Lincoln was able to keep his head up, keep facing into the wind, and keep doing what he knew to be right until victory in the Civil War was secure, until slavery had been abolished once and for all. It is true that his prospects for re-election were poor. Only a few months before the vote, his own party had discussions about a new convention to pick a new candidate, so sure were they that he'd lose. And then Sherman's march and other victories changed the landscape, and Lincoln was re-elected. It's a shame in a way, though. Had he not been re-elected, would he have lived out his life to it's natural end? Perhaps. How would Lincoln fare today? Not nearly as well, I'm afraid. The media and the selfishness of the American people would have ruined even the great Lincoln.
Our media, our ridiculous media, is part of the problem. Big heads like KO and Rachel and Brian Williams and Tweety and O'Hannity and O'Beck pull their viewers to the extremes on either end with rants and comments and tearful pleadings, instead of presenting fact, just simple, plain, un-adulterated fact. Instead they say: "Too much! Not enough! Not said correctly! Not said at all! Too soft! Too calm! Too boring!" Too sad.
We all remember the oil spill and how nearly all criticized the president for handling it the way he handled it, allowing BP to do the job since they had the expertise. The media talked ad nauseum for weeks and weeks about how this was Obama's Katrina or his hostage crisis. And now that he has been proved right, after BP stopped the leak and as the oil continues to disappear, where are the apologies? Where are the discussions about how well Obama handled the problem? Nowhere to be found. The biggest, most difficult to stop oil spill in history, and yet 100 days after the leak, it was all over. Does Obama get any credit at all? Nope. Plenty of blame for the problem, but none of the credit for the solution. Poor news reporting. And for this they get paychecks, huge paychecks with lots of zeros, to criticize and castigate and blather and bloviate, yet what has any of them actually done for this country. When all is said and done, they do nothing but exhale stale air.
And this site, this once great site that I couldn't wait to get to each day back in 2008; it's all I can do to check in a few times a day now. I will continue to do so because there are enough good people here to warrant it. But I read fewer and fewer diaries, mostly because the content is devoid of common sense and replete with selfishness.
Barack Obama is a great man, and he has done great things during his presidency, and it has yet to even hit the 2 year mark! He works tirelessly to make this country better. He shoulders the criticisms and complaints with a smile and with great patience. He understands what his job is and he tries to do it to the best of his ability. If he errs, he tries again, working even harder to get it right the second or third or fourth time. In a few years his first term will be over. He will deserve a second term and I, selfishly, hope he gets a second term. But, were I thinking about him and his family, about his best interests (aside from the country's best interests), I would probably rather that he get out of Washington, get out of the public eye, live out his life in peace and quiet and happiness. We got what we deserved, a great president and a great man; he deserved better from all of us.