AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
Dear President Obama:
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike Any of the others, you truly scare me. You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you. You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive
Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth Growing up in America and culturally you are not an American. You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll. You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus Don’t understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others. You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned Yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to Publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail..
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America ‘ Crowd and deliver this message abroad. You scare me because you want to change America to a European style Country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector..
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one. You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly Capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves. You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose That lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of Living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics Against certain banks and corporations. You scare me because your own political party shrinks from
Challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals. You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both Omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh’s, Hannity’s, O’Reilly’s and Becks who offer opposing, Conservative points of view. You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing. Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Lou Pritchett
Yeah, but P&G is such a creepy company … multinational, that’s always scary, and it seems its mission is to persuade the morons among us to get on the BART every morning reeking to high heaven of citris stewed in alcohol or some other noxious combination … and to spend ridiculous sums on stuff nobody but a flaming neurotic could be got to believe they actually need.
What a truly idiotic letter.
“You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you. You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive
Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.”
If Pritchett is seriously “scared” of a person for such a trivial reason, then he has a personal problem. Why on earth would anyone even care about this? What does it matter how he payed for his education? What is Pritchett implying?
“You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth Growing up in America”
Obama grew up in America from age zero to six before his family moved to Indonesia where they stayed for four years. When he was ten they moved back to America, where he lived the rest of his life. At best, this statement is a stretch. And it is very stupid to be afraid of a person because he spent four years of his young life in another country and the rest of his life here in America.
“and culturally you are not an American.”
I don’t even know what this means, but it’s probably code for “You are a liberal.”
“You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus Don’t understand it at its core.”
He’s hardly the only president with no military experience, so this is another stupid reason to be scared of him.
The rest is just as stupid, but would take longer to rebut; it isn’t worth it anyway. This guy never even learned when to capitalize and when not to. Which wouldn’t be that big a deal, but the whole thing already reads like a bad chain e-mail, and the punctuation problems just add to the ambiance.
This is a real letter as verified by Snopes but this guy is lame.
He complains that Obama had no military experience but neither do any of the Republican candidates running right now so how am I supposed to trust them to run the military. Bush was president during 9/11 but apparently that was Clinton’s fault not his. Obama was president during the underwear bomber scare and that wasn’t Bush’s fault. Which is it?
I don’t think Obama has done such a bad job with the military but I think the credit for that goes to the generals not the president.
I don’t agree with one thing in this letter. It is insane. The media does not give a free pass to Obama. Instead they highlight all of the stupid things that do not matter and they do this with both sides equally. There have not been any “extortion” tactics with the banks. Obama is a wholly owned subsidiary of the banks. His worthless DOJ has refused to prosecute any of the fraud the banks committed when they looted the country.
How has Obama silenced the Hannity’s, Limbaughs, etc? They are an embarrassment to our party. Especially Hannity who has jumped on this “birth control is bad” media train that will end up being the downfall of the Republican party. Since when do we let the Catholic church dictate to our government? Since when do they get to lecture us about morality when they have a history of covering up child molestation?
As long as we let crazy talking heads and viral nonsense like this letter keep getting more and more popular the Republican party becomes the lunatic fringe. Glenn Beck said that he believed that Obama and FEMA were opening up indoctrination camps. He deserves to be taken off the air. He was opposed to vaccinations for H1N1. These guys are paid entertainers.
This letter says Obama wants to replace our health care system with a government controlled one. His Affordable Care Act is a carbon copy of Mitt Romney’s. This birth control hysteria is based on legislation that is almost word for word the same as Romney’s. The Heritage Foundation created the basis for the Affordable Care Act.
I am no fan of President Obama, and I do not think he is a conservative. But I’m not going to hate everything that was okay when Republicans were in charge just because Obama is in charge now. Right now I cannot think of a single thing that Republicans are doing that I agree with. They are turning into the lunatic fringe and leaving conservative voters behind.
I didn’t leave the Republican party, they left me. Unfortunately, there isn’t anywhere left for conservatives to go. Maybe the Constitutional Party.
This guy makes some points I strongly agree with, some I don’t and some I’m not sure on, but I thought it was interesting reading and it does makes you think about a lot of odd things.
It’s kinda icing on the cake if my candidate has some military experience, but its by no means a requirement.
Next….9/11 was neither Clinton’s or Bush’s fault IMHO. Clinton had the opportunity to take out OBL…thats true and he didn’t, but hindsight is 20-20. Clinton also had the opportunity to ramp up our intel, get agencies talking to each other and make some improvements to air security and he didn’t…but again hindsight is 20-20. Bush didn’t have the chance before 9/11 but he did what he thought was best afterwards. We disagree on what he thought was best and what I thought was best. You know how strongly I disliked the waste due to Homeland, the Iraq and Afghanistan mishandling.
Princess I don’t know much about the Constitution party, but I like the title! The Tea Party is probably your best bet, they hold everyone accountable. Unfortunately and perhaps fortunately at the same time, the Tea Party is a mix of people and ideas and they are not under just one set of ideals, although the core ideals are for financial responsibility. There’s quite a bit of flex here and that’s good. It is a bottom up admin and I like that, but it’s not the smoothest run nor most cohesive group I’ve ever seen. So many thoughts and theories about it ought to be. Then again, that’s how our country came into being – so it can’t be too bad. -Jack
Princess, your comments are always a treat.
Jack, I am surprised to see you recommend the Tea Party to Princess. Judging by her comments it appears that she is directly opposed to most of their goals. But I don’t want to speak for her–what do you think of the Tea Party, Princess? Are they sincere about their stated admiration for the Constitution, or do you think they ignore Constitutional principles when it suits them?
Chris, which goals of the Tea Party would she be opposed too? I went searching for the goals and I found these, tell me which ones offend you or are goals you think Princess would be against?
Preamble: The Tea Party Movement is an all-inclusive American grassroots movement with the belief that everyone is created equal and deserves an equal opportunity to thrive in these United States where they may pursue life, liberty and happiness as stated in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
No one is excluded from participation in the Tea Party Movement. Everyone is welcomed to join in seeking to achieve the Tea Party Movement goals, which are as follows:
1. Eliminate Excessive Taxes – Excessively high taxes are a burden for those exercising their personal liberty to work hard and prosper as afforded by the Constitution. A fiscally responsible government protects the freedom of its citizens to enjoy the fruits of their own labor without interference from a government that has exceeded its necessary size, scope and reach into the lives of its citizens.
Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery. –Calvin Coolidge
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government. –Thomas Jefferson
Any tax is a discouragement and therefore a regulation. –Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Also see: What is the Tea Party; Tea Party Ideas; Tea Partiers; Voice of the Tea Party
2. Eliminate the National Debt – By implementing fiscally conservative policies at all levels of government, progress can be made toward eliminating the U.S. National Debt. Massive increases in the National Debt have created and continue to create a huge burden for the next generation of Americans, thus imperiling the countrys short-term and long-term economic health and prosperity.
You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. –Abraham Lincoln
If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. –Thomas Paine, 1776
As on the one hand, the necessity for borrowing in particular emergencies cannot be doubted, so on the other, it is equally evident that to be able to borrow upon good terms, it is essential that the credit of a nation should be well established. –Alexander Hamilton, 1790
Tea Party Platform continued:
3. Eliminate Deficit Spending – All deficit spending must be eliminated immediately. We insist that government representatives at all levels maintain a fiscally responsible budget and balance the books as would be expected of any American business.
Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness. –George Washington
A penny saved is a penny earned. –Benjamin Franklin
Tomorrow, every Fault is to be amended; but that Tomorrow never comes. –Benjamin Franklin
Tea Party Platform – Home of the Tea Party Movement Platform continued:
4. Protect Free Markets – Americas free enterprise system allows businesses to thrive as they compete in the open marketplace and strive toward ever better services and products. Allowing free markets to prosper unfettered by government interference is what propelled this country to greatness with an enduring belief in the industriousness and innovations of the populace.
That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well. –Abraham Lincoln
You cannot build character and courage by taking away a mans initiative and independence. –Abraham Lincoln
The governments view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. –Ronald Reagan
Tea Party Platform continued:
5. Abide by the Constitution of the United States – The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land and must be adhered to without exception at all levels of government. This includes the Bill of Rights and other Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and their provisions designed to protect states rights and individual liberties.
A general Dissolution of Principles & Manners will more surely overthrow the Liberties of America than the whole Force of the Common Enemy. –Samuel Adams, 1779
The Constitution is the guide which I will never abandon. –George Washington
We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. –Abraham Lincoln
Tea Party Platform continued:
6. Promote Civic Responsibility – Citizen involvement at the grassroots level allows the voice of the American people to be heard and directs the political behaviors of our representatives at both the local and national level so they, in turn, may be most effective in working to preserve the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of this countrys citizens.
The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. –Patrick Henry
To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. –Abraham Lincoln
Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light –George Washington
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. –Thomas Jefferson
Tea Party Platform – Home of the Tea Party Movement Platform continued:
7. Reduce the Overall Size of Government – A bloated bureaucracy creates wasteful spending that plagues our government. Reducing the overall size, scope and reach of government at both local and national levels will help to eliminate inefficiencies that result in deficit spending which adds to our countrys debt.
My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty…it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein. –George Washington
If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy. –Samuel Adams, 1802
Energy and persistence conquer all things. –Benjamin Franklin
Tea Party Platform continued:
8. Believe in the People – The American people, given their guaranteed freedoms, will thrive in a democratic, capitalist environment which allows individuals to strive toward ever greater achievements, innovations and the efficient production of needed and valued goods and services.
Industry need not wish. –Benjamin Franklin
Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth. –Abraham Lincoln
The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them. –Abraham Lincoln
Tea Party Platform continued:
9. Avoid the Pitfalls of Politics – American politics is burdened by big money from lobbyists and special interests with an undue influence on the peoples representatives. The Tea Party movement is seen as a threat to the entrenched political parties and thus is the continual target of smear campaigns and misrepresentation of its ideals. We choose not to respond to these attacks except to strongly and explicitly disavow any and all hate speech, any and all violence as well as insinuations of violence, and any and all extreme and fringe elements that bring discredit to the Tea Party Movement. We are a peaceful movement and respect other’s opinions and views even though they do not agree with our own. We stand by the Tea Party beliefs and goals and choose to focus our energies on ensuring that our government representatives do the same.
I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts. –Abraham Lincoln
Honesty is the best policy. –Benjamin Franklin
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. –George Washington
Also see: What is the Tea Party; Tea Party Ideas; Tea Partiers; Voice of the Tea Party
Tea Party Platform continued:
10. Maintain Local Independence – The strength and resilience of a grassroots movement is the ability of citizens at the local level to determine their own platforms, agendas and priorities free of an overriding central leadership. Exercising the clearly stated message of the Tea Party movement by its nature involves discourse about which policies and candidates best hold to our stated principles, and these various opinions should flourish and evolve at the local level.
Here sir, the people govern. –Alexander Hamilton in a speech to the New York Ratifying Convention, 1788
Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories. –Samuel Adams, 1781
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. –Abraham Lincoln
Tea Party Platform – Thank you for visiting the Tea Party Movement Platform Website
Citrus stewed in alcohol? What’s that Libs, mouthwash?
Shampoo … cologne … who the hell knows? All I know is it only takes three of them to pollute an entire BART car.
I don’t purchase much P&G, though I was recently obliged to pour some Unilever down the drain … and I felt so bad, cause I polluted the waterways, but at least my house didn’t reek. I mean, who attends these focus groups, anyway?
I don’t know how I feel about the Tea Party. Supposedly they are for less regulation and for personal liberty, but they sure have jumped on this religion thing with the Catholic church about birth control. How is allowing people to get birth control from health insurance infringing on our religious liberty? I mean, if the Republicans get their way and get rid of Planned Parenthood where are people supposed to get affordable birth control? Do we really need more babies for crying out loud? And they want to regulate marriage, but not drilling for oil after the gulf oil spill last year that Obama managed to royally fail at cleaning up by the way. If the Tea Party was really about the constitution we would not be trying to force everyone in America to follow Christian beliefs. There are other religions out there and the constitution guarantees their right to practice them.
Right now when I turn on the TV at night, even on Fox the Republican party scares me. Today Rick Santorum compared President Obama to Hitler. That is ridiculous. I am a Christian. I attend church, and believe in the bible. So if I want to be Republican these days I have to be against getting birth control from my insurance prescription plan that I pay a fortune for every month, and I have to be against gay marriage, and I have to be against holding banks accountable for anything. I have to be against bailouts for auto companies but for bailouts for banks. I have to support Mitt Romney who thinks it is great to pay no income tax on money that is earned as interest or I have to support Rick Santorum who wants to regulate my uterus and inflict Christian shariah law on the entire country (kind of goes against that “liberty thing”). Reagan looks like a full on liberal compared to these guys.
The Tea Party also supports drug testing welfare recipients (unalwful search and seizer and a waste of money) but they don’t support drug testing lawmakers.
Every single Republican I know is worried about the economy and education. I do not have a single Republican friend who cares about gay marriage or birth control. Or not enough Christianity. They care about government wasting our money and paying too much taxes with nothing to show for it while we scrape by with low paying jobs, constantly worried that we will lose them. Obama has done nothing different than Bush about improving our economy. And people talk about Bush and gas prices, well when he left office they were rock bottom because the economy tanked, so Obama hasn’t done much to keep them low in four years.
And I am fed up with raising kids in a country that DOES NOT RESPECT THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT. It is ridiculous to see how Bush and Obama have been treated as The POTUS. How are we supposed to raise kids to have respect and love for America when we treat our presidents like this? It is shameful. I think both Bush and Obama were awful. They are both owned by corporations that waste tax money. But a picture of the President of the United States as the Joker at Tea Party rallies? Offensive. A picture of President Bush talking on the phone with the cord coming out of the top? Offensive. There is a picture of the governor of Arizona shaking her finger in the face of the President. How dare she do that? That is disrespectful. people shouting during State of the Union addresses? Ridiculous. And I’m expected to believe Republicans love America more than anyone else? They might want to start showing it then. The Republican voters I know love this country, the Republican politicians I see on TV aren’t doing a great job of showing it.
The Democrats are just as corrupt and worthless as the Republicans. They have allowed the crazy to get ramped up and they are making everything worse. If they are so great how come they have accomplished nothing? They are just like Republicans, they care about getting re-elected, they don’t care about making America better.
I will vote Republican for local races because locally our Republicans have represented us pretty well. But the GOP can forget about me voting for their scary candidates when they had a great one who could have beaten Obama and actually turned America back in the right direction: Jon Huntsman. He just wasn’t crazy enough to get media attention.
Princess has the Tea Party really taken a position on this religious thing with the Catholic church? I haven’t heard that, but then there’s so much stuff out here sometimes I get overwhelmed with too much info.
I checked a few of their websites and I couldn’t find anything about it. Could you help me find out out more about this, I really would like to know. All I know is that the abortion issue was strictly off limits from their inception and it’s been regularly enforced at the meetings I’ve attended. I also hosted the Tea Party booth at the Fair for a few hours and read all kinds of TP literature and I never saw that in there.
Thanks for any info you may have on this, Jack
Peggy, thanks for answering my question, and for once again providing smart, honest, non-partisan commentary. You are saying what the average voter is thinking.
I do think Obama has done a few things differently from Bush, but the majority of his policies are not really a radical departure, and that is perhaps the most depressing thing about his candidacy so far. I do think he has accomplished a lot, though; the PPACA is far from perfect, but I think it’s a step in the right direction from the previous system.
I also agree that the constant demeaning of Bush did go a little too far at times, as it also does with Obama.
Chris, Since I have not commented on this article I think you meant Princess and not me.
Princess I think you misunderstand a lot of what Republicans and Tea Partiers are saying:
“So if I want to be Republican these days I have to be against getting birth control from my insurance prescription plan that I pay a fortune for every month…”
The Republican position is as you describe yourself. A private choice about coverage for yourself/family made with an independent insurance company.
If regulations were smart insurance companies could tailor their policies to meet individual needs. It would also be less expensive. Bureaucracy costs a lot of money.
“and I have to be against gay marriage”
There are Republicans of all stripes…including gay republicans. You are not required to be against gay marriage…however those of us in favor of strong marriages between a man and a woman have come to this position because of the failures in our society that result from divorce and single parenthood. The gay insistance in calling their relationships “marriage” is only a small part of the argument. If we were allowed to have an adult conversation about it, instead of being impuned and demonized, you might have the chance to see that civic responsibility and a healthier society is at the core.
“I have to be against holding banks accountable for anything”
That’s not true. Banks should be accountable for what they actually do that is wrong.
We can’t hold them accountable when they were following rules our government set up.
There are so many things about this mess that the public does not know. For instance did you know that when the administration decided to bail out GM and give a large share of the company to the unions (payback for spport) a lot of investors got screwed in the deal. Picking winners and losers the administration chose to do the following:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124338330278956585.html
Republicans aren’t in favor of this! Republicans believe GM shopuld have gone through regular bankruptcy…and failing banks should have been allowed to fail or sort it out in the normal fashion.
Republicans believe in simple precise regulation that everyone can understand. We do not believe in making lenders make loans without down payment, proof of employment, and good credit.
Hang in there Princess. Nobody wants the government telling you what to do with your uterus…that is the point. These are individual choices and government should remain neutral! It is the imposed regulation that Obamacare creates through the HHS secretary that is objectionable because it is government telling the individual what it must do. Rick Santorum has been asked about his personal beliefs. He shares them honestly and the media goes wild. he has stated quite clearly that he doesn’t think it is up to the federal government to impose these beliefs on anyone.
Huntsman was not given much of a chance in the debates but he also didn’t do much to distinguish himself and he dropped out early. A spokeperson explained his position:
http://www.newser.com/story/137590/why-huntsman-is-dropping-out-endorsing-romney.html
You can’t expect him to win if he didn’t have the backing or the money.
Republicans do care about making America better. Our system does not lend itself to quick changes, however and we still get to endure the checks and balances of the process.
I hope you will change your mind when this crazy season is over and the real contest begins.