President Obama,
I ask you to please consider the pledge to abide by and protect the Constitution that you swore an oath to when you took office. I ask this on behalf of the welfare of my children, their children, and future generations. On occasion, like it or not, you may actually have to listen to a Republican, even though they do not represent your voting bloc. Here is a prime example of Republican ideals that were once fought and ignored by Democrats:
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
That man, the man that wrote those fine and noble words, Abraham Lincoln, a conservative Republican, fought and died for a free United States, unburdened by slavery of any form, a Union of free states that would survive to offer the hope and promise of the American Dream to everyone, regardless of party, class, skin color, or anything else. He promised real change and, through serious effort and great cost to himself and those he loved, delivered it.
You see, good ideas can come from across the aisle, like it or not. The Commander In Chief is not the leader of Democrats or Republicans, but the leader of all of the Citizens of the United States of America. I belong to neither party, but I, like all citizens, have suffered from the bureaucracy that has strangled this nation for many years now. As a citizen, I ask you, I implore you to do what is best for the nation, not for one party or the other, not what makes your popularity polls rise or fall.
I ask you to lead, and to lead a free nation, one hard earned by blood, sweat and toil. This means that you have to listen and be considerate of all parties concerned, not just your own.
I know that what I ask is not easy. You do not have an easy job, but being President of the United States of America is not supposed to be easy. I don’t envy it. But the Office is supposed to be tough for a reason, so that all voices are considered and actually heard, weighed for merit and not for what votes or monetary pledges it can bring you or the party that you represent.
That’s why the forefathers designed a system of checks and balances, which have largely been obliterated by partisan politics, but a system that was supposed to make passing any law stand up to debate and serious contemplation. Simply saying it’s my way or the highway was not in the original plans that the forefathers installed, plans that have lasted for 237 years now.
As I know you are very busy and for very good reason, I will get to the point. I simply ask you to start listening to other people in this country, not just your staff and partisan consultants, when they complain about problematic Universal healthcare plans, economic stimulus packages, and American spying and military policies. Obviously, we, as Americans combined, are in a scary place, historically speaking. The economy is barren, foreign relations are as bad, if not worse, than they were during the Cold War, and American confidence and influence is at an all time low.
These things can be fixed, Mr. President. We can rebuild this country by the sweat of our brow and by the will of the people, as we always have in the past. By the righteousness and ideals of freedom and liberty, if applied to all and not a few. But that can only happen when you, our leader, actually LISTEN to voices that disagree with you, and consider that at least some of their opinions might be valid, and that their views are not entirely useless because they don’t align with the party you represent.
That is what great patriots like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Paine, and Martin Luther King Jr. fought, suffered, and bled for, so that not only their own, but all voices would be heard from. They didn’t fight for Republicans or Democrats or lobbyists or special interests or anything else; they fought for the American people.
That is what I thought you were fighting for when you ascended to office.
It’s time that you accept and implement the change that you promised. If you do, the American people will follow, and we will all be better off for it. It wasn’t easy for Lincoln to implement change; he had to fight his OWN party, not just the other party, and it won’t be easy for the next real patriot to do so. Implementing change in a Democratic society is supposed to be hard for good reason, so that all voices and views are considered and heard, so that a consensus and the right path for all can be determined.
So I ask you, please stand up for my children, and all other American children, and don’t mire them in debt and policies that will bury them before they ever get a real start. Don’t throw the final few shovelfuls of dirt over the American Dream in the name of partisan politics. Open real debate over The Affordable Care Act, the budget, sequestration, Tarp, auditing the Fed, and other serious issues that affect us now and will affect us for generations to come.
Like it or not, you swore an oath to LISTEN to ALL United States citizens. Please uphold that oath.
Sincerely,
Don Eminizer
About the Author
Don Eminizer is a freelance writer with twenty years of writing, editing, and proofreading experience. Currently he mediates a writer’s workshop called Litmocracy, and writes freelance articles, columns, books and films.
