An Open Letter to the President

Hey Barrack buddy I'm doing fine but...



Dear Mr. President,

Before I dive straight into what I consider is the despicable practice of armchair quarterbacking I will be upfront and write that I totally understand that the very minute you became president on January 20, 2009 you inherited a massive shit storm of unparalleled proportions. During the previous administration the economy was utterly wrecked, the national deficit doubled, and the federal response to the disaster resulting from Hurricane Katrina was a tragic comedy of errors.

Your predecessor did not stop there, with the country brutally attacked on September 11, 2001, he justifiably went to war targeting the terrorist organization responsible and the government of Afghanistan that was providing a safe haven and assistance. Had Bush left it there things more or less would probably have worked out fine. Instead, like some spoiled brat wanting to show up his eternally disgruntled father he and his ever-ready corporate cronies manufactured a crisis cajoling the American people into going to war with a country that had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks on September 11.

As if driving the United States into an unnecessary, and possibly illegal, war in Iraq was not enough the men and women of the armed forces had to deal with Bush, his Vice President and Secretary of Defense pushing them into conflict done on the cheap with nowhere near enough personnel to secure the country. Because of their mismanagement, this unnecessary war quickly dissolved into a hellish quagmire where tens of thousands of American and Iraqi lives were ruined and hundreds of billions of American taxpayer dollars disappearing into some black hole.

I do not completely blame the Bush Administration, while the 2000 election is “questionable” the American people clearly sent them back to the White House in 2004 and to be honest President Obama many in your own party did absolutely nothing to oppose their behavior. Long story short sir, I understand the problems you are still facing but I have to be honest and say you are dropping the ball on one problem that could cost you the White House in 2012.

Yesterday, “dismal job data” was released showing only 54,000 jobs were created with the unemployment rate ticking back up to 9.1%. Now throw in the real unemployment rate with millions having given up and others making do with underemployment and the genuine percentage of those without a job are pushing 20%, and that may be a gross underestimate.

Listen Barrack, I’m not some right-wing wacko out to bust your chops questioning where you were born, I’m a guy who had openly supported you while living in a blood red county of the chief red state in the nation. The best analogy I can offer is that I truly feel what Daniel had to go through after thrown into a room full of hungry lions. However, the simple fact that I see almost nightly on the television news friendly to you is that your response to the millions of Americans without a job ain’t cutting it sir.

Yeah I know you are the president with duties and responsibilities that keep you jumping, but like it has been mentioned many times you often seen detached and unemotional. Paul Klugman put it best back in March with this column:

So one-sixth of America’s workers — all those who can’t find any job or are stuck with part-time work when they want a full-time job — have, in effect, been abandoned. It might not be so bad if the jobless could expect to find new employment fairly soon. But unemployment has become a trap, one that’s very difficult to escape. There are almost five times as many unemployed workers as there are job openings; the average unemployed worker has been jobless for 37 weeks, a post-World War II record. In short, we’re well on the way to creating a permanent underclass of the jobless. Why doesn’t Washington care?


Now he does not single you out but dude, you are the president and for better or worse you get the blame and like someone else I heard on the news tell you once I am getting very tired defending you. Lately you have been buoyed from knocking off that bastard Bin Laden and having him fed to the fishes, which was a nice touch, but unlike a number of liberal pundits who think your reelection is assured his death will not mean a thing on Election Day in 2012 to the jobless.

Yeah, your hands are tied in many ways but I am just not seeing you or Biden out pressing the flesh and “feeling the pain.” I remember you in London, on yet another overseas trip, blowing the toast to Queen Elizabeth and Vice President Biden is nowhere to be seen.

What would I have you do? For one be screaming at the top of your lungs every time a video camera get pointed your way that the Republicans are playing games with the debt limit and charging at windmills on a whole host of stupid issues. One Republican criticism that I am actually beginning to think is hitting the mark is your love of celebrity, while this comment may be unjustified you may need to skip the a few meetings with athletes and movie stars and go into a few unemployment offices across the United States and talk with the people there.

Mr. President I apologize if this post is off the mark, I know you are a busy man but the collection of Republican misfits vying for your job are weirder than the aliens from the cantina scene in Episode Four of Star Wars. The idea of them representing the party of Lincoln, Teddy, and Ike much less being elected is very depressing. Dude, I've heard it repeated many times you do not like drama, but something off-the-wall, out of the box, and radical is very much needed to address unemployment, unless that is done or something monumental that shows you clearly recognize the situation you will more than likely find yourself out of work in early 2013.