Dear President Obama,
Today was a difficult day; a day of sickness over the tax cut horror you have perpetrated on the American people. It kept going through my mind: "we, the little people, counted on you and you have forsaken us. You bastard."
But then later on today I was talking to a friend. She said that her father told her more and more people are sleeping in their cars in Walmart parking lots and it suddenly dawned on me. I realized what your plan is! The ultra rich are the key, aren't they?! I mean, the government can't very well go out to all the Walmart parking lots, right?! So, like Santa's little helpers, the millionaire and billionaire beneficiaries of your tax cut plan are going to sneak about at night, leaving $100 bills under windshield wipers for the homeless who are sleeping in their cars. Right?! Oh, you are clever not to let on what you plan. I have to commend you for the fabulous idea to help the nation's neediest at their hour of greatest need.
Hopefully, one of these days, we'll all be able to return the favor to you.
Sincerely,
Belle
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Dear President Obama,
I know I haven't been writing lately, but it's not because I have changed my opinion about your performance. It's just that I was getting tired of repeating myself. Really, if you weren't affecting my life and the lives of my family with your lack of spinal fortitude, I would much rather not even think about how pathetic your performance is. And that begs the question: don't you get tired of being a spineless wimp? Don't you disgust yourself? Or do you still think that it's everyone else that doesn't get it?
So that brings us to today. Do I understand right? Jobless benefits and tax cuts for the very rich? WTF?!?!? Remember that deficit? How is the country going to pay for the jobless benefits without the extra tax revenue? Too bad Nancy Pelosi isn't president.
There seems to be a fundamental piece of your education missing, so perhaps I should fill you in a little. I've been talking to the kids about this, too, so you can just come along for the lesson, if you will. In the US, we have system of checks and balances in more ways than one. Yes, there's the official governmental version, but that's not the only one there is, nor is it the most important. You know how it is with the US public, right? Or maybe not. There's the far right and the far left. They kind of balance one another out. Then there's the rest of the population in what is basically the middle. There's a cyclical thing going on here, and the pendulum of power swings right and left. Have you ever watched a grandfather clock? Have you ever noticed that the pendulum never sits in the middle while the clock is running? This is an important concept. You need to play your part to keep the pendulum moving properly. You aren't supposed to sit in the middle, you are supposed to swing your part of the pendulum to the left because you, Mr. Obama, are a Democrat. By definition, a Democrat is more liberal than a Republican. This is a good thing. You are supposed to fight the good fight for the people who aren't represented by the Republicans. That, in case you are wondering, is basically everyone in the US except the ultra rich. This does not mean that you will always win. On the contrary, the idea is to fight for too much, knowing all the while that you won't win it all. At the end of the day, at the end of the fight, you will get some portion of it, and that's the only way that most of the population will end up with enough. The Republicans understand this. They always fight the good fight for corporate greed, the ultra rich and the rape of the planet. You, on the other hand, are supposed to take the opposite tack. If you do that, the pendulum will swing back and forth and stay fairly well averaged in the center. If, instead, you try to reach a "compromise" with the Republicans by giving them something right away, you pull the pendulum off too far to the right and you advance the Republican cause. What the Republicans are demanding is not reasonable, and they know it. But you just keep on giving it up to them when you should be countering with your own set of unreasonable demands. It's called "negotiation" and business people do it all the time. And really? I have to say that if I were sitting there as a Republican right now I'd be thinking "hmmmmm, that was easy. I should have demanded more. Next time I will."
I know this is making no difference whatsoever, but I had to say it. Unfortunately, you, President Obama, strike me as a megalomaniac who thinks he is always right and it's everyone else's problem. You are glib, patronizing, and dismissive, and you have a ridiculously high opinion of yourself.
In the end, if there's one concept that you should take away, it's this one: you cannot be all things to all people. Know who you are and what your role is, and play it. Understand where you want to end up and then fight for a goal that is unreasonably past that. You won't get to your loftier goal, but you will get to where you want and need to be. Be sure enough of yourself and your goal that you can stand it when people say that you've gone too far. Aim for the sun and you will reach the moon. As Michelangelo said: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving the mark.”
Sincerely,
Belle
I know I haven't been writing lately, but it's not because I have changed my opinion about your performance. It's just that I was getting tired of repeating myself. Really, if you weren't affecting my life and the lives of my family with your lack of spinal fortitude, I would much rather not even think about how pathetic your performance is. And that begs the question: don't you get tired of being a spineless wimp? Don't you disgust yourself? Or do you still think that it's everyone else that doesn't get it?
So that brings us to today. Do I understand right? Jobless benefits and tax cuts for the very rich? WTF?!?!? Remember that deficit? How is the country going to pay for the jobless benefits without the extra tax revenue? Too bad Nancy Pelosi isn't president.
There seems to be a fundamental piece of your education missing, so perhaps I should fill you in a little. I've been talking to the kids about this, too, so you can just come along for the lesson, if you will. In the US, we have system of checks and balances in more ways than one. Yes, there's the official governmental version, but that's not the only one there is, nor is it the most important. You know how it is with the US public, right? Or maybe not. There's the far right and the far left. They kind of balance one another out. Then there's the rest of the population in what is basically the middle. There's a cyclical thing going on here, and the pendulum of power swings right and left. Have you ever watched a grandfather clock? Have you ever noticed that the pendulum never sits in the middle while the clock is running? This is an important concept. You need to play your part to keep the pendulum moving properly. You aren't supposed to sit in the middle, you are supposed to swing your part of the pendulum to the left because you, Mr. Obama, are a Democrat. By definition, a Democrat is more liberal than a Republican. This is a good thing. You are supposed to fight the good fight for the people who aren't represented by the Republicans. That, in case you are wondering, is basically everyone in the US except the ultra rich. This does not mean that you will always win. On the contrary, the idea is to fight for too much, knowing all the while that you won't win it all. At the end of the day, at the end of the fight, you will get some portion of it, and that's the only way that most of the population will end up with enough. The Republicans understand this. They always fight the good fight for corporate greed, the ultra rich and the rape of the planet. You, on the other hand, are supposed to take the opposite tack. If you do that, the pendulum will swing back and forth and stay fairly well averaged in the center. If, instead, you try to reach a "compromise" with the Republicans by giving them something right away, you pull the pendulum off too far to the right and you advance the Republican cause. What the Republicans are demanding is not reasonable, and they know it. But you just keep on giving it up to them when you should be countering with your own set of unreasonable demands. It's called "negotiation" and business people do it all the time. And really? I have to say that if I were sitting there as a Republican right now I'd be thinking "hmmmmm, that was easy. I should have demanded more. Next time I will."
I know this is making no difference whatsoever, but I had to say it. Unfortunately, you, President Obama, strike me as a megalomaniac who thinks he is always right and it's everyone else's problem. You are glib, patronizing, and dismissive, and you have a ridiculously high opinion of yourself.
In the end, if there's one concept that you should take away, it's this one: you cannot be all things to all people. Know who you are and what your role is, and play it. Understand where you want to end up and then fight for a goal that is unreasonably past that. You won't get to your loftier goal, but you will get to where you want and need to be. Be sure enough of yourself and your goal that you can stand it when people say that you've gone too far. Aim for the sun and you will reach the moon. As Michelangelo said: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving the mark.”
Sincerely,
Belle
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