President Obama's Tribulations

I HOPE HE SUCCEEDS!

At last we have a President of unusual intelligence, who has the needs of the citizens of this country on his mind and heart, who is calling upon our citizens to think and act on behalf of others, and who has laid his neck on the block for the sake of the nation from the day he took office.

And from that very day, the Republicans have instituted blocks and blames for all the trouble we’re in. I am listening right now to Republican representatives from southern states which lack good education, and therefore are more inclined to vote by what they are told rather than by what their minds have learned. The men now speaking, typically, are appealing to those who are less educated, earn less, and can think only about their own needs as opposed to others who also have needs. The chief emphasis is to arouse resentment on the part of each taxpayer for any money given to any other person or
program as being from THAT PARTICULAR TAXPAYER’S PERSONAL TAXES. (Wanna guess how many of these upright and outraged citizens are Christians?)

None of these people, including the men now speaking, are likely to know much about the economic stresses which are smothering this nation (as well as the rest of the world. ) And so they are encouraged to think only about the government as attacking them personally, rather than of the depth of the problems the whole world shares, and which we can only approach by and for all of the world together.

Most of us have trouble doing our weekly chores. How can we possibly pass the sentence of failure upon a man who has been in office for less than two months, who has inherited two wars (for which few of the men and women in this country have offered
their lives, including those in the previous White House)), and a huge debt to support those wars, the cost of which has yet to be revealed? !

But have a heart, you have two great pillars of comfort and succor for support—Lou Dobbs and Rush Limbaugh! And each has his own technique for adding to his army of hate for anyone who does not share his view. Dobbs uses the technique of the Smile, which seeks your support when he has said something scathing about the object of his ire.
He has a second technique, which is including both Republicans and Democrats on his panels. He uses the people (think Democrat) with whom he disagrees as foils, whom he either talks over when they are speaking, or cuts them short by announcing that the program has run out of time.

Rush Limbaugh is the other end of the bookends. I have seldom seen him, but got a very good look last week when he was rousing the Republican Political Action Committee to revolt against the new American president who had been elected by a huge majority of the American people. Limbaugh, I assume, believes that he, rather than the American majority, should determine who should lead this country when that president has been in office less than two months. Limbaugh might be protected by the right of free speech, but his preliminary assessment of Pres. Obama smacks of unwarranted defamation, and lacks any intellectual or political depth to support his famous rages.


Limbaugh’s only tools, by the way, consist almost entirely of a very loud voice, an extremely angry face, and a call to disloyalty without tryout or trial. Although he denied any lust for the throne, his approach was one of pure hatred, without any search for discussion or debate with any view but his own. And the appalling result is that he is the kind of person who can whip up the fury of a crowd which does not remember why it was whipped up. The saddest response was the response by the new leader of the Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Steele, who had not only attained a high office, but also one which was high in the Republican Party, which is not known for welcoming blacks to its open arms. Not only that, but Chairman Steele at first had the courage to refer to Limbaugh as an entertainer whose schtick was anger and hate. Sadly, when Limbaugh dressed him down, Mr. Steele folded-- a very bad blow, especially considering his color, for one more man who was on his way, for his party, as well as for his race.

Consider the merits of President Obama, on the other hand. Not only do his words and his plans speak of merit, meaning, and the relations of and between all nations of the world, but his wonderful smile and his beautiful eyes assure you of his personal strength and integrity and draw you right in. He is a man of intellect and education, as well as supreme courage, both for his venture and for his personal safety.

I’m 86 years old, and I am having a very tough time trying to think of anyone in this century who can compare.

Go, Obama, and God be with you even if I don’t believe in Him!

3/6/09

The Socialist Atheist