Dear President Obama...

Commentary January 21, 2010 at 05:43 AM
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I know you are probably getting tons of advice from all corners about what you should do now in the aftermath of the upset election of Scott Brown, a Republican, as a senator in the bluest of states, Massachusetts.

You, and we, are hearing from the punditocracy that it was a repudiation of your overreaching agenda, of health care reform and of all those other ultra-liberal causes youve espoused since being sworn in exactly a year ago.

Democrats are indulging in paroxysms of hand wringing (the Chicken Little thing), while Republicans are ecstatic beyond belief (What me worry?). Meanwhile, the country is waiting to see what youre going to do.

Here, sir, is my advice: Take off the gloves.

Let us see what you really believe in instead of leaving us to fathom what it is that we think you believe in. And when youve shown us what you believe inthen fight for it.

Enough with the bipartisanship already! If it isnt obvious by now that youre not going to get any support from across the aislefor pretty much anythingthen something is wrong with your receptor. We know you have the fire in the belly and know how to fight. You overcame long odds to become president after all.

But because you havent really fought for anything all out since taking office, and have mainly given half-hearted support to your initiatives, the opposition has been able to get away with its unending chorus of No!

Case in point: Health care reform. Ill be damned if I knowand I cover it!where you stand on the issue. And thats the problem, sir. For someone so articulate, you have a way of fuzzying up, if not hiding altogether, what your goals are and what it is you really want to accomplish.

You and I know that No is not going to solve any of the problems that face this country. In the language of the schoolyard, youve got to make your opponents put up or shut up. And if they cant or dont put up, then start pounding them for doing nothing. Harry Truman did it. Bill Clinton did it. You can do it.

You were elected in large part to change things, if I might remind you of your mantra, sir.

Its true you inherited the biggest mess of any president since FDR. But messes make the man, if you get my drift.

A couple of other things: I dont think youve got a grip on the amount of rage thats out there. People want jobs and security for their homes and families. They want to see a sense of fair treatment prevail. They want to know that the countrys not giving away the bankto the banks!

If you dont get on the right side of this rage, youre going to be a one-term president.

So, take on the big banks, which are the focus of so much of the rage. But dont propose measures as a bureaucrat. And, sir, calling a bevy of bank CEOs fat cat bankers one time is just not going to cut it. As in anything else, practice makes perfect. So, once more with feeling!

If the country is still limping along a year from now, with unemployment still sky high and people feeling youre not doing much about it, therell be nobody to blame but yourself.

You can look at the Massachusetts election as a reason to run for cover or as a wake-up call. I sincerely hope you decide to do the latter. But remember one thing about wake-up calls, sir. They dont do any good unless you get out of bed.

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