My Letter to President Obama

[cenacle]

October 10, 2009
Portland, Oregon

Dear President Obama,

This is my third letter to you, but first since you’ve been President of these United States. I wrote to you in June 2008 while you were a U.S. Senator from Illinois, campaigning for president—& again last December when you had won the office but not yet been sworn in. So in both instances, I was anticipating, rather than considering, your work as president. I say this as prelude to this letter which does this considering.

First of all, let me congratulate you on being awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. I would say I was surprised without being shocked. It is becoming clearer to me that the world outside the U.S. treasures you in a way Americans, many, do not. Your being about as far way from George W. Bush as imaginably possible alone is enough to give you great honors. Americans, on the other hand, evaluate you too minutely to step back for the larger view. Some fear you will do too much; more fear you will do not enough.

I find myself drawn to sports team analogies when thinking about your style of governance. You clearly recognize two things: you were not made king, & your time in the office is definably finite. Eight years at most. You know the twined political & corporate & media bureaucracies of Washington, D.C. & the nation as a whole predated your election, & will continue should you govern the nation every day from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017. It’s how it is. So the clock is ticking, but it’s early. Time enough to try some things, start accruing points & momentum. Of course, arriving to a playing field bloody & gouged as George W. Bush left it throws a kind of desperate spin on the game right off. So, to advance the sports metaphor, & maybe begin to leave it too, we’re in a playoff series, best-of-seven, once heavily favored, but down three games to one.

Time to panic? No. Not your style. Time to game plan. Call out weaknesses, clarify priorities, figure strategies.

You made promises; now every hand is out. Your opponents are going to crowd the line, play dirty, do whatever. There are always fat cat motherfuckers who are doing nicely, slurping up their share of blood-profits in the soft shadows of quasi-legality. Don’t like a diminished amount of slurp.

Call out weaknesses. The country is mostly broke, angry, sick of war, despising Republicans & none too kinning up to Democrats in truth. You’re fresh blood, an orator, a visionary. Cool & wicked intelligent.

Clarify priorities. Easy. You call out the broken healthcare system as crippling the nation’s economy, & a moral abomination. This focuses the media chatter & is, while a risky issue to tackle first, one whose tricky navigation to success will keep the bar set high, & rack up the points.

What will come after? No doubts here: civil rights legislation. Gay rights. Drug policy revision. Stem cell research. Environmental policy. All important, all wait, but their successes hinge on healthcare. That first big score.

Overseas, the path is oddly clearer. American presidents do more as they will, & can, on the world stage. So: talks with Iran, North Korea, Russia. Talks with Israel & Palestine. Renewal of commitment to diplomacy & the United Nations. I believe you will do a lot more in time, that you’ve had to deal with the great wounded beast this nation is foremost, & you are & you will.

Iraq? We’ll be out in 2012. Afghanistan? You will be stuck with that one for a while because withdrawal is not so simple. But I would estimate that you have no taste for perpetual war & occupation. Nor will you abandon a nation in suffering, in part by the U.S.’s doing. My guess is the answers will come slowly, like with healthcare domestically.

You’ve been in office about ten months. Ten out of a possible 96. What I’ve seen in that time is a man settling into his job while having to perform it at the highest level. You are not a miracle worker yet you have changed a great deal already. Nobody was talking about serious healthcare reform a year ago, as though it would happen any time soon. Diplomatic talks with Iran were inconceivable. A siege mentality had consumed the world, a constant wondering where the lunatic monster head in D.C. would lurchily turn its rabid, blurry red-eyed gaze next. What was left for Bush to fuck up?

He leaves office, you arrive, a society with little patience waits about five minutes before complaining. The heart of what I want to say to you right now is this: you will never bear the power or influence again that you are accumulating now & will have for the next two years or so. Don’t save it. Power does not keep. The fire you’re raising now, the allies you are making, the strategies for working with Congress, handling the media, & so on, it is a conjuration that will go so far, & eventually spend out. Power & fire are both like that.

For awhile you will have to play with practically breathless perfection, & hope or pray the Universe or some equal potency is mostly on your side. So I say this: play it through. Hesitate less often until not at all. There’s a moment in playing the great games—in making the great works of Art—in conceiving the greatest thoughts of science & philosophy & learning—a moment when impediments fall aside & the way opens clear. You are nearing that point, Mister President, Barrack, where trust is all, action is all, you will no longer make the moves, the moves will make you.

That’s what I see now & foresee for you as forthcoming. A lot of work, a lot of wrangling. Just remember, my friend, it’s not that your best fire won’t spend out, it’s how well you wield it while in your hands. Play it artless, play it humble, play it like you can’t lose.

Peace & Love,
RS
Scriptor Press Portland
http://www.scriptorpress.com

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Very well articulated and poignant.

[joeglow3]

2. You had me to "motherfuckers"

Really? In a letter to the President?

[cenacle]

3. Indeed...

That's an interesting question. Your tone implies that you disapprove. I suppose a letter you wrote to him would not include such a word. But let me me try to answer you.

I believe in speaking what I hold at a given moment to be what I understand of the truth. I speak it in my most passionately felt language. When I write to President Obama, I write to him as a man I regard with respect and affection. Not a king, not a superior, but a man I could speak with eye to eye if we were in person. I think of my letters to him, or to anyone else that I like and admire, as the equivalent of conversations I would like to have with them at that moment.

I bow to no person, nor do I wish anyone to do so toward me. I try to treat people with the respect I would wish, and to speak and listen openly. So, yes, I used that word, and the hundreds of other words in that letter, chose each one pointedly, and regret not a single one. I would hope, given the tone and content of the whole letter, that my high regard for President Obama, as a man and as a high office-holder, is clear. I would like to think, given his varied life experiences, and that he is an adult in 21st century America, that if he ever does hold my letter (mailed by post to the White House) in his hand, he would not come away with, simply, "this person used a profanity!" I would like to think that he would read the whole letter and take from it the thoughts of someone who cares very deeply for him, and admires the job he is doing.

I am in his corner, even as I am critical of him as I need to be. I cannot control how you react to my diction, and your opinion is your own to hold of course. I hope I answered your question. If you have additional thoughts on my post, I would be glad to engage them with you.

[Dreamer Tatum]

4. I'm sure all that foaming at the mouth will truly move him

:sarcasm:

Is that letter for him, or for you to build street cred?

[cenacle]

5. Street cred?

Street cred with whom? Does that phrase even mean anything in this context? Foaming at the mouth? This means even less to me. Perhaps you could explain your comments and engage in a discussion rather than tossing off cliches?

[Dreamer Tatum]

6. You wrote a letter to the POTUS using "motherfuckers," "fuck," and so forth

and you posted it here.

I think you were looking for high fives.

Is that clear enough?

[cenacle]

7. Not really...

No, I was not looking for high fives. And I explained my purposes in the above post. Not sure where you are missing *my* point.

Having been at these forums for some years, I know the risk in posting here is sometimes people respond intelligently, and sometimes they're just nasty. This time I got some of each. So it goes.

[joeglow3]

8. It is sad that you confuse respect with bowing to people

Just because you like to drop "fuck" all the time with people, doesn't mean you should with everyone. The fact that you don't say "fuck" to the president doesn't mean you are bowing down to him. You are just showing him respect.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. I bet misspelling his name will look good too.

[Hekate]

10. On the whole, pretty good. Wouldn't it be nice if we could really have a chat with him...nt

[joeglow3]

11. Would you be dropping "fuck" with him in a conversation?

[Hekate]

12. No, and don't try to drag me into your dispute. My comment had to do with someone undertaking to...

... correspond with the President with actual letters, a rather eccentric thing to do in this day and age.

Hekate