Today, you will be inaugurated. You’ll be sworn in as The President of the United States of America. The title communicates only partially the colossal responsibility which will be entrusted in you for the next four years. Your understanding of the job will always be between yourself and the Almighty. As for us, mortals, we will only be able to judge you using a primitive set of symptoms, cause and effect mechanisms, stereotypes, prejudices, and superstitions.
Billions of eyes are watching you from every corner of this troubled planet, wishing, hoping, that your conduct will spell a change for them. For their troubled lives.
Of course, you have a gargantuan set of troubles you have inherited from your predecessor. The collapsing global economy, driven for years by greed and dishonesty. You will have to fix that. No grace period for that. You also have two wars in progress with American soldiers on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. A few more potential wars, which may go really sour if steps aren’t taken to prevent them. A nuclear Iran must deprive any American citizen of sleep. Countries with a significant fundamental religious fanatics who happen to already have nuclear bombs, should come on your schedule with high priority.
Don’t mistake terrible actions taken with malice. At least not until you uncover the entire story. Sometimes, as you well know, perfectly good citizens perform despicable acts while being attacked. It’s well covered in the American Constitution, the Hague Conventions and the Geneva Convention. Only a fool would suggest that the American, British, Australian and many others’ militaries and air-forces performed crimes of war during the Second World War. Although, if you look at it carefully, you will find, and that’s a fact, that civilian sites were indeed hit. Of course, it’s a completely different story, when civilian sites are targeted. You must make the distinction between the stated will to destroy another country, another people, and the will to live which must be accompanied with self defense. You are a brilliant guy, I’m sure that you not only understand that, but you will work to remove the threat that makes the self defense action necessary and mandatory. Not only in our part of the world, but everywhere.
Unlike your predecessor, please don’t take it for granted that democracy is good for all peoples. Some peoples will elect the worst possible candidates just to spite you. They will end up hurting themselves. Like cutting ones nose to spite their face… Some peoples are perfectly fine without the equal opportunity to vote. Don’t force it. If it comes naturally, work with it, but don’t shove democracy down peoples’ throats.
Most importantly: don’t let the media drive your agenda. The reason is simple. They have their own. And it will not necessarily intersect with yours. From what I’m seeing in the media they will do as follows. They will pick an area and will state that your handling of it is anywhere between unprofessional, to reckless. If you try to please them and take action, you will quickly find that the action is disastrous. They will start pounding you and your administration, questioning your good judgement, bad-mouthing you every chance they have. If you take it back you become spineless, if you move forward nonetheless, you are stubborn. You can’t win this battle.
The only way to win this battle is to do what you think is right. No surveys, no CNN. Just you, and your few trusted counsellors.
Barack Obama, I welcome you to the White House. Your predecessor was kind of lukewarm. We expect much more from you. Good luck to you, and good luck to us. God Bless America.
Latest Comments