Dear President Obama,
I have watched and listened now through many months of
campaigning and now three nationally broadcast debates. Aside from your rather listless performance
in the first debate, everything else has pretty much been a draw. I would like to comment on a trend in your
campaign however; a trend that culminated in what I must say was a less than
impressive performance in the final debate.
You spoke at the Al Smith dinner just last week of having great personal
respect for Mr. Romney, yet everything about your tone and bearing last night
was condescending, and bordered on the sort of social bullying behavior you
might expect to see in a junior high classroom.
Several of your responses to your opponent reflected
outright disrespect and belittling of a reasoned opinion that does not agree
with your own. This was done at a debate
over foreign policy, which is really all about diplomacy and management of
relationships with individuals whose interests often diverge from your
own. Mr. Romney underscored his willingness
to work with others, yet you sat there and derided differing opinions as if
they were stupid. Rather than taking the opportunity to educate others as to
why you believe your opinions and policies are better, you chose to imply that
your opponent, and his supporters, are dumb.
I am certain this shored up your base; as certain as I am
that you hurt yourself with those who were still on the fence. You derided Mr. Romney for thinking that the
military is like playing a game of battleship, yet it is you who appeared last
night to be thinking about the military as a game. Your essential assertion that aircraft
carriers are the be-all, end-all shows a complete lack of understanding of
warfare. The United States has not
fought a complex military engagement since World War II, and while carriers are
a great asset in such situations, they are also the largest targets on the
water. With the development of new
missile technologies in China meant to neutralize aircraft carriers, it is
necessary to have sufficient craft at sea to support and protect our large
assets.
You seem, Mr. President, to have bought into the notion that
air superiority is all that is needed.
From your reliance on aircraft carriers and your derision of bayonets
underscores a lack of understanding that wars are still won on the ground. It’s not the pilot screaming overhead who
stabilizes the situation, but the men and women on the ground. They are the ones who secure U.S. objectives
in war time; they are the ones in the sights of the enemy; they are the ones
who must constantly be on the watch for IEDs or opponents wearing friendly
garb. And sometimes in the heat of
battle, the only thing left between you and your opponent might be the bayonet
you so openly derided last night.
Mr. President, in foreign policy and in domestic
communications, we need a leader who is gracious but strong; someone who can
explain issues of import without putting down those who are listening. We need a leader who can, as Teddy Roosevelt
said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
That is not what I saw on television last night, sir. What I saw was a man who sunk to petty jabs
and, frankly, unbecoming theatrics to counter arguments he doesn’t have answers
for. It’s not the tenor or image
projected by your campaign in recent weeks, either. Now Mr. President, I voted for your four
years ago. I was one of your biggest
supporters early on; but it’s become increasingly clear that you have forgotten
how this relationship works. That is to
say, you work for us, not the other way around.
We’ve had this conversation before; it’s in your file. I’m afraid you might want to clean out your
desk, sir. Your interests and the
interests of the United States of America are no longer the same. You’re fired, Mr. President.
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