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To: The Hon. Barack Hussein Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20002
Dear Mr. President:
First off, let me offer to you my warmest congratulations on your election to the Presidency and making history in the process. While you have not broken the last of the barriers to the fullness of the American promise that "any kid can grow up to be President"—that won't happen until a homosexual, a pagan or atheist, a non-white/black person and/or a woman are elected among your successors—you have shattered an important one, and possibly the most painful, destructive one still lingering in this nation founded nearly three centuries ago in the original sin of slavery. For that alone, you deserve the thanks of a grateful nation and an honored place in history for all eternity.
I have never been prouder to be an American or a Democrat than I am this week. I thrilled with millions of my fellow Americans, on the National Mall in Washington before you, with hundreds of millions more in cities and towns all across the nation, and with others around the world to see you and your lovely wife, Michelle, and your beautiful daughters launched as our newest First Family. But that was yesterday; today is your first full day on the job, and I have some things I must ask of you.
I understand your expressed wish, now that you have won and are actually in office, to unite rather than divide Americans; and I do consider you far better equipped to manage this than the last man who made such a promise, namely your immediate predecessor. I fully realize you will need to work with both liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, to accomplish the truly great things you wish to and solve the truly frightening problems and dangers we now face as a nation. I also know you will have battles to fight, and must husband your strength and clout and the tremendous goodwill you now enjoy, both here and abroad, in order to win any of them; and must therefore pick and choose these battles to some extent.
But there is compromise, and then there is capitulation; there is bargaining, and then there is betrayal. I leap to remind you, sir, that you ran as the candidate of the Democratic Party, on our party's platform. Your campaign made much of the themes of "change" and "hope," which I and many others took to mean change from the destructive policies of your predecessor and his party, and hope that America can be remade back into the light the rest of the world looks to. You made several promises in that regard during your campaign; and we in what former national committee chair Howard Dean called "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" are putting you on notice as of today that, while we wish you nothing but good will and high hopes for your success, we nonetheless fully intend to hold you to those promises. To name just a few:
( What you must do now...and what you owe those of us who put you in office. )
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20002
Dear Mr. President:
First off, let me offer to you my warmest congratulations on your election to the Presidency and making history in the process. While you have not broken the last of the barriers to the fullness of the American promise that "any kid can grow up to be President"—that won't happen until a homosexual, a pagan or atheist, a non-white/black person and/or a woman are elected among your successors—you have shattered an important one, and possibly the most painful, destructive one still lingering in this nation founded nearly three centuries ago in the original sin of slavery. For that alone, you deserve the thanks of a grateful nation and an honored place in history for all eternity.
I have never been prouder to be an American or a Democrat than I am this week. I thrilled with millions of my fellow Americans, on the National Mall in Washington before you, with hundreds of millions more in cities and towns all across the nation, and with others around the world to see you and your lovely wife, Michelle, and your beautiful daughters launched as our newest First Family. But that was yesterday; today is your first full day on the job, and I have some things I must ask of you.
I understand your expressed wish, now that you have won and are actually in office, to unite rather than divide Americans; and I do consider you far better equipped to manage this than the last man who made such a promise, namely your immediate predecessor. I fully realize you will need to work with both liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, to accomplish the truly great things you wish to and solve the truly frightening problems and dangers we now face as a nation. I also know you will have battles to fight, and must husband your strength and clout and the tremendous goodwill you now enjoy, both here and abroad, in order to win any of them; and must therefore pick and choose these battles to some extent.
But there is compromise, and then there is capitulation; there is bargaining, and then there is betrayal. I leap to remind you, sir, that you ran as the candidate of the Democratic Party, on our party's platform. Your campaign made much of the themes of "change" and "hope," which I and many others took to mean change from the destructive policies of your predecessor and his party, and hope that America can be remade back into the light the rest of the world looks to. You made several promises in that regard during your campaign; and we in what former national committee chair Howard Dean called "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" are putting you on notice as of today that, while we wish you nothing but good will and high hopes for your success, we nonetheless fully intend to hold you to those promises. To name just a few:
( What you must do now...and what you owe those of us who put you in office. )