Peachy's Ramblings & Muses

I still believe in Pres. Obama’s overall vision for this country. He has laid out long-term plans that are difficult to relate to for some, and I understand that. It’s always been the way of the world to be leery of structural change, thinking that the details of these changes means a change to an original high-purpose mission. In this case, I am referring to the Constitution because I know there are some who are genuinely concerned that the very principles this country was founded on are being threatened.

While there’s much complaining about the possibility as mentioned above, I also think people tend to forget (or maybe didn’t know) that what we’re seeing is the Constitution working as it should. Major change should not be easy, and this precious document was designed to make sure that it never is. We need at least a 2-party system, with checks and balances, and freedom of each side to fight for what’s believed to be best for this country.

However, with this president, there seems to have developed a culture club of sorts whose mission is to destroy Pres. Obama’s very essence, even if it means fabricating lies out of whole cloth. It is sad to watch. I’ve been around a long time and I don’t ever recall the magnitude of hate that I’m seeing now. Such hate even at the expense of raw truth.

Having said this though, it’s also my obligation to give everyone my honest assessment of Pres. Obama.  In many ways, I’m disappointed, but not surprised. Pres. Obama’s leadership “style” was suspect to me even while he was campaigning. I was afraid his focus on “team empowerment” and consensus building might overshadow his beautiful vision to the point of appearing weak as a leader. As it turns out, this has happened. Although there is fire in his speeches and he’s simply lovely to listen to, I’m not sensing a fire in his desire to communicate passionately what his vision means to us. Oh yes, he has told us over and over, but it is falling on deaf ears because his leadership techniques don’t seem to reflect what I know to be his good soul.

On the political front, I am also disappointed that Pres. Obama is resorting to knee-jerk reactions in order to appease the public. In other words, it appears that he has become a populist. Worse than that though, he also appears to be using his legislative accomplishments as a checklist by which to be measured. This is dangerous because it smacks of completing a “to do” list just for the sake of completing the list.

Pres. Obama has been under siege from many fronts – no doubt about it. He is trying to swim through rough seas as best he can. But we expect more from our President, especially Pres. Obama. He needs to slice through this rough water and stick to his original principles.

A most recent example of the President seeming to cater to a populist and politically advantageous position is his sending National Guard Troops to the Arizona-Mexico border. The facts are that Arizona’s illegal immigration rate has slowed to roughly half of what it was before. There aren’t as many jobs as there once was so there’s less reason for anyone to sneak over the border looking for work. The fact is that illegal immigrants pay far more in taxes than they do in services received. The fact is that 40% (maybe more) of illegal immigrants hold white collar jobs. This is not a call 0n my part to condone illegal immigration. Rather it is a call to objectively look at the realities, and base solutions on facts rather than “gut feelings.”

This is also not a condemnation of Pres. Obama in any way. I support him as strongly as ever, but I believe he, too, should be assessed in an objective way.

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