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The open-letter below is currently one of the top three "recced" diaries on
Daily Kos, the leading liberal Democratic website (and also one of the most
visited political websites on the internet). "Recced" means mostly that people
agree with it, or at least strongly urge others to read it. The writer is not
some random person at Daily Kos, but a long-time contributor, and as such, the
letter (and the response of the site's readers to it) is even more significant.
For what it's worth...
Dear President Obama,
As someone who has been active in Democratic politics for decades and as
someone who supported and worked to elect you both to the Senate and the
presidency, I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I have been by your
performance.
>From your selection of staff (Rahm Emanuel), and cabinet members and advisors
>(Geithner, Summers, et.al.), you have chosen to surround yourself with those
>with deep histories of favoring corporations and Wall Street over the average
>citizen.
The result is now clear to see: a year of work on your claimed biggest
priority, health care reform, going down the drain. How sad and embarrassing,
not to mention devastating, to those millions needing health care and to the
Democratic Party and our hopes for 2010.
Your lack of leadership on the health care effort came back to bite you in a
very big way. And your lack of urgent response to a banking and financial
system run amok -- a system that has consistently favored big money interests
over those of the average citizen -- may prove to be the undoing of both you
and the party.
Your rhetoric today on breaking up the big banks may be too little, too late.
You surrounded yourself with Wall Street sycophants who, apparently, insulated
you from the anger that has been bubbling up from the streets for months.
It makes me sad to have to write this letter to you, but my disappointment is
profound.
I hope you begin to understand the real pain people are experiencing in our
country. And I hope you begin to see that the average citizen needs a voice --
and an advocate -- in our government.
The big money interests have increasingly dominated the policy machinery of
government, much to the detriment of our democracy (made only worse by today's
Supreme Court decision granting additional campaign money powers to
corporations).
And instead of stepping up and stopping this malignant spread, you and your
team have embraced and even encouraged it.
I guess I'm not only sad and disappointed, I'm disgusted.
Count me out of your corner for 2012. If I had wanted more corporate-centric
Clintonism, I would have worked to elect Hillary.
Perhaps you'll change. But I'm not holding my breath...
- Bob Johnson
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