Wednesday, July 7, 2010

A Letter to the White House

Dear Mr. President,

I am no one. I don't have any outstanding accomplishments to tell you that I am qualified to judge your work. Come November, 2010, I am but one vote against the corruption long sustained in Washington. Yes, I am angry. Yes, I sent you tea wrappers. Several times. There would have been some lovely tea in them for you to drink, but you're office was kind enough to say they'd refuse the tea, based on the Whitehouse's policy on food for gifts. Thank you for allowing me to make my point and keep the tea.

Unlike most conservatives, I had a moment after the election where I thought change might be good. I thought, perhaps, you might take steps to legalize gay marriage, or step back the patriot act a bit. I thought, maybe, I'm jumping the gun in my dislike of the guy. Maybe he can patch up the holes in NCLB. Maybe a fresh start is what we need.

Well, you did bring change. You had the largest inauguration in the history of the US to celebrate your ascension to the highest position of power in the world. That should have been a warning to the American people, but it wasn't. Then, you served sixty dollar a pound steaks at the expense of taxpayers, many of whom are struggling to afford food at all. It has become apparent that you think the American people have elected you to enjoy a four year party and golf outing.

And yet, you seem to enjoy an odd kind of teflon status. Your predecessor received word of Katrina, while reading a book to grade school children. He paused, finished the book, and went to work. That pause made history. It was several minutes at best, and yet it was proof positive to millions of Americans that George Bush didn't care.

Now, oil is streaming into the gulf of Mexico. The environment that you claimed to care about is flooding with oil. Birds and turtles are dying. Tar balls are washing up on the shores of Texas. Other countries have been offering their help since moments after the story broke. And you went golfing.

Your administration has blocked reporters from photographing the damage faced by fellow Americans, and stopped Lousiana from cleaning oil soaked waters. I don't understand how this is not a bigger deal for you. If your predecessor had done this, PETA would have been protesting the White House in droves. The environmental groups would have been screaming for days. And yet, it appears that American interest in the oil spill is waning. Your rule is working. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

I am writing this, not so much to you, Mr. President, but in the hopes I can remind even a few fellow Americans of your callous lack of regard for the environment you claim to care so much about. As a manager I never would have take a vacation while my restaurant was burning down, and yet that it exactly what you have done, not once, but several times.

This morning, I read that sand is being artificially moved to beaches to appease tourists and cover oil on the beach. Your administration is much more concerned with conceiling the damage than remedying it.

I don't know how you sleep at night. And I don't particularly care. I do hope, that you stop waiting for the EPA to give you a go ahead, admit that you don't know what you are doing, and let one of the other countries step in and fix this mess.

Mr. President, you can point the finger at BP, even though your administration failed to inspect the apparatus several times in the last year, and we will agree with you. However, it is now YOUR JOB to fix this mess. To me, this is your Katrina. You have failed the American people, the environment, and those little turtles you claim to care so much about.

Please, step aside and let someone who knows what they are doing fix this mess. You don't.

Thank you for your time,
Heather

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