Response to Open "You scare me" Letter to Pres. Obama

A friend recently forwarded an essay (really an open letter to Pres. Barack Obama)  from Lou Pritchett, who has been an executive with Proctor & Gamble. The email included a link to Snopes.com, which reported that this was a legitimate essay.

I'll comment on the essay's points:

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

 You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive 
 Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no 
 visible signs of support.

The news has given accounts of Obama's life. Perhaps more could be written, but if the writer, Lou Pritchett, doesn't know anything, it's because he's chosen not to learn. For example, Obama worked as a community organizer before he got enough money to go to Harvard Law School. He and Michelle both had sizable loans to pay off after they graduated  She eventually got a good job as an executive with a hospital. I suspect that they had help, probably from the Daley machine, in getting where they got. But they also worked hard.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth 
 growing up in America and culturally you are not an American

Obama spent several years in Indonesia as a young child, but most of his life he has lived in the U.S. He mainly lived with his grandparents, who were white, and lived their lives in the U.S. So he is culturally American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

Most presidents have not, either. Bush the younger was involved in companies, but never the manager.

 

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus   don't understand it at its core. That is true about other presidents (such as Clinton), as well as most of Congress. George W. Bush was technically in the military, but his family kept him from actually being in harm's way.    You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others. Oh? Give examples. And also give examples where previous presidents didn't blame others! This is one of many attacks, by Pritchett and by others, where they make vague accusations against Obama, with no proof. These people hope to get citizens upset by such generalizations. it's like saying "he's against apple pie" (without knowing it to be so), expecting knee-jerk reactions because "every American" likes apple pie. You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned   yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to   publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see  America fail.. Yes, it's odd that he hasn't stayed away from, and denounced, the extremist from the 60s, and his minister for twenty years. However, Rev. Wright isn't wanting to see America fail, he's just more than fed up with the way most white Americans treat most blacks.    You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America '   crowd and deliver this message abroad.   I know he's done this several times. That's wrong, as he did it; but it's good to have humility and acknowledge our faults, too, don't you think? People in other countries are fed up with our "Americans always know best, and we'll tell you what to do."    You scare me because you want to change America to a European style   country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.   I completely agree with that!  You scare me because you want to replace our health care system  with a government controlled one. Yup, I agree with the writer here. But we should be scared of all the Democrats that have wanted this, not just Obama!  You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly  capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves. It should be obvious to everyone that our reserves are no longer vast, and that the acquisition, transportation, and use of oil and gas cause unacceptable pollution (air and rivers, as well as the Gulf oil spill and other spills). Thus we need wind mills, solar power, and every other kind of energy. Obama isn't "preferring" wind mills, which are far from ready to provide enough power, but he is prudent to push development of all kinds of energy.  You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose  that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of  living in the world. Yup. But Obama isn't alone in this. Obama and other liberal Democrats see government as the answer to every problem. The "American capitalist goose" has provided a lot of good, but also a lot of problems. America has many people who have fallen out of the middle class, or never been able to rise that high, because of some people wanting ever more power and wealth. Some of these people contribute to both Democrats and Republicans, most of whom vote accordingly.  You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics  against certain banks and corporations. That scares me, too -- but, again, it's Obama and the Democrats!    You scare me because your own political party shrinks from  challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals. The Democrats aren't shrinking from challenging him -- they're in it with him!  You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider  opposing points of view from intelligent people. Oh, really? Give examples. But certainly the Democrats have shown this, by having committee meetings that exclude Republican congresspeople.  You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both  omnipotent and omniscient. Come on, now! Give even one example of where Obama has shown this! And certainly no president thinks of himself as "omnipotent" with even his own party not kowtowing, much less leaders in other governments!  You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything  you do. It's certainly true that the media isn't doing much in the way of investigative journalism these days. They also gave both Clinton and George W. free passes, when there were many reasons to investigate thoroughly. There are several reasons for these free passes, among them 1) there are only five media groups in the world, now. The owners don't have any reason to rock the boat, since it's easier to donate to Congresscritters. Moreover, their involvement might come to light with thorough investigations. 2) the Internet provides a lot of information; alas, it's not all accurate.  You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the  Limbaugh's, Hannity's, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing  conservative points of view. Again, give examples!  You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing. Once more: give examples! I can see it with the health-care changes, where government will control choices. But give more examples, including where he has been against governing.  Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will  probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years. I'm concerned about this, too! But only because the Democrats will support him. One bright spot is that some of the experts predict that enough Democrats will lose in the House races to evict Pelosi. Therefore many liberal Democrat dreams of taking away liberties will be thwarted -- at least for two years!  This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it.  Big surprise. Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over  500,000 hits. One reason could be how very long it is. Every newspaper has limited space, and allows only a few hundred words for a letter. But NYT could have printed it as a guest editorial on the Op Ed page, if asked. Keep it going. All that is necessary for evil to succeed  is that good men do nothing. It's happening right now.* And not just with this essay. We all have to be vigilant, and loud in protest!