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| Yes | 45% | 26 votes | Total: 58 votes | |
| No | 55% | 32 votes |
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Add to FavoritesTo begin, a caveat. Nobody in the United States of America should assume that the information that reaches his or her ears should be taken at face value. It's a cynical way to look at things, granted, but from the golden shores of Fox News to the middle of the Daily Kos, the message is biased because the messenger is human.
Our country is at a crossroads right now, and the man sitting at the center of the intersection is by one account or another a Socialist, a secret citizen of Kenya, a Messiah, the smartest man in the universe, the stupidest man in the universe, a Muslim, a Christian, a terrorist, a father, a husband ... a human.
The only commonality we share as a country right now is that we all, individually, think Obama is something. But one thing we know for sure is, if another guy thinks he's something other than the something we think he is, that person is wrong. And sometimes, to top if off, a wingnut wacko who hates our country.
Are conservatives too critical of Obama? When they call him a terrorist, anti-Christ, pretender to the throne ... a resounding 'yes'. But by blindly accepting every pro-Obama, anti-conservative rhetoric that comes down the other side of the turnpike, many liberals are every bit as guilty of taking biased words as objective truth.
The man is the leader of the free world. His actions should be transparent, and we should question him when they aren't. He has taken an oath, accepted a responsibility to guide this country in a time when we most need a leader we can trust. And by all appearances, he carries that mantle boldly, talking the talk with powerful, soothing words. But as American citizens, we also have a responsibility. We must look beyond the talk, and make sure that our politicians are also walking the walk.
Our founding fathers defined this government as "of the people, by the people, for the people." That premise, perhaps above all others put forth in those revolutionary times, has guided us through the massive changes brought about by revolutions, wars, natural disasters and other threats to our homeland. And that premise is under attack today, by powerful interest groups and greedy tycoons desperate to keep the status quo that has put them where they are.
Barack Obama has the potential to be the next Lincoln, Roosevelt or Jefferson. But in order for that to happen, Americans must accept the responsibility to look beyond the easy-to-swallow soundbytes to the substance of the issues we collectively face. We must stop the name-calling and hyperbolizing hysterics and engage in rational conversations.
Obama should have critics. Every politician should. But we cannot allow the loudest critics to be a bunch of pompous talking heads throwing partisan pot shots, like cheap, empty carbohydrates for easy digestion and regurgitation by a lazy populace.
If this country is to meet its potential once more, it will take effort on the part of its citizens to lay off the surface insults and start offering some genuine feedback.
Learn more about this author, Brenda Baird.
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No
Dissent Is Patriotic
Eight years ago today, I loudly stepped out of my family's political box. I so strongly objected to any off-the-cuff military engagement without a full and independent investigation into the real perpetrators of the World Trade Center attack, that to this day, I'm an outsider in my own family.
I also drew the ire of my small town with a one woman protest of the War on Terror and eventually came to expect not only the derision of my peers but also the accusatory whispers of "nut job" behind my back. I do not regret nor am I ashamed of any action that I felt was my duty to perform as a free American and proud grandmother.
I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I am a Libertarian Socialist who has no political power in this country. Therefore, I must gather the courage to stand up whenever I think my country is going in the wrong direction. That I believe, is my right and responsibility in a country For the People and By the People.
As Thomas Jefferson once said, "a democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49". Since the U.S. was intended to be a Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy then it's not only up to me but each and every one of us to make sure we are heard.
Everyone of us - including Republicans - have not only the right but the responsibility to be highly critical of President Obama. Increasingly over the decades, the U.S. presidents have been concentrating more and more power into the Executive Branch, culminating into the nearly dictatorial presidency of George Bush Jr. President Obama has inherited those powers. Has he given any of them back?
The Patriot Act is so unconstitutional even our school children know it. Obama has not repealed it. Homeland Security is the private army of the Executive Branch and even out-trumps the People's Military. Obama has not dismantled it. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are illegal and have no legitimate reason for being waged.
Obama has not ended them and has even extended the wars knowing we can't possible afford them. The illegal wiretapping still goes on today. And, to put even more salt on our wounds, Obama hands trillions of American taxpayer dollars into the same financial institutions who caused the financial crisis, due to their own corrupt business practices.
During the time that President Obama has been in office, what has he given to the average American worker to make us feel as if we are moving forward? Nothing. He is waffling around the public option in health care reform showing he is more beholden to the insurance companies than to the American People.
He sent no representative of the U.S. to the recent meeting of major nuclear capable countries to plan an international disarmament. And, Obama is opening up more military bases in Columbia knowing that UNASUR (the Union of South American States) is not only willing but capable of defending themselves from U.S. imperialism with military force if need be. (Space warfare as well as biologic warfare are also ongoing subjects supported by the Obama administration but are beyond the scope of this article).
Some may ask whether conservatives are too critical of the Obama administration. I ask why liberals are too easy on the man. It may seem as though the conservatives are blaming Obama for everything that's wrong with the country but that's the nature of American mainstream media today. They report the sensation but not much of the background.
Perhaps these same critical conservatives are just fed up with the corrupt system as a whole and since Obama is president, he's just getting the heat. Maybe they didn't protest Bush because they are just now waking from their political slumber. Maybe they were afraid to be cut off from their families as I have been but the level of activism is giving them courage.
Whatever the reason, their voices need to be heard. They are Americans, too, and they have a right as well as a responsibility to let the politicians know when they are not happy with the direction this government is headed.
Learn more about this author, Sandi Crain.
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