To Whom It May Concern,
This past week we received a troubling email. Supposedly written by a 4th grade teacher from Missouri, this letter detailed her unhappiness with the current administration. We thought about this letter for several days, and, unable to ease our minds, decided to respond.
A small amount of research revealed that the letter was actually written by one Franklin T. Bell of Maryland, who appears to be a political blogger. At some point, Ms. Lyday (the Missouri schoolteacher) forwarded the email, and her name became erroneously attached to it in place of Mr. Bell's. We have taken the liberty of restoring the original author's name and contact information on the letter. This matter can be further researched here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/ihavehadit.asp
We have decided, in the interests of time, to respond to each individual point in the original letter rather than draft a wider defense of the Obama administration.
April 27, 2009
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington , DC 20500
Mr. Obama:
I have had it with you and your administration, sir. Your conduct on your recent trip overseas has convinced me that you are not an adequate representative of the United States of America collectively or of me personally.
You are so obsessed with appeasing the Europeans and the Muslim world that you have abdicated the responsibilities of the President of the United States of America . You are responsible to the citizens of the United States .
The letter opens with an accusation that President Obama has failed in his duty to be responsible first and foremost to the United States and its citizens. We are unsure what the author means by "appeasing the Europeans and the Muslim world". It has always been the duty of a head of state to travel and maintain diplomatic relations with other nations. The US certainly has a long history of this, from Benjamin Franklin's courting of the French during the War of Independence to the recent Bush administrations' efforts at creating a coalition of nations to institute regime change in Iraq.
You are not responsible to the peoples of any other country on earth. I personally resent that you go around the world apologizing for the United States telling Europeans that we are arrogant and do not care
about their status in the world.
This statement seems to be a reference to Obama's speech in Strasbourg, France on April 3rd of this year. As with all things, Mr. Obama's speech takes on a different tone when looked at in context. A transcript of the speech taken from CBS News (1) shows that the comment in question occurred during a section of the speech in which he discussed the sad state of the historically strong friendship between America and its European Allies.
"It's always harder to forge true partnerships and sturdy alliances than to act alone, or to wait for the action of somebody else. It's more difficult to break down walls of division than to simply allow our differences to build and our resentments to fester. So we must be honest with ourselves. In recent years we've allowed our Alliance to drift. I know that there have been honest disagreements over policy, but we also know that there's something more that has crept into our relationship. In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive."
It is true, he refers to America's arrogance. And if we were to stop listening there, that would be all we took away from this portion of the speech. It is good, then, that we don't, and are able to see that he immediately follows up with this:
"But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what's bad.
On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not wise. They do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot confront the challenges of this century alone, but that Europe cannot confront them without America."
Now we can see what was said in context. Obama used a simple rhetorical device. By allowing that America is not perfect, he is immediately able to follow up with a comment about the spreading anti-Americanism in Europe. An anti-Americanism he refers to as insidious. He is not apologizing for any supposed American arrogance, but is speaking to Europe as a friend. He is acknowledging the failings on both sides of the issue, and he uses stronger words detailing the European failings, rather than the American failings.
Sir, what do you think the First World War and the Second World War were all about if not the consideration of the peoples of Europe ? Are you brain dead? What do you think the Marshall Plan was all about? Do you not understand or know the history of the 20th century? Where do you get off telling a Muslim country that the United States does not consider itself a Christian country? Have you not read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States ? This country was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and the principles governing this country, at least until you came along, come directly from this
heritage. Do you not understand this?
This paragraph is the most troubling. It is a point of great controversy in modern America whether or not the US is a Christian nation. We have neither the time nor the inclination to have this debate out in this letter, but it is a subject we cannot ignore completely. We are both Americans, born and raised in the United States. We consider ourselves patriots. We both have a strong love for this nation, and consider ourselves to be ethical, morally sound people. And yet, neither of us are Christian. It is a wound inflicted almost daily for us to be told that our lack of Christianity somehow makes us less American.
We, and countless others, are of the opinion that this nation was not necessarily founded as a Christian nation. And it seems that the Senate of 5th Congress of the United States and President John Adams agreed with us. After all, in 1797, the Senate ratified unanimously and President Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli (2), which ended the United States' first major military action in the world.
Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli:
Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
Shall we now accuse John Adams, one of our most celebrated Founding Fathers, of attempting to appease the Muslim world, and apologize for America? He signed a treaty with a Muslim nation which states that the US is not a Christian nation, and went on to say that the US has no particular grudge against Islam and would not wage war on the Muslim world for pretexts arising from religious differences.
Obama just said these things in an interview. President Adams and the Senate of the 5th Congress put them in a legally binding treaty. A treaty which was published in major newspapers of the time in its entirety and was generally approved of by the populace of the nation.
There is a great deal of controversy on this matter. A great deal of scholarship has been published on the subject on both sides, and we strongly encourage anyone interested in looking into this issue further to seek it out and build their own informed opinion.
Your bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia is an affront to all Americans. Our President does not bow down to anyone, let alone the king of Saudi Arabia . You don't show Great Britain , our best and one of our oldest allies, the respect they deserve yet you bow down to the king of Saudi Arabia . How dare you, sir! How dare you!
As to this point, from the research we have done so far, everything indicates that President Obama should not bow to a foreign head of state. If he did bow, it was improper. However, upon repeated viewings of the video of the incident, we are still unsure whether or not he did in fact bow at all. Obama bends as he shakes the hand of the king, and his left hand is brushing his pant leg. If it was a bow, it was surely the most disrespectful bow we have ever seen. We have included a link to the video (3) at the end of our letter so that you may decide for yourself.
A search for "Obama bowing" on the web pages of Fox News, The Associated Press, Reuters, and The Washington Post found no relevant results. The AP and Reuters sites suggested outside links dealing with the matter, mostly to far left and far right political blogs. Those two sites also provided multiple links to Youtube videos of the incident. A search on CNN.com did find results, as it seems a CNN reporter asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the incident. The White House states that Obama was not bowing. Once again, we urge you to view the video and decide for yourself.
The author cites no specific incident or incidents of disrespect towards Great Britain, and we were unable to find any obvious examples to which he could have been referring.
You can't find the time to visit the graves of our greatest generation because you don't want to offend the Germans but make time to visit a mosque in Turkey . You offended our dead and every veteran when you give the Germans more respect than the people who saved the German people from themselves. What's the matter with you?
Upon a cursory search, we found a CNN reporter's personal account of a visit with Obama to the American Cemetery in Normandy on the anniversary of D-Day (4) on June 6th of this year. Reminding us of our Greatest Generation near the beaches of Normandy on the anniversary of D-Day seems to be a wonderful and appropriate way of honoring them, and we don't think he ought to be faulted for waiting a short time to do so on the anniversary of their sacrifice.
Turkey is a nation composed mostly of Islamic people. Turkey is also one of the least extremist Islamic nations. Obama, while not a Catholic, visited the Cathedral of Strasbourg during the very visit which occasioned the speech we quoted from earlier, and the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague four days later on the same tour. This is not an insult to anybody. Making an effort to reach out to the Muslims who do not hate us is the best way to begin showing the Muslims who do hate us that we are not what they think we are. That we are not a nation who should be hated, but a nation that should be admired.
I am convinced that you and the members of your administration have the historical and intellectual depth of a mud puddle and should be ashamed of yourselves, all of you. You are so self-righteously offended by the big bankers and the American automobile manufacturers yet do nothing about the real thieves in this situation, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Frank, Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelic, the Fannie Mae bonuses, and the Freddie Mac bonuses. What do you intend to do about them? Anything? I seriously doubt it.
We do not believe that many of the people receiving obscene bonuses deserve them, but for a president to jump in and say that they suddenly can't have them anymore because he doesn't think they deserve them is socialist at best. President Obama is bound by law and can't just change a situation he doesn't like with a wave of his hand. The suggestion that he should do something about these people's undeserved bonuses sounds curiously like redistribution of wealth.
What about the U.S. House members passing out $9.1 million in bonuses to their staff members -- on top of the $2.5 million in automatic pay raises that lawmakers gave themselves? I understand the average House aide got a 17% bonus. I took a 5% cut in my pay to save jobs with my employer.
The executive and legislative branches of government are separate. President Obama has and should have nothing to do with pay raises and bonuses for the House. We agree that many of the members of the House on both sides of the aisle are corrupt, greedy, and self-serving. They are the kind of people who would rejoice in granting dubious bonuses and raises to themselves and their staffs. Yet, the system of checks and balances of the Constitution specifically keeps the executive out of the business of the legislative, and for good reason. We suggest writing to your congressional representatives about your concerns over congressional staff pay; we certainly plan to.
As to the author's alleged 5% pay cut: we would urge all readers to keep in mind that this is not an underpaid elementary school teacher talking, but a far right political blogger.
You haven't said anything about that. Who authorized that? I surely didn't! Executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be receiving $210 million in bonuses over an eighteen-month period, that's $45 million more than the AIG bonuses. In fact, Fannie and Freddie executives have already been awarded $51 million -- not a bad take. Who authorized that and why haven't you expressed your outrage at this group who are largely responsible for the economic mess we have right now.
Once again, President Obama does not have and should not have the power to control pay rates and bonuses for anyone in Congress, working for Congress, or employed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or any other corporation. The man who did have the power to control bonuses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who has defended them, is James B. Lockhart, appointed by former President Bush as the companies' federal regulator.
That aside, the numbers themselves have been taken badly out of context. It is not "Executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac" that will be receiving bonuses, but 7,600 Fannie and Freddie employees and one Freddie executive. Under the plan, 213 employees will receive bonuses of over $100,000 this year and the lone executive will receive $1.3 million, with the remainder going to the other 7,386, at an average of about $25,000 each over 18 months. These bonuses aren't unwarranted performance bonuses to a handful of greedy executives as the author seems to imply, but what are called "retention bonuses", a standard method used by corporations in every industry to keep skilled and experienced employees from leaving for other jobs during difficult times. In this case, they also serve as partial compensation for employees whose holdings of company stock became nearly worthless when the government seized the companies, and as inducement to stay and work the longer hours being required of them as the companies are used to implement federal programs designed to improve the mortgage market and the economy. Given the dire consequences for our economy if the most essential 7,600 employees of these companies, who own or guarantee half of the nations mortgages and manage $5 trillion in loans, were to flee for other jobs, and given that President Obama is bound by law from directly interceding, and given that the conservative regulator who did have control over these companies defended the bonuses as necessary, perhaps the author ought to direct his outrage elsewhere.
I resent that you take me and my fellow citizens as brain-dead and not caring about what you idiots do. We are watching what you are doing and we are getting increasingly fed up with all of you. I also want you to know that I personally find just about everything you do and say to be offensive to every one of my sensibilities. I promise you that I will work tirelessly to see that you do not get a chance to spend two terms destroying my beautiful country.
Sincerely,
Every Real American
P.S. I rarely ask that emails be 'passed around'.............
PLEASE SEND THIS TO YOUR EMAIL LIST......it's past time for all
Americans to wake up!
Franklin T. Bell, CFM, RPA, FMA
7239 Swan Point Way
Columbia, MD 21045
410-381-6861
We do not discourage discussion or even dissent. In fact, these things are a necessary and welcome exercise of our freedom as American citizens and essential to the democratic process. It is our right and our duty as American citizens to have these discussions, and even to disagree at times. We do, however, feel that factual accuracy is an important part of these discussions. In the interest of a reasoned and informed discussion, we would challenge anyone who forwarded the original to also forward this rebuttal.
Sincerely,
Two Very Real Americans
Andrea Martin and Korvas Black
1 - Transcript: Obama's Strasbourg Remarks - CBS News - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/03/politics/100days/worldaffairs/main4918137.shtml
2 - Treaty of Tripoli - http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/treaty_tripoli.html
3 - Video of Obama and Saudi King - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38
4 - Ed Henry: Normandy Visit Brings Chills 65 Years Later - http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/08/henry.normandy/index.html
