Change You Can Believe In

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I wanted to believe that President Obama was a unifier. He promised in his campaign that he would be, but so far there has been no attempt to improve relations between conservatives and liberals. The two parties are more polarized than ever before and Obama’s apparent smugness has only fueled the tension. Obama has been handed golden opportunities to reach across the aisle, instead there has only been spitting from one side to the other. For example, the numerous shots taken by the current administration against the former one does more to divide our nation than unite it. As intelligent as Obama is, is he really so clueless not to realize this? Then there were those infamous tea parties. Thousands of concerned Americans gathered to voice their objections to bail outs, stimulus packages and big government spending. Obama remarked that he was unaware of any such tea parties. I found his response to be rather arrogant, as if he were telling a segment of America that the only people who matter are those who agree with him.

The annual White House Correspondents Dinner presented yet another opportunity for the two sides to come together. If there was any reaching, however, it was for the jugular. Comedienne Wanda Sykes expressed her desire to see Rush Limbaugh’s kidney fail. Was she joking? I’m not sure. Either way, her comment wasn’t funny. Honestly, I don’t know which offended me more: her malicious remarks or the president’s expressed approval and laughter. For the record, I’m not a Limbaugh fan. I don’t listen to him nor do I care about what he has to say. But millions of Americans do. In light of that fact, these mean spirited comments will only increase hostility between the left and the right. That is no laughing matter, Mr. President.

To his credit, Obama did put a stop to releasing the “interrogations gone wild” photos. Initially, he was willing to put them out there but wisely reconsidered after further thought (or counsel). Good call. This did a lot more than prevent an all out war between liberals and conservatives. It potentially saved scores of American troops from terrorists who might have retaliated. Most likely, Obama reconsidered to prevent political suicide. Whatever his motives, I applaud him on this one.

There are things Obama can do to improve relations between the two sides, real simple things. For starters, he could call a staff meeting and have a discussion on diplomacy, not foreign but domestic. I’d especially like to see Hillary and Biden control their tongues. They could use a few lessons on tact. The only thing they unite with their verbal attacks is their own feet and mouths. Whatever their gripe is with the former administration, they need to take the high road. Also, if Obama truly wants to be a unifier, he needs to use his influence over the media. He could host his own dinner at the White House and not invite Wanda. Perhaps he could persuade Fox and NBC to sign a peace treaty. They could continue with their biases, but an agreement must be made to end all hate talk. As unrealistic as it sounds, Obama would be hailed a national hero if he declared a cease fire between the news networks. Imagine the big three “O’s” hugging each other on CNN: Obama, O’Reilly and Oberman. I’d watch that on Pay per View!

I have one final suggestion for our president. When the camera is rolling, I would advise that he not laugh at hate talk. Americans on both sides would respect him more if he hung his head in shame. Unless President Obama takes steps in uniting the American people there will never be change we can believe in.