2007-08-24

 

Letter to the next President of the United States

1776, Character, Big Government, and Small Businesses

In 1776 there was no “big government.” Big government was King George and Parliament in London. The citizens of the then thirteen colonies (what would become the United States) decided that they didn’t want that and took up arms to make their idea known to all. The wanted their own destiny, not one dictated by a group of men thousands of miles across the Atlantic, on a river, the Thames, that most of them would never see.

Now “big government” is in Washington D.C., and we can’t have a military uprising to rid ourselves of it. Like it or not most of big government is here to stay. And while we will never go back to that simplistic time, we must strive to grasp hold of some of the things that it stood for.

Character. The other day I heard one of the Democratic Presidential candidates say that: “Character doesn’t really matter that much as long as he or she can get the job done.” I am so disgusted with this statement and this thought process. It does matter!

Character is the unseen fabric that is the DNA that holds great entities, companies and countries alike, together.

Have we learned not one thing from history? This country can not afford to continue having the Richard Nixons, Bill Clintons, Spiro Agnews, John F. Kennedys, Lyndon Johnsons, and George W. Bushs at its helm. Moral character must be brought back to the fore. If a president can’t keep his zipper closed in the Oval Office for four or eight years, I don’t want him in the White House. If you are going to be a racist, I have no place for you on Pennsylvania Avenue. If you are going to commit tax fraud, and/or practice corrupt favoritism, please find something else to do. If you are going to pay people to commit illegal activities, go to Russia. If you are going to live in your own little world, why run the rest of ours? Check your paranoia and insecurities at the door. Yes, everyone has insecurities, but for God’s shake, you are president now.

I want a religious and spiritual person in the White House, but I don’t want them telling anyone else how they are are going to live. Pray every night, and let us know that you do, but don’t tell, or worse yet demand, that anyone else to do it.

I never heard of Harry S. Truman screwing an intern. I never heard of Ronald Reagan bugging the Democratic headquarters (although he did know about the arms-for-hostages deal; he signed off on it quickly without knowing the real significance of it). There is something in being humble, but strong.

I want CHARACTER back in the White House. I want a President that I can be proud of. I want a man of integrity. But, I also want a man that can get the job done.

I have the utmost respect for Jimmy Carter as a person, I think he is a very good man, but I just don’t think he came to Presidency prepared to get the job done. Where have all the Harry S. Trumans gone? I want a Theodore Roosevelt, a Franklin D. Roosevelt. I want a Truman, a Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Reagan. I want the moral character of John Adams, the pride and fortitude of George Washington, and the intellect of Thomas Jefferson (not asking for much am I?).

I want a strong man. One who can put his own weaknesses aside, like being in a wheel chair, and run the country, and do what is right. I don’t know if all of Reagans economic plans will be the best thing for 2050. But at least he knew what he wanted to do, thought it was best, did it morally, kept focused, and wasn’t distracted by his dick, or ego, or insecurity. He stayed focused on the tasks at hand, defeat Communism in Russia, get his economic planned passed, lower taxes, have a strong military and intelligence community. And do them all in a moral, what is best for the country way. Right or wrong, do it, but by God don’t bring moral disgrace or stick your head in the sand while doing it.

Lyndon B. Johnson was a great politician. Bill Clinton is a great politician. Richard Nixon had a super grasp on foreign affairs. John F. Kennedy had a pulse on the rights of minorities, George W. Bush (43) is convicted to his plan. But, all of these men disgust me in other ways.

I want democracy spread around the world too, but there is more than one way to do it. It would be nice to be asked first. Forcing democracy on another country is akin to rape. You don’t care what the person is saying while you are forcing yourself on them, they say “stop,” they say “no,” but yet you plow ahead, deaf to any of it.

As far as George H. W. Bush (41) goes, like Jimmy Carter, I think he is a good person, had a very good grasp on foreign affairs, and understood most of the economic plans that we need. But, one thing keeps him from moving into my Roosevelts-Truman-Eisenhower-Reagan list: “Read my lips, no new taxes.” Either don’t say it, or don’t do it. That one phrase will forever stay with me. I think he is a good person, but just didn’t quite have what I want in a president. Not strong enough on some issues. It is like he scored 88, got a “B,” and needed a 90 to get an “A,” and move in the top tier of what I want in a president. The rule is: “NEVER SAY NEVER.”

Please put character back in the White House. I want a man that is more moral than most, has more morality than I do. People who say that “character” doesn’t matter in that job, just don’t get it. I might have thought the same thing when I was 20, but my study of history, of Nixon, of Johnson, of Kennedy, of Clinton, has changed all that. It is a distraction! But, more than that it is that DNA that binds the Untied States together. You can’t be president and say: “Don’t do like I do, do like I say.” You have to “do the right thing.” You have to rise above the common man. At least for those four, or eight years, you have to check a part of you at the door when you report to work for that job.

Character DOES MATTER. Lack of it reverberates through the country and touches all of the people.

Back to 1776:

What was it like in 1776? The men that made this country were farmers, lawyers, doctors, brewers, craftsmen, they ran newspapers. They owned farm land, they owned ships, they helped the little guy. The number one focus that I want to see again, that I haven’t heard is: the small businessperson.

The small businessperson is this country. I have not heard any candidate speak to the importance of the small businessperson. They guy who serves his country in the military and then starts a small business. Where did the ExxonMobils, Microsofts, Amgens, Johnson & Johnsons, General Electrics, Bank of Americas, come from? At some point in time they were small businesses.

The small business employs people, they give opportunity to both the owner and the worker to make their lives better. I want a candidate who will take no money from the fortune 1000, and from their lobby groups. I want a candidate who will support, stand up for, and be for, the small businessperson. I am a free trader. I am for corporate profits. But, at some point when ExxonMobil gets to over USD$10,000,000,000.00 in quarterly profits, maybe any amount over that must be directed to be spent on solar, wind, and other renewable resources. And maybe they must fund other small businesses in the process.

No, I hate taxes. I love tax cuts. But, I want a candidate who will tax the rich a little more, close the loopholes, and raise the minimum amount to file to $50,000.00 a year. I want a candidate who understands, that yes you have a right to get rich, but at some point you must be willing to pay more into that system that gave you this gift.

I want a candidate that will remember what it was like in 1776 and start talking about getting back to some of that. We don’t want big government. We do want to focus on, and support, the small businessperson. I want a candidate to speak up, and outline his or her plan, and make a commitment for the small businessperson. I hear none of the candidates talking about this. Of course healthcare is important. Of course Iraq is important. But, if we got focused again on the small businessperson, maybe the country would right itself. Not be so concerned about what the boards of the Fortune 500 and their powerful lobbies think.

In 1776 we needed firearms to hunt, eat, and sustain life. That meant rifles and shotguns. That did NOT mean automatic weapons and handguns. I am all for a business coming up with a product and being able to sell that product in the market place. But, there is at some point, when that product might not be in the best interest of the common good. Automatic weapons and handguns have fallen in to this position. They are not viable products for the common good of the nation as a whole.

And don't give me that: "I'm protecting the Second Amendment" crap. Amendments were made to be broken, made to re-written. When it was written there were no handguns (except single-shot, flint-lock, cap-&-ball), automatic weapons, and assault riflies. The guns changed and so can the amendment. Do we still have slaves? We have changed other amendments to make them fit the changes in society as the world has changed. We can change this one too!

Please bring back character to this nation. Please bring back the focus to the small businessperson. Please focus on doing the right thing and doing what is best for the country, not only now, but fifty and a hundred years from now. Stop being so selfish. Check your ego at the door. Learn the difference between comfort and greed. Restore the faith, of not only this nations people, but also the rest of the world’s people to believe we can make all of their lives just a little bit better.

Don’t say that there is WMD when there is not. Don’t say you had nothing to do with, or you didn't have any knowledge of (at the least), illegal wiretapping, if you did. Don’t go before congress and lie, or make up things. Don’t tell other people to hide the truth or not to testify. Don’t do things just because you believe them to be true. Get the facts, dot the “i’s” and cross the “t’s.” Don’t lie to the American people. Don’t lie to me. But by God, above all, don’t lie to yourself and the office of the presidency.

Remember what is important. And, what you think is important might not be that important to the country, and to the world. What you think is important might not be important fifty years from now. What the country, and the world, thinks is important, you may not think so, but it is. Find out and mean it.

Getting off of oil and coal IS important, NOW.
Getting killed in Iraq is not as important. I would much rather have our soldiers in Sudan than in Iraq. Or better still in Haiti.

Making sure every single citizen has access to affordable health care IS important, NOW.
Making sure every single citizen has access to Gravina Island is NOT.

Listening to a business owner who employs 50 people IS important, NOW.
Listening to a lobby group who employs 50 people is not as important.

Having a very strong military and using it wisely IS important.
Shoving it down someone’s throat is not.

Praying to God IS important.
Telling, or demanding, that other people do so is NOT.

CHARACTER DOES MATTER!

Think about these things:

1) 1776 and the men who formed this country, who they were, why they did it
2) BIG Government and making it: “big Government”
3) Small Businesses, the risk they take and jobs they create
4) And above all CHARACTER



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Disclosures: I am not a small businessperson. I am unemployed. I have never made more that $41,000.00 in a year. I do not have any health care coverage. I do own ExxonMobil stock, but we are talking about 40 shares.

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