The President of The United States of America is a position that commands respect no matter which party you belong to. An issue now at the forefront of national politics calls for an important distinction to be made: The president of this country and the man who holds that title are two separate entities. While both the position and the man must always be shown respect, this does not preclude either from criticism.
Is it patriotic to criticize the president? Without a doubt. Not only is it acceptable to criticize the president, it is every citizen’s duty to act as a watchdog for the American way of life and to speak up when the executive branch takes action against those beliefs and ideals. Some find it difficult to justify voicing their criticisms because of the enormous respect they feel for the office of the president. While this reluctance to stand up is fueled by good intentions, we all know where that road leads.
Of course it is patriotic to criticize the president, in fact, it’s unpatriotic not to. The United States embraces democracy. When no one stands up, the government reigns down. When opposing beliefs go unspoken, the voice of government is louder than ever. When the people forget that the power to choose is theirs, the result is a scared country with no recourse against domination. The result is a dictatorship. Under these conditions, the reach of government swells and widens and eventually the people have no way of taming the beast. Inactions such as these are the catalysts for the growth and strengthening of communist regimes and totalitarian-type control.
Come Jan. 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama will officially become president. Popular or not, black or not, when he takes that oath he should understand what it means. Equality is the absence of color and he gets no pass for being the nation’s first black president. His color does not make him better nor ill equipped to lead this country. His mistakes must be known and he must be held accountable for all he does. He must be held to the highest standard of any and all Americans, as he will be our supreme representative to the world.
When Obama tries to shut down free speech through his support of the deliberately mistitled Fairness Doctrine, he must be harshly critiqued. If he succeeds, it will mean the death of talk radio. The liberals would love to see that media outlet go down in flames since it exists now as a predominantly conservative platform. Conservatives will then be forced to turn to the internet, though it may not survive much longer, as their sole truth source since prime-time news programming has been bought up by liberals and no longer embraces objectivity. For some reasons, newspapers aren’t even trusted as viable information sources for some, and especially by conservatives, contributing to the basis for their nickname, “the liberal media.”
When Obama begins building his Civilian National Security Force, he must be harshly critiqued. It’s not exactly clear just what his exact plans are concerning this thinly veiled plan to increase control, but the public is turned into government enforcers it’s time to put your foot down . . . on the side of the people. Remember that the government exists to serve the people, not vice versa. This role reversal will not only destroy the nation city by city, home by home, it will further bankrupt an already tapped-out economy. Obama declared The Force will be funded equally as is the military in the same speech he said we can no longer rely on our military to achieve national security objectives. Just what might those objectives be, Mr. Obama?
Always question your leaders. Question them without yielding until you get answers. This is not an act of treason or disrespect, and this is especially not an act of racism as some may mistakenly assume when the questions are directed at Obama. This is an act of love for one’s country. It is a performance of patriotic and civic duty. It is an act of defense and protection to which every citizen is entitled and no leader is immune. The public must stay aware of Obama’s ability to dangerously misuse his power. He has been elected to act as a spokesperson for the will of the people and we all must do what we can to ensure that everything he does while in office reflects that. This is no time for optimistic blind trust. While Obama is revered for having a force for good and change and so-called hope behind him, there are also, many unanswered questions. In this case, what we don’t know might just hurt us.