An Open Letter to President Obama

As a staunch conservative who (mostly) votes for the Republican Party, I would like to personally thank you. You see, Mr. Obama, you and members of your party have done more to advance conservatism in this country than anyone since Ronald Reagan, and for that I am genuinely grateful.

While it is true that this advance comes at a horrible price in the form of more enslavement to the federal government, outrageous tax and deficit burdens, a crippled economy, an incredibly naïve and dangerous change in our policies toward Israel, a weakened military and kowtowing to nations which create terrorists, it is equally true that nothing great comes without sacrifice. (Although I must admit that so much sacrifice in such little time is becoming quite wearisome.)

What you have accomplished for conservatism in such a short time, President Obama, is that you have allowed the term radical to now be applied to liberalism. Liberals (or progressives, if you insist) have been successfully labeled by conservatives as un-patriotic for decades, due to their pet programs and agendas which dictate such commentary. After all, liberals indicate through their actions that they care much more for the rest of the world than they do America, so the un-patriotic name stuck easily.

But radical never did, or at least not since the 60's when radical became hip. No, radical was only applied to people like Robert Bork. Bork was eminently qualified to become a member of the Supreme Court, yet because he simply held conservative views of the law and the Constitution, he was borked from the court. He was a radical, a nut, a fringe element of our society, and for reasons unknown, Reagan never went to bat for him and liberals now had the great title of "radical" to add to "racist".

For years following the Bork debacle, conservatives fought back and flung about the term radical, but it never hit home. How can liberals, the people with a heart of gold, the only ones who feel our pain and fight for the little guy, be radical? How can ending centuries of racism, sexism and homophobia be radical? How can saving the environment be fringe? For liberals, it's all about the trees, the working man and, if the mother says so this time, the children as well.

Mr. Obama, you have changed all of that! With an ideological zeal unseen in the White House since the days of Jimmy Carter and rivaling that of FDR, you have become the poster child for radical. Despite the warnings of close associations with genuine, true radicals, Americans elected you president. (And they say simple-minded slogans don't work!) Conservatives warned "watch out! This guy is radical!", but radical only applied to conservatives. Not any more.

Now when I tell someone that this Democrat or that liberal holds a world view that is radical in its approach, I simply have to say "you know, like Obama." They then just nod and respond with an "oooh."

Many of my conservative friends question my sanity for giving you praise, but what else can I do? You continue with global warming, wishing to impose economy crushing cap-and-tax, even when the entire warming issue has been exposed as a political scam. You push more and more socialist government programs even as Americans watch socialist Europe sink faster than their 401k. You hire tax cheats to run the IRS then tell us that the IRS will need 16,000 more workers to make sure all of us are buying government mandated health insurance. Again, thank you for helping the conservative movement.

Mr. Obama, are you aware that your policies have enabled one of the most powerful grass-roots movement in American history? True, liberals spin the Tea Party as a group of racist rednecks who hate anyone not white, but you and your closest advisors know the truth: The Tea Party is real and in being such, is to be feared and attacked. If racists made up large portions of the Tea Party, then their own words would make them despicable. After all, there is no need to denounce the KKK or Aryan Nation, for their own actions dismiss them as true hate-filled bigots. Tea Party members hate your actions, President Obama, not the color of your skin.

I suppose I should end this letter here, for I have said enough. However, your actions and agendas will continue to haunt America for the rest of your single term.