Dear Mr. President,
Let me begin by congratulating you on your impending reelection. It was a long, tough race, but you came through victorious.
Four years ago, I wrote you as a sophomore in high school. You probably never read my letter, but therein I implored you to lead the country as a person, not a politician. Today, I must admit that I am disappointed.
Your supporters may cite what you’ve done so far – indeed, some even made a website about it. You repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. You ended the war in Iraq. You reformed healthcare as we know it. You championed women’s rights.
Mr. President, these are all good things. The problem is that they are not good enough: You played politics when you could have really changed things.
Indeed, for your first two years in office, you had a Democratic majority in Congress. However, it took you more than three years of your presidency to come out in favor of gay marriage; there are still troops stationed in Iraq; your health care act did not go far enough; and women in your own administration are still paid less than men on average.
Furthermore, Guantanamo Bay is still open, despite your promise to close it upon entering office. Civilians are still being killed by drone strikes throughout the Middle East.
At least one of those killed was an American child. American citizens may be indefinitely detained without knowing why, on the pretext of terrorist activity.
You maintain a warlike posture toward Iran’s nuclear program regardless of the facts indicating it is for civilian purposes. You have provided almost no leadership on climate change.
The country is as divided as ever. Right now there are droves of people lining up to vote for your opponent simply because they don’t believe you are doing what is best for the nation.
This only represents a lack of leadership; hardly anyone can disagree with policies of equal rights, peace and health care for all who need it. However, you have been unable to convince almost half of the population that you have what it takes to right the course of the United States.
Luckily, you don’t have to worry about popular opinion from now on. You are entering the final four years of your political career. After that, you will never have to run in an election ever again.
There is no excuse, Mr. President, to play politics. There is no excuse to do what is popular over what is right. There is no excuse to pander to the regressive politics that some may espouse.
I am not ashamed to say I voted for a more progressive candidate than you in this election. However, at least half of the country did put their faith in you to do what is good for all people.
We have made our choice, Mr. President: We still have hope, and we still want change. There is no excuse, Mr. President, to fail us now.
William Hupp is a College sophomore from Little Rock, Ark.
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
