President Obama, last night you asked if "in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy." You emphasized the urgency of the problem by repeatedly demanding that Congress pass your jobs bill "right away." And yet, despite the gravity of the situation, you turned your whole address into a sideshow in that circus by acknowledging that even the economy must take a back seat to America's top priority -- rescheduling your speech so as not to interfere with the NFL season opener. Now that is certainly change we can believe in.
How are we, the concerned citizens of Americas, supposed to take you, or any other politician, seriously when you insist on pandering to the lowest common denominator in this way? I'd really like to talk about the disastrous economy, and finding you a job ... oh, the game's on? Sorry, I'll just come back later when you're not so busy. Thank you Mr. President for going out of your way to avoid alienating millions of football fans. I realize that a lot of them still vote. But instead of offending them, you decided to go after those of us who actually believe that “the only thing we can do restore prosperity is just dismantle government, refund everyone’s money, let everyone write their own rules, and tell everyone they’re on their own,” dismissing us as outside, and opposed to, the "mainstream." Well, please forgive us for being a minority, Mr. President.
Your campaign seemed to be about new ideas, as I recall. But I must admit I haven't seen many. In these trying times, we could probably use all the new ideas we can find, regardless of where they come from. Perhaps instead of marginalizing us, and ridiculing the notion that Americans are perfectly capable of solving their own problems without the government's help, you could have the audacity to acknowledge that dismantling the government, while not mainstream, is an idea that we could all get behind to some extent. I certainly hope so.