A Letter to President Obama.

Your memorial speech at the University of Arizona regarding the horrific shootings that occurred in Tucson was eloquent. We needed to hear about those people whose lives were lost and the heroism of those who survived this senseless tragedy. Your message of healing and dedicating ourselves to becoming a better country to honor the memory of those that were killed and of those who courageously tried to help them was extraordinary. Moreover, this time you made no apology for America as you had done in the past; particularly, in your Summit of the Americas Tour. Peggy Noonan, in her Wall Street Journal opinion column, crystallized your message beautifully stating: “We are not a nation of victims; we are a nation in which people work together doing brave things and achieving great outcomes.” You said, “Heroism is here, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, all around us, just waiting to be summoned — as it was on Saturday morning.” Not only was this statement “worthy of a president” as Peggy Noonan mentioned, your entire speech was presidential worthy.

While I believed your words were heartfelt, I could not help thinking about Maya Angelou who said, during a recent Oprah Winfrey interview, “If you teach, you have to live your teaching”. This is what leadership is all about. It is not enough just to be articulate. You have to be believable which is established through consistent actions. In other words, you have to walk the walk. Rex Ryan, the Jets coach, has become controversial these days because of his oratory. Nevertheless, one of the Jet’s players said he is effective because his actions reflect his stated beliefs.

I am hopeful that in the second half of your term your actions will reflect your stated beliefs. You rose to office on a tsunami of oratory that change was coming to Washington. It was not going to be politics as usual. Unfortunately, right up to this memorial service, it has been politics as usual. Your rhetoric, political tactics and sometimes strident commentary has made you a divisive force in this country. For example, you repeated the mantra that Republicans were the “party of no” and had not offered any constructive suggestions for your healthcare initiative. When some of the republicans challenged this statement at the healthcare summit, you had to repudiate your assertion. Nevertheless, the political damage was already done since your retraction was not widely disseminated by the press.

Moreover, the passage of your healthcare initiative was an ugly display of politics with backroom deals and a major violation of your campaign promise not to use the nuclear option, also known as reconciliation. This is an extreme measure rarely used in passing legislation that circumvents the 60-vote majority in the Senate that would be needed to overcome a filibuster. You were quoted many times as saying if you were elected President you would make sure there was more than a simple majority supporting any significant piece of legislation before it would get your approval.

When the Arizona law on immigration was passed, you grossly misrepresented that law by saying that now any family in Arizona could be stopped even while buying ice cream and asked for identification. This law is very specific. The police have to establish probable cause that a law had been violated before asking anyone about their immigration status. In addition, you tried to gain further political curry with Hispanics when you said, before the mid-term elections at a political rally, that the Republican Party was the “enemy”.

Finally, on your last appearance on the View, you were asked why there is so much pessimism regarding politics today. Your response was that politicians are doing too much campaigning and money raising. Yet you knew you had a full week of fund raising scheduled after this show. Did you think that we only listen to what you say and do not pay attention to what you do?

Do all of the above comments and tactics reflect “a more civil and honest public discourse…” that you evoked in your speech to “help us face up to the challenges of our nation …” and make the victims proud? Regrettably, these are just a few of a litany of disingenuous comments you have made that were not worthy of a president. I believe this country desperately wants a leader who says what he means and does what he says. We need a statesman, not another politician. We can only hope that this speech will represent a major turning point for you and this country. “We should do everything we can to make sure that our democracy lives up to our children’s expectations.”