A LETTER TO OBAMA

dear citizen obama, 'twas not too long ago you were roaming the country fearlessly expounding on the wrongs wrought by the right and telling all within earshot what you were going to do to restore our country to its honorable place among the nations of this earth. at least some of the populace voted for a congress they thought would bring the thugs, thieves and killers who had been ruining the country to trial. but the spineless, sniveling democrats in the person of their leaders, harry reid and nancy pelosi, announced that impeachment was "off the table," confirming that law, justice and the constitution were also off the table. you, citizen obama, pounded podium after podium with your message of change. well, sir, banks make change without changing anything. what we need is progressive thinking. furthermore, you have appointed some of the same old bunch of permanent profiteers and gangsters who demean women, evade taxes and are the very ones who got us into the current mess. it's all about money for the rich, easy cash for the leisure class and no relief for the roofless, the war-wounded, the about-to-be homeless and the elderly unemployed who end up insane on the streets. there is no money for the arts that sustain us and lift our spirits in times of despair. are we to end up a nation of slack-jawed, gum-chewing, television-paralyzed gapers because that staple of the first amendment, the newspaper, was allowed to die an ignored and ignoble death? there is a lot of yap these days, citizen obama, but let me remind you that those who do not pretend to be patriots for profit have never been apart from their country or their principles. i, for one, do not want to be brought together with the killers who disgraced our country-bush, cheney, rumsfeld. i would as soon be brought together with charles manson or john gotti as that crowd of hypocritical killers. citizen obama, you have a mandate-use it! we have been in a moral morass for eight years and you don't need to explain anything to anyone so long as it's the right thing for the people of this country. not the corporations, not the military, not the wealthy. when you enter the white house, just remember your first step in that door is the first step toward the exit in four or eight years. every time you speak of the dark times we are going through, you must light a compensatory light to instill hope. no more fear-mongering, no more warmongering, and let's stop all the we-are-number-one bullshit and stop asking god to bless america (it annoys him to be asked to bless a wealthy country). put all the right-wing adherents on an island where they can declare war on each other, and soon they will kill each other off. and when you leave the white house, we will all be singing, "o beautiful for gracious skies."

sincerely, malachy mccourt

check my website malachymccourt.com and read malachy mccourt's history of ireland.