Open
Letter to President Obama
Mr. President:
When I cast my first vote as a Democrat in 1988, I was
only 18 years old. I admit that didn’t
know much about politics and I mindlessly registered as a Democrat. My dad was a Republican and my mom was life-long
Democrat. I felt much more aligned with
the DNC and in my eyes there were only two parties to choose from in the US. I
continued to vote Democrat, without passion or interest until you ran in
2008. I was still fairly young and I had
two small children. When I heard your
speeches and I saw your face, I felt hope…I saw hope…I heard hope. It felt like for the first time in my life,
my vote could make a difference. It
seemed like you would make a difference.
Life was not easy at the point.
The recession was just starting and we were barely surviving. I was a stay at home mom, with a severely
asthmatic child and health issues of my own.
Medical bills, mortgage payments and credit card bills were piling
up. I was beginning to wonder how we
were going to make it.
I went to the polls with my kids that November day and
proudly cast my ballot. Maybe I was
naive and drank too much of the Koolaid, but I expected changes. Three years later, changes weren’t coming
quickly enough and in four years my life wasn’t much better. In fact, life was harder. My husband was working multiple jobs and I
was working odd jobs and selling off possessions on Ebay. I was feeling frustrated and I had marched
with the Occupy Movement and I was becoming more active in progressive
movements. I saw a sign at the first
March. It said: 2012 Pres
Dream Team Sanders and Warren. I started
to research more on Elizabeth Warren now, as well. The more I learned, the more I saw that you
weren’t very progressive.
Did I vote for you again in 2012? Of course I did. I did what all good Democrats did. I voted
Blue, no matter who.
Bernie Sanders was on my radar in 2011 and I watched as
he became more vocal, especially when it came to Wall Street Reform. When I saw the he was running for President
and no less on the Democratic ticket a glimmer of hope sparked in my
darkness. Could we have the change we so
desperately needed?
I listened to his speeches and I watched as he became
more and more popular. He was connecting with people on a level that even you
didn’t do in 2008 nor in 2012. Thousands
of people were showing up to listen to him speak. By January and February of
2016, lines snaked around city blocks with people desperate to hear his
message. When a large march took place
in Pasadena, CA I took my children and mother to march with me. When we returned home, my kids excitedly put
the news on to see the coverage of the march.
Why wouldn’t it be on tv? The Los
Angeles news shows coverage of celebrities, animals, and endless news of Trump
and Clinton. As we watched, only one
station showed a spot.
It was a 5 second
spot that said “a few hundred” people showed up. My 13 year old looked at me confused. “A few hundred people? There were a few
thousand. It was a big deal. Why aren’t they talking about it”. It took that comment for me to realize what
was happening. I started to pay
attention. The news was blatantly not
paying attention to Sanders and when they did it was negative or minimal. The more people that showed up to march or
see him, the less coverage he received.
I attended a rally in Palm Springs, CA and left with such hope and
inspiration. Yet, something wasn’t
right. We weren’t getting equal media
time, there were polling/voting issues, claims of debate schedule issues, fraud
accusations and more.
Any time I brought this up or anyone I know spoke of
this, we were treated like Fox Mulder from the X-Files. We were treated like Conspiracy
Theorists.
Flash forward to the convention. The first Wikileaks emails were exposed. I read them and you could almost cut my anger
with a knife. We began to see that we
weren’t crazy. We WERE Fox Mulder and if
you watched X-Files, you know he wasn’t crazy. He was actually right the whole
time. We were right the whole time. I could barely bring myself to
watch any of the convention. When I saw
Elizabeth Warren begin to speak, literally a piece of my heart broke away. She had been a champion of our cause for many
years. Was she paid off? Was she threatened? Was
she part of the game to begin with? Then
the unthinkable happened. Bernie Sanders
“conceded” to Hillary Clinton. He did it without
a real fight and in light of what the DNC did to him and to us. Were we angry? Did we feel betrayed by the
system? Hell yeah we did and we had every right to feel that way. This is the kind of betrayal and anger that can't be swept away and forgotten.
I watched as you
didn’t condemn what your party had done.
You quietly thanked Debbie Wasserman Schultz for her service and ignore everything
going on in your own Party. You ignored the Bernie Sanders delegates in
the crowd sobbing. The media mentioned them with contempt and mocked them. They were not sobbing
because they lost. They were sobbing because they realized their
party was never really going to let Sanders win. They were sobbing because
their party lied to them. They were sobbing
because you lied to them. They were sobbing because they were being treated
like shit inside and outside the convention hall. They were sobbing because
outside the hall, people were marching in anger and no one was talking about it. They were sobbing because that iconic photo
of you, with the word HOPE written in the background was now a faded piece of
paper, crumbling. They were sobbing because
you had failed them and all of us.
As thousands of Wikileaks files are being released daily,
you continue with your silence. You have lost more followers than you will ever know. We aren’t “just” millennials. We
are moms, dads, Generation X’ers, sisters, brothers, Americans. We are fed up and we aren’t taking this
anymore.
Your silence now extends to other progressive
issues. I have watched the nightmare of the Standing
Rock issue since it began. I have waited for
your action and yet there is silence.
You are quietly waiting for November 8th to come and go. When Hillary Clinton is elected, you will let
the pipeline continue and then it won’t affect your party’s chances of being
elected. It is a cowardice move. Regardless of who is right or wrong on the
matter, people are wrongfully being detained and hurt. There are innocent people that you are supposed to be protecting. Your job is to stop what is going on and at
least pretend to care. Your job is to have it
investigated further. Do your job.
You may think that this will not follow you when you
leave the White House. But it will
follow you. This will be a part of your
legacy. When my 14 year old doesn’t
trust his own government, you should know that you haven’t done your job. My job as a parent, is to teach him respect,
love, discipline, educate them and to be a truth teller. A truth teller. That means even when that truth hurts. I have done my job. Do your job.
So IF Trump wins, don’t blame us. Blame yourself and your party. You had the chance to make this right. You had the chance to clean out dirty laundry
in your party, even if that laundry was your candidate. Blaming us-the people that supported you
until you didn’t support us-is the move of a 10 year old. One of the first lessons I taught my kids was
to accept responsibility for their actions.
We are acting like Trump is the only bully and bad influence for our
kids in this election? He definitely is
both. But so is your party. The lessons you are teaching are youth is it
is ok to lie, cheat, cover it up and pretend like it is ok, as long as you
don’t get caught or admit it.
If Clinton wins, know that we are not rejoicing. She will not be my President. The media can try to control the stories 24
hours a day to us and change the truth, but it can’t change what we know. I will vote for a woman I can trust. I will
vote Green. Jill Stein has my vote.
And to the MEDIA…. I have a special message for you. You are nothing but a joke at this
point. What happened to unbiased new
coverage? What happened to journalists doing a job that entailed research, honesty
and integrity? What happened to having the courage to do what is right? You have failed us, as well. You are a part of the problem.
You should take notes from journalists such as Jordan
Chariton and Jimmy Dore from TYT, Bernie Sanders Delegates who reported from the ground like
Jeff Day, Claudia Stauber, Progressive show creator-Tim Black at Night, truth
teller Josh Fox and MANY others I have encountered on social media, in the past two years. Media- DO YOUR JOB.
Farewell Mr. President.
Sleep well knowing that many people, especially kids who looked up to you will remember you
for these things. A new generation of
activism and revolution will be born from this.
A viable third party will be born from this. The Green party will get the 5% it needs and
this is just the beginning.
I once read that you recommended The Matrix to Scifi
fans. I will leave you with this. Please know that we have taken the red pill
and we are never going back.
This
is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue
pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to
believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep
the rabbit-hole goes.
Sincerely,
The
Late Great Middle Class
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