There's a lot I like about President-elect Obama. He's articulate, charismatic, obviously intelligent, and has shown glimpses of wanting to reach across the aisle to work towards common goals which unite our country. I think he can greatly improve our foreign relations. A colleague of mine mentioned that he's globally well-liked and perceived as a nice guy. That being said, my response was to remind him that Jimmy Carter was also perceived as a 'nice guy' and was arguably one of the worst presidents in the century who oversaw an oil crisis and a hostage rescue debacle in Iran. Reagan wasn't universally loved by either Europe, the Middle-East or any of his Soviet counterparts (Andropov, Chernenko or Gorbachev), and he is arguably one of the greatest presidents of his century.
I disagree strongly with some of Obama's policies around social and moral issues, most notably his 100% pro-abortion record (as lauded by NARAL), and I'm wary of components of his tax plan which may lead to a slippery slope towards a ill-conceived Marxist redistribution of wealth which will further burden present and future generations with money-eating government programs while doing little to generate large-scale economic stimulus.
But my faith reminds me that at the end of the day, our hope is not in whoever sits in the White House, regardless of their political affiliation. To paraphrase Eric Liddell from Chariots of Fire, "God made countries, God makes kings, God makes presidents." We would we wise to lift prayers for President-elect Obama - for wisdom, strength, and moral courage. I don't think he would deny that he could use them.
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3 comments:
"Worst"???
With regards to foreign policy, how about: Camp David Accords, SALT II, and the Panama Canal Treaty.
With regard to energy, how about: creating the Department of Energy,
which funds a lot of nationally important scientific research, among other things. He also had foresight to push for solar/alternative energy supply more than twenty years ago; perhaps we would be in better energy supply shape today if his plans had been followed through ... by Reagan, among others.
He set the stage for the return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran and the utter disaster that brought with State sponsored terrorism.
He was indirectly responsible for the Lebanese Civil war, the rise of Hezzbolla, The Marine Bombing, the long term hostages in Lebanon, the CRA, the death of Nuclear Power, Mugabe, 20% inflation, 20% interest rates, etc.
I agree, though, that he wasn't the worst. He get points for making Americans want Reagan.
OK buddy ... hold on:
-"He set the stage ...": actually, having a despised dictator for more than 20 years set the stage. Furthermore, it doesn't help the matter that this dictator took power after the overthrow of the democratically elected leader with the help of the US ... and yes, the Iranians still remember this.
-Your list of other things to blame Carter for is unsubstantiated. For example, you list "the death of Nuclear Power". Actually, Three Mile Island did most of that work, followed by Chernobyl.
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