A Letter to President Obama and Congress

January 29, 2010

Dear President Obama and Congress,

I watched your State of the Union address last Wednesday evening. It may have been one of your best performances. As one of the many pundits commented afterward, it was a “smart speech”.

You are correct in your assumption that a “deficit of trust” exists with the American people. Your approval ratings should give you a pretty clear indication of what we think. The responses and continued partisanship we heard from both sides of the aisle after the speech are pretty good indications that while the message you delivered may have been appropriate, passionate, and delivered with eloquence, the way our legislative interaction occurs is going to remain the same. The deficit of trust is not going to go away any time soon. I was disappointed in that.

Over three years ago we became a military family. This wasn’t by our choice, but like so many others, by the decision of our son to serve our country in the United States Marines. We are preparing for our third deployment- this time to Afghanistan (after Iraq).

While this wasn’t our choice, we accepted the role we have to play as a family and as a country to support both him and all who are serving to protect our country and our freedoms. We are grateful and appreciative every time our citizens come together to show their appreciation for their service and sacrifice; and they do it a lot. America is a great country. It is a passionate country. And, it can come together to support and defend the ideas and the people it believes in.

We’ve learned a great deal over our three-plus years of deployments, sacrifice, and anxiousness. We’ve learned that while we are confronting a very dangerous enemy on the field of battle they are also working diligently behind-the-scenes to destroy the structure and spirit of the American way of life. The attempted bombing on Christmas Eve was another wake-up call for the American people; the enemy is still there. We need to remember that Al Qaeda never said that the way they will defeat us is through military efforts. They intend to do it by destroying the soul of the American spirit in whatever manner they can. And, they are very creative.

I certainly agree that your speech addressed the topics most concerning our citizens today; the economy and jobs. This was smart. While you may not agree on the approach to address them, I believe there is agreement on both sides that something must be done to put people back to work and get the economy moving again.

I would only also ask you to remember that all of the arguments, disagreements, and partisanship you continue to exhibit only contribute to the efforts of our common enemy. Terrorism doesn’t only exist on the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan. Terrorism doesn’t only exist with the bombings and spectacular events created by this enemy. Terrorism also exists by destroying the common vision and soul of our country. Jobs, health care reform, the economy, energy policies, and all the rest don’t mean a thing if our enemy succeeds in accomplishing its goal of destroying the unity of the American spirit.

Please work together. Don’t let them win.

Sincerely,

A Military Father