Now is the time.

Editor,

It takes a certain kind of smarts to manipulate the masses emotionally: Hitler, Mussolini.

It takes another kind of smarts to understand science (Einstein, Newton) or economics (Keynes, Galbraith).

And it takes another kind of smarts to influence the U.S. Congress (FDR, LBJ) to support your policies whether they like them or not.

Unfortunately, Obama understands the subtleties inherent in lofty idealistic philosophies and is very good at composing rhetoric that reflects his vision. But he is no MLK, and he is no JFK because, although he was once capable of inspiring, he does not possess a personality that lends itself naturally to lead.

For us to rag on Obama is the wrong response to this unfortunate reality. The DNC picked the wrong guy to bear their standard in 2008, and unless the Democratic Party truly is the flip side of the corporate coin the Republicans clearly grace, it is time to find another candidate for president, one who can cut through the seamlessly orchestrated propaganda of the right, speak truth to the American people in terms they can understand, and twist the arms and ears of recalcitrant Republican politicians to turn this country around.

Obama is a punching bag for a very nasty crowd whose motto is: "I've got mine. It's every man for himself." If this is the kind of country the DNC wants Americans to inhabit, then they can run their man Obama again, and he and the Republicans will run the USA into the ground. Otherwise, now is the moment. Now is the time for a change.

Re: "Pass, Fail and Politics" (9/4/2011)