Dear Mr. President

Mr. President…

Every four years America elects a President. Sometimes it’s the incumbent, sometimes it’s a different person, but the process is the same. In the United States we have a system by which we elect the President and Vice-President, who are usually on the same “ticket”. It wasn’t always that way, but that’s another story for another time. As might be expected, a new President brings to the White House their own people…who are, for the most part, people that share the sentiments of the President. Now and again, the President may bring in a person who has exhibited differences of opinion, just so that it isn’t a cadre of “yes men”.

Once the new President is in the White House and the cabinet is in place, and sometimes before the cabinet is in place, the American public gets a chance to see and hear whether or not the President is going to stick to the campaign rhetoric, or go off wildly in another direction. In the past we’ve have war time and peace time Presidents. We’ve had Presidents that were brilliant and some that were, to put it kindly, less than brilliant. No matter what, they were the leaders of the country and as such we looked to them for that leadership. Some failed miserably. To some degree, all have had an effect on the country, leading it this way and that.

So, now we have a President who seems to be what he claimed to be…and that, if you’re not aware, is a decidedly different thing for American politics. To use a hackneyed phrase, “he hit the ground running” and is off to a good start…at least in my not-so-humble opinion. During the campaign he made speeches about turning the country around, strengthening the borders and the armed forces, bringing business back to the United States and, so far…it’s working. It may all seem too good to be true, and for this President that is a challenge. He accepts challenges and, so far as they apply to his governance of the country, that’s alright with me.

However, this President takes on other challenges, seeming not to care that they are meaningless for the most part. Example, does it really matter who had more people on the ground for the inauguration? Does it really affect how he will govern the nation, or deal with far more weighty matters? My answer to that is, no, it doesn’t really matter. His use of Twitter is good because he bypasses the mainstream media which, as we all know, is very much biased against him…to the point where they will manipulate the news, alter the news, not report the news, or do other such things as to make them pretty much irrelevant to this administration. So, Mr. President, keep your pettiness under wraps…it doesn’t become you.

Now let’s see about the armed forces. True, we have excellent technology, and that’s a given…but must we share it with the world? Too many times, Mr. President, the working details of some of our high-tech equipment gets to the “enemy” and before you know it they have a prototype of what we’ve spent years developing. It’s no coincidence that Russian and Chinese fighter jets are SO much like ours. Various military and aviation magazines proudly display just about everything in these aircraft and all it costs to get this information is the price of the magazine. Where’s the logic in that? Pictures of things that should not be photographed are whizzed around the world in a matter of minutes, thanks to “social media”.

Speaking of things that should not be photographed, how about that sailor that’s in prison now for taking innocuous pictures of a nuclear submarine? Mr. President, here’s a great opportunity to right a wrong. Your predecessor pardoned Manning, a man-turned-woman who gave out secrets like they were popcorn. I think we, the people, probably paid for the sex-change operation also, but I’m not sure on that. The sailor, however, is spending time in prison for something way, way, down on the scale compared to Manning. Pardon him, Mr. President.

While on the subject of legal matters, let’s look at Bowe Bergdahl. As I understand the act of treason, especially in a shooting, combat, zone, he committed treason and caused the deaths of some fellow soldiers. He should face a harsh penalty for that, and I believe the penalty is a firing squad. Then, still in the realm of legalities, we come to Hillary Clinton. Does anyone need to be reminded of her MANY illegal actions both as Secretary of State and a presidential hopeful? No one is above the law in this country…at least that’s what we are led to believe. Is it true? Will you be the one that abides by that, or will you cave as many others have done before you, and let a celebrity get by with something that would put the average American UNDER the jail?

Parting shot: Mr. President, you’re making a good start. Don’t betray the American people by following the procedures of your predecessors. Stand up and be the man we elected…straight-arrow, for America and the American people.