Where is the hope?

Letter from the editor

By Judy Krieger, Courier Editor

Wouldn’t it have been nice to see President Obama stride into the House of Representatives, not shake hands, take the podium and tell all the members of Congress and others not to clap during his speech Wednesday night?

He then could have launched into the real state of the union, telling Congressional members even more sternly that they better start working together and pass some meaningful legislation, from health care to whatever it will take to restore employment to millions of Americans.

He could have admitted that his plate really is too full and that he wants to concentrate on those two issues.

He could have admitted that some of the financial bailouts backfired.

And that he was wrong to think he could change so many things in 12 short months.

It would have been nice to see him admonish both Democratic and Republican lawmakers to do what is right for their constituents and to face election losses if they didn’t.

He could have applied that to himself, too. That if he didn’t deliver some tangible results to Americans in the next two years, he would not seek re-election.

He could have admitted that he was optimistically too hopeful in such turbulent times, that the weight of his office fell like an anvil on his shoulders a year ago and that it’s very hard work to get out from under it.

He could have told us to keep sucking it up, to keep bucking up and to buy only what we need, not what we want.

He could have acknowledged that most Americans are still suffering, even if they are working, and that we all need to keep trying to live within our means.

He could have reminded us of our American history and why the United States of America was established in the first place.

It’s probably not any tougher now that it was 250 years ago when the colonists became agitated and started their revolt against tyranny.

Some things don’t change. We’ve learned a hard lesson in the short time since the 1950s when the average citizen believed in the American dream’s realities.

The dreams fade, the realities sink in and we struggle to understand that all the good things life has to offer have to be earned.

The I-want-it-now generation has become the why-me generation.

We look to our leader to give us hope. He did that in 2008, and he was elected president of the United States.

But now, the hope continues to be harder to find.

President Obama could have made us feel more hopeful.

And, not so hopeless.

— Judy Krieger