Dear Barry ~ An Open Letter to Barack Obama

Dear Barry~

I am writing to you as a fellow alumni of Punahou School.  I was gone long before you were there, but we shared the same rooms, some of the same teachers, the same atmosphere and environment.  We grew up with similar experiences, I am motivated to do this because of the disturbing things you are doing that erode all credibility you might have had for me.

I can not think of any political issue that you and I will ever agree upon.  You believe in giving people everything – just as everything was given to you.  It always amazes me that most spoiled liberal children grow up without ever learning to work for anything or to earn anything.  And, I am disgusted that you have pared your biography down to exclude the parts that might let people know where you come from.  There is something dishonest about that.

I do know that you were given one of the finest educations available in the United States.  I know that you grew up a child of privilege.  I do know that you were taught to speak in public, to think and to act.  We should BOTH be grateful for the quality of education that we received.  Yet, you seem to hide yours under the rock of omission.  Are you worried that the masses might think less of you if they knew where you came from?  How sad that you chose not to say – “see where a great education and great teachers can inspire you to go?”  And, are you going to tell people that those GREAT teachers were not part of a Union – they were there to mentor us and educate us and THEY DID.

Of the many things that we instinctively knew with our shared background, the most important things were the lessons learned about race. In any classroom we were in, it was a given that everyone in the room would be of varying racial combinations. It was so dramatic that no one cared – we weere each a minority of one – except the twins in my class. We learned that character and the ability to excel with whatever gifts we had were the important things. We had the benefits of learning from multiple cultures – we ate one another’s foods, learned about holidays and celebrations and had our pidgin’ peppered with words from cultures around the globe. We had few cultures withheld from our experiences. We were each unique and yet none of us was more unique than the others. We learned the strenght of the individual. We learned that it is character, not color, that defines us. How sad that you have not shared this valuable lesson with people on the campaign trail, but have rather chosen to fall into the Clinton trap of isolating the races?

I guess it is easier to let people think that you ‘fought’ your way to the top, when we know it is not true.  But, how dishonest – how horribly dishonest.

When I heard your speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, I was impressed – most of the country was impressed.  You are a profoundly gifted orator.  But, as I watch your campaign, though you have the gift to stir the crowds, I have yet to hear you say anything of substance.  You say “CHANGE” a great deal.  You get the crowds to chant, “YES WE CAN.”

But, you never define the change.  Fascism is change.  Communism is change.  Depression is change.  Massive Unemployment is change.  Undermining Capitalism is change.  Attacks on our Soil are change.  Change is not necessarily a good thing.  What is it that you mean?  Or, are you satisfied to have an electorate that has no ability to think or reason or question you?  Or, horrors, don’t you know what you mean?  And, what, exactly is it that we can do? YES WE CAN!

Most of my disdain is for the only thing that you ever express in your platform – tucking our tail between our legs and running from the battlefield in Iraq.  BAD IDEA.  Yet, you never speak of Afghanistan.  You never speak of the War on Terror.  Don’t you believe they exist?  Certainly you would have a policy position on them if you did.  You scare me.  i know that you have the capacity to be a deep thinker.  Why is it that we are seeing the shallowest of rhetoric?

 If you want to be the President of this country, you will have an obligation to ALL of America – not just those who vote for you.  Barry, it is time to excel – to be the thinker and communicator, else that will never happen.

Sincerely,

A Fellow Alumni of Punahou School

aka Mistress of the Flying Monkeys

For my readers, Barry (his name in high school – Oahuan yearbook picture above) was a 1979 graduate of Punahou School, which is a top prep school (remember how GWB was excoriated for attending one of those) in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Barry was sent to this premier and expensive school by his white grandmother with whom he lived.  He attended Punahou from 5th – 12th grade.  His black African father had abandoned him and his white mother when he was a toddler.