Dear Mr. President

I am one of the lucky ones. I am healthy and I have savings and I have a job. And I am scared out of my wits by this economic disaster.

I used to be steady and strong and now I feel powerless in this multi-faceted crisis. I am whipped around like an autumn leaf in the wind.

As long as you talk, Mr. President, I feel safe. But then I go to lectures and I read articles and watch the talking heads on the 24 shmews cycle and everyone has six different opinions and no answers. It is the consensus (from self-proclaimed “experts”) of the talking heads that that we are still in free fall although we’ve caught on to part of a ledge for now, and the problems cannot be fixed because they are not fixable without throwing out the system and starting over.

Please, Mr. President, and, please, members of Congress, don’t take political advantage. Save our nation, restore our faith, be tough with those of us who knowingly borrowed more than we could afford and, most especially, those who gamed the system and gambled away our livelihoods and futures.

Stop all the in-fighting. Write legislation that works and not that is merely expedient.

Iran

In this country, most quietly watched the post 9/11 erosion of our civil liberties.  There weren’t countrywide protests.  When we found out our country tortured people — even possibly US citizens — mostly, we did nothing.  Maybe we thought that the Bush-Cheney regime could only last for 8 years and then it must come to an end.  But we love our voice, we lost our outrage and we retreated into our complacency.  In Iran, the protests, mostly led by women, face down weapons and the full force of a repressive regime.  But unless we commit to go into Iran, I think the President is right that we need to temper our words.  People in this country are quick to talk but not so quick to commit to act (unless it is for senseless wars).