In a recent article in , (December 30, 2009), Mr. Raoul Lowery Contreras takes President Obama to task for a number of political mistakes. A close look at some of charges made by Mr. Contreras reveals that most, if not all, of the charges are without merit.

We learn, for example, that “intelligent liberal people” are, or were, blinded by ideology regarding Mr. Obama’s expertise in foreign policy. If that’ so, then it follows logically that “intelligent conservatives” were also blinded by their ideology regarding President Bush’s expertise in the same area. According to George Will, the foremost conservative thinker in America today, the Iraqi war is the worst foreign policy disaster in the history of the United States.

Another reason why many who voted for President Obama, we are told, was because we expected or thought he was up to speed in some kind of expertise in foreign policy. These include “intelligent liberals blinded by ideology,” and some not so smart people who had less than a high school education. According to Mr. Contreras, these citizens lack of “political sophistication,” explains their faith in the president. If that is true, it would logically follow that all of those who voted for Mr. Bush, and reelected him for a second term, also lacked “political sophistication,” in view of the foreign policy disasters Mr. Bush is responsible for.

Mr. Contreras takes Mr. Obama to task for encouraging “illegal marijuana users, criminals throughout the country.” The president has allowed states, whose citizens have voted to legalize marijuana, the option of exercising their constitutional rights. I am surprised that a conservative is making this charge when it is their ideology that believes in small government and states’ rights. We might also point out that alcohol and gambling are both legal, in spite of their incalculable social costs.

Obama’s “sycophantic followers and believers live in a phony Obama America.” The author does not tell us why these people deserve such a derogatory label, nor does he identify their behavior. Is everyone who voted and admires Mr. Obama a “sycophantic follower”? Name calling is neither intelligent, nor mature behavior.

Where, we may ask, is the phony America Mr. Contreras refers to? In Disney World? Hollywood? Las Vegas? Is he saying that these entertainment venues are President Obama’s creations? President Obama is also taken to task for bowing to the Japanese emperor. That is a sign of respect, and it shows neither weakness nor stupidity. Perhaps a better example to cite would be President Bush the first, who puked all over the Japanese Prime Minister at a state dinner. Now, that is a no-no.

As a self-confessed conservative, one gathers from his critique that Mr. Contreras would prefer Mr. Bush and his legendary verbal skills to still represent our country around the world. “I think the American people-I hope the American-I don’t think, let me-I hope the American people trust me.”

“A real president, Eisenhower, for example ran the country better while playing golf than Obama has from inside the White House.” Let’s look at the Eisenhower administration’s record. It ordered the CIA to overthrow the democratically elected president of Iran in 1953 on the grounds that the president, Mr. Mohammed Mossadegh, insisted that the Iranian oil belongs to the Iranian people, not multinational corporations. Closer to home, from 1917 to 1938, the U.S. prevented Mexico from asserting her rights to her own oil. It wasn’t until President Lázaro Cárdenas that Mexico was able to get out from under and took back what belonged to the Mexican people. 

In 1954 the Eisenhower administration authorized the CIA to get rid of the democratically elected president of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán in order to protect another multinational corporation, the United Fruit Company. This event initiated 40 years of military terror, unleashed mostly on the impoverished Mayan masses. And, it’s true, President Eisenhower did not send troops to Vietnam, he merely sent billions of dollars to support the immoral and illegal claims of the French colonial power. All these “triumphs” and more directed from the golf course. Wow.

Those of us, who may have been blinded by our ideology and voted for the inexperienced one, can only stand in awe of Mr. Bush, a man who could do wonders with the English language. Let’s listen to one of President Bush’s most unforgettable utterances. “There is an old saying in Tennessee-I know it’s in Texas- probably in Tennessee-that says, fool me once, shame on – shame on you. Fool me – you can’t get fooled again.” Thank you Mr. Bush for the memories, the two disastrous wars and the financial meltdown you were responsible for. Remember, it was the policy of your government not to regulate the fat cats in Wall Street.