Of Obama and his Nobel (an open letter to the president)
I will not lie, the first term in office was a disappointment. We had expected to see a rolling back of the wars, to see us out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Hillary as SOS seemed determined to get us into Syria and Iran, with even her husband calling you a "wuss" to goad you. Also, the peace with Russia, which was what you got the award for, heated into a hot mess.
But then, in your second term, despite the GOP acting in ways that would be considered TREASON by many, where they actively worked with Bibi's spies to undermine peace and fan war flames, you and Kerry managed to pull off something that was truly remarkable.
Kudos, you earned your Peace Prize. The dialogue with Cuba could cement your legacy, as the president that started peace with Iran and Cuba, two nations that we should have stopped war with years ago. When Tehran and Havana can no longer use the embrago as another way of saying "our economy is Uncle Sam's fault", you will undermine tyranny more than Seven armies could. Remember, we did not win the Cold War against the Soviets as much as the Russians realized there were better ways to get what they wanted.
Speaking of which, I do NOT plan to let you off the hook for Russia. Yes, Putin is an asshole, and yes, his sycophants, who claim to be be the real liberals, are even more silent of the persecution of gays than you were before Joe Biden pricked your conscience and forced YOU to evolve. Well, now you need to evolve on Russia, and realize that people are trying to re igntie the cold war, even make it hot, because if not, we would have ditched the John McCains of the world long ago. Make this is a trifecta, stop letting the Ukranians manipulate you, stop letting Angela Merkel manipulate you, and assess exactlyl what Nato is to be in the 21st century. No, we do not want to tell Moscow "You can have Poland and Estonia back" but we do not need to be played for fools whose main goal is to become the next great oil sheikhs via pieplines and ports.
We can start to become the nation we could have and should have been, it is in your hand.
PS: This is a PS for a certain former secretary of state and probable successor. Hillary, I will adress you in a bit harsher tone, because even though you have the clout to move away from Bill's mistakes, I see nothign that says you want to. In 2016, you will have a choice, to build upon what good Obama has done, or to do what many of your Blue Dog firends and big donors will advise and demand you do, to UNDO it. If you keep the course, even if AIPAC starts making not so subtle threats, you can be remembered as being the great president that kept the ship from going back on the wrong course, something that is harder to do than simply turning the wheel. If you build on this with strngth and courage, from day one, you can even get many to say that we should have elected you in 2008, which, we know, is one of your goals. Whatever makes you do the right thing, I do not care, I do not have to live in your head. However, if suddenly we start hearign sanction talk, or you start calling Putin Hitler again (he is a mafiosi, not a madman), then rest assured, the world and nation will remember you as the time when America blew it's last shot, and it will, in the from of the Brics, make sure we are just another brick in a wall.