The following is a response from Paul Cully to Dennis Galvin’s letter to the editor on Oct. 13, 2015. Letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the views of WestfordCAT, its underwriters, or its Board of Directors. To submit your own letter to the editor, e-mail asylvia@westfordcat.org
I beg to differ with (Dennis Galvin) on nearly every point.
The author opines many ills for which he holds Obama responsible:
Rampant racism; An increase in murders and violent crimes; Instability and chaos in the Middle East; An increase of radical Islamic ideology in the Middle East; Increased contempt for America and Americans from our adversaries; Abandonment of our support for Israel; Fewer jobs; Wage stagnation; Crippling corporate taxation and regulation; Highest national debt in our history; Obama’s subscription to “hard left ideology”
Quite a list! These are common talking points of far right-wing politicians at the national level. I am sad to see them published locally. So let me set the record straight.
· Racism is the provenance of the angry white supremacists, not persons of African-American heritage.
· Factually, in some cities the rate of murders and violent crimes has decreased. In all instances it is local action or inaction that determines the outcome.
· The instability, the increase in Islamic ideology, and the creation of safe havens for terrorists, in the Middle East, is the result of the invasion of Iraq and the absence of any plan to exit peacefully. That seminal event destabilized the region and we are still suffering the consequences of it today.
· That our adversaries feel and show contempt for us should come as no surprise – it is not new. We garrison troops in 75% of the countries on the planet, spend more on our military than the COMBINED expenditures of the next 21 countries with militaries, and have 11 floating bases (“carrier groups”) that are deployed around the world. Intimidation and bullying alienate and foment hatred. We have waged war for more than seventy years, yet peace has not been achieved. Why should we expect that continuing with the same policies will yield different results? Pogo got it right when he said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
· We have not abandoned our support for Israel, but instead have, in addition to our ongoing support, sought a means to restore peace.
· Job creation is on the rise and has been for years – in striking contrast to the 800,000 jobs lost PER MONTH at the end of the Bush administration.
· Wage stagnation continues, in spite of healthy corporate profits, too little of which is passed on to the middle class.
· Tax breaks for corporate sponsors of politicians continue, with many corporations paying no taxes at all. Certainly that is no burden on corporations.
· Government regulation still fails to exist in many instances where it is sorely needed, while self-regulation by corporations is strikingly absent.
· Every administration for the past seventy years has contributed to the national debt and they are ALL responsible for our current debt.
· If Obama “subscribes to hard left ideology” then how should we would rate the current group of candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for President. By contrast Obama is very moderate.
The question should not be “Can we survive the Obama legacy?”, but instead, “Can we survive another extremist right wing Republican regime?”
