Dear George,
I sincerely hope this letter finds you in excellent health. Being the president of the last great superpower can’t be an easy task. The vast realm of responsibilities one must juggle in such a position, where one decision affects millions, are unimaginable to an average Joe )Jane in my case) like me. How do you do it George? What’s the secret to your success? How did the most frowned upon president in American history get re-elected?
Was it your strong words after September 11th? Was it your talk of the “axis of evil” that impressed the millions who voted you back into office? Most of us here in the old country saw Michael Moore’s movie Fahrenheit 9/11. and I have to say George, your initial reaction to the attack on the Twin Towers wasn’t very impressive: sitting in a classroom, staring blankly into space, obviously lost while thousands lost their lives. No, us old country folks weren’t very impressed at all. But maybe the majority of Americans don’t have access to Michael Moore’s movies, or maybe your relatives at FOX helped you out yet again by bashing Moore and everything to do with him and his movies? It must be great to have friends in high places George.
But maybe forcing the world on your side wasn’t what prolonged your presidency. Maybe defeating you and your father’s greatest enemy had something to do with it. Maybe Saddam is the answer here. Look George, I’m glad he’s gone, but let’s be honest here: there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We both know that and so did Richard Clark, your favourite man at the FBI at that time and head of the counter-terrorism department. Boy, did you piss him off. So much so that he decided to write a book about you and this whole affair. It must have taken much more of an effort to discredit this thoroughbred American though. No longhaired hippie fighting for the lefties, but a true patriotic descendant of Uncle Sam himself. You must have succeeded though, because here you are: more president than ever.
But then maybe it’;s not in the details at all. Maybe the answer is to be found in the overall picture. You’re a bit of a religious fanatic, aren’t you George? Since you have come into office America is more conservative than ever. Gay rights, abortion rights, stem cell research, drug policies and many more “lefty” issues have been jeopardised. America was never at the front lines when it came to rights for anyone other than white, conservative males, but at least under Clinton’s rule you guys were getting somewhere. Not anymore! And this holier than thou attitude of yours appears to appeal to middle America.
Now if your religious fanaticism would end at the borders, it wouldn’t be so much of a problem. But that’s too much to hope for, isn’t it George? Since your rise to power many funding programs to third world countries have been cut off. Mostly to institutions helping women with birth control and other such ‘trivial’ matters. These clinics provide women with sex education, birth control and sometimes abortions. And we can’t have that now can we George? These women have almost no rights in the male dominated societies and other than the clinics no access to birthcontrol means like the pill. Did I mention there are poor countries? When you cut off funding for these clinics, women are essentially forced to have endless amounts of babies they can’t afford to raise. Well George, as long as you have conservative America backing you all the way, who cares right?!
I don’t know what the key to your success is. I hope your next political opponent finds it though. And I also hope I’ll get to live through the next 4 years. After that you’ll just be a bad memory. Like the dreams I have when I go to sleep on a much too full stomach: scary as hell, but once you wake up, soon forgotten.
Ik ben het maar hoor, niet stressen.
I’ve spent over 25 years working in content strategy and digital transformation, which means I’ve seen enough technology hype cycles to be skeptical and enough genuine innovation to stay curious.
Want to talk shop? Do get in touch!
