As I travel inner city streets from San Bernardino to Compton, it does not take a genius to figure out that economic times are tough for Americans from all walks of life. In San Bernardino, more and more people are homeless and sleeping on the street or in public parks. Women, men, and children are rummaging through trash looking for cans to take to recycling centers and other items to sell to raise money to make ends meet at home. The number of shuttered businesses is increasing day by day, and unemployment lines are getting longer and longer.
Yet polls show that the majority of Americans believe that there is hope for the economic future of this nation due to the presidential leadership of Barack Obama.
It is clear now that President George W. Bush's eight years in office were a disaster for America. As you may recall, the 2000 presidential election came down to one state in deciding whether the electoral college vote would go to the Republican Bush or Vice President Al Gore, his Democratic opponent.
I was sick to my stomach when the U.S. Supreme Court voted five to four to shut the recount process down in Florida, essentially handing the presidency to Bush. In my mind, the decision was a sudden overthrow of the American government. The Supreme Court put a Republican in the White House to go with the party's control of both houses of Congress, and I believe this resulted in eight years of tyranny, Congressional lawbreaking, and political corruption. Bush's eight year reign of political terror brought America to near financial ruin. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 during Bush's first year in office and resulted in the deaths of thousands of Americans. Then there was the Katrina disaster that devastated New Orleans and resulted in death, destruction and homelessness. Many victims of Katrina lost their homes and are still living in trailers and in poverty years later. Other families were relocated to states throughout the nation.
During Mr. Obama's first trip overseas as President, he helped broker two major deals; one that will commit more money to assist in aiding the international economy and the other that will provide more troops for the war in Afghanistan. Over the last few weeks, the stock market rallied and climbed over 8,000 for the first time in months. While the economy still has a long, long way to go before recovering, it is finally showing signs of life.
Not only does President Obama receive high marks for his domestic policy decisions, but he has not stepped back from making tough decisions on the international political stage. I remember hearing from Senator John McCain and every other Republican predicting that "Barack Obama would be soft on terrorism, and that he wasn't prepared to lead the military." Last week, the President showed Americans and the world that he is a decisive leader. Obama gave the go-ahead to shoot the pirates holding a ship captain hostage if his life was in danger. After the sea captain's dramatic rescue off the coast of Somalia, the President vowed to "crackdown on pirates and hold them accountable for their crimes." In addition, President Obama announced a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba that will usher in a new era of openness toward the island nation after 50 years of sanctions.
When I compare President's Bush's eight-year reign of terror with President Obama's first three months in office, I am rejoicing that there is hope again for America to reclaim its position as a prosperous nation and leader of the world!
Ronald Ellerbe is editor of Hub City News and columnist for LA Beez.
Photo from www.whitehouse.gov
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