Don't get me wrong; I'm a fan of Barack Obama. I may even love him -- his intelligence, his even temperament, his fabulous smile, his willingness to make enemies by forcing democrats and republicans to look at each other as humans with differences instead of as despicable aliens from another planet. Most of all I love him for winning(!) and bring an end to the republican era.
I'm one of those who's irked by all the people already in attack mode, waiting to find fault with his every move: his cabinet appointments, the Rick Warren choice, his lack of official statement on the Israeli/Palestinian war, and the list goes on. My take on his positions are nuanced -- some of them I love, and some I hate; when I hate 'em, I email his change.gov site and tell him what I think. But, I don't feel the need to start bashing him publicly. The guy's not even president yet, for God's sake! I want to give him some time to show us what he's got up his sleeve -- or better said, how he plans to implement his vision.
I am prepared to detest some of the incremental steps that lead to his finish line. I know who I voted for, and he's no lefty. However, I do have a question I'd like to ask publicly, and welcome anyone out there in Huffington Post Land who can enlighten me on this subject: When am I going to stop getting emails from Barack Obama, or Obama for America, or Michelle Obama, or Inaugural Store.com or all the other people on his "team" who keep asking me to donate, donate, donate more, more, more for a great inauguration; for Hillary Clinton's campaign debt; and for a host of other post-election issues that feel soooo 2008? I tell you, because of these emails I now have a trigger finger that only finds happiness on the delete key.
Hello? There's a depress... oops, recession going on! I'm worried about how my business' usually slow winter season is going to fare this time around. I stopped dreaming about my 20-year wedding anniversary trip to India this month because, as the media reminded me recently, half a million jobs were lost in December. I figure some of those jobless people might be my customers. Just to state the obvious, people are s-t-r-e-s-s-e-d about money. So, why are the president-elect and his people still asking me to send in donations? I spent a lot of money trying to get you elected, Mr. Top Dog. You got elected. You're big government now, with the big printing machine that comes with it. Can you stop asking me to give you money now? 'Cause it's pissing me off enough that I went public with my gripe. Your emails are beginning to feel like spam. Caution: You're abusing your infamous mailing list.
This is not a plea for the typically cynical and crude comments that abound on this site, where Obama is concerned. Sometimes I think I mistakenly happened onto a right wing forum. Yes, yes, you're allowed to disagree with him and with other progressives. It's just that the tone is disturbing sometimes. Can't we just unite for even one minute?! Anyway, like I said, I think he's the man. I would just like for someone to explain to me: What in the world are they thinking?