Michael Dawson
Reported on Fox news is the view of Susan Rice toward the issues and outcomes of Benghazi. Interestingly she feels no remorse for the outcome and her part in using incorrect information. I have lead men in combat and can say with certainty that if I had made a mistake that caused four people their lives and then responded by sucking the honor out of the brave deaths by giving false information I would feel remorse. Evan if I was using the best available information at the time. These men had honor and proved it by serving their country in difficult situations, these men had families that are owed our respect and gratitude, and these men lived their lives under the caveat of danger and did it until their last breath. Every possible method of extracting the truth and honor their memory must be taken. Secretary of State Clinton showed her gratitude when she stated “what does it matter?” To give Mrs Clinton an answer, it matters because we are supposed to be an honorable society, one that shows gratitude for those who serve its interests. We are supposed to show remorse for the loss of these men as they lived their lives with dedication and honor. We can only show them and their families the same in their loss.
Michael Dawson
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“Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day. I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, and police officers all over this country who say “we are not afraid,” and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook” (Obama, 2014).
Again Mr. President I have to say that you have missed the point. Not surprising as you tow the party line here but being a citizen means living under the rule of law begun with the Declaration of independence and followed by the Constitution of the United States. The second amendment gives all Americans the right to bear arms, or for those who those words are difficult, to own guns. Justice is not the taking away of civil liberties it is following the rule of law and arresting those who do not. If it is justice you seek then as the President make useful changes to the legal system that help solve the legal grid lock or define human rights but I say how dare you tell me that because a criminal committed a crime I have to lose my God given rights. I do not own a gun Mr. President but I am a veteran and if I wasn’t fighting for the civil liberties of all citizens of this country what exactly was I fighting for. I recall other historic moments such as the thirties Germany that tried what you are trying and I don’t like the way that tale ends. You have forgotten that Obama, B. (2014). CBS News. Retrieved you have spoken an oath to protect the constitution not ignore it.from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obamas-2014-state-of-the-union-address-full-text/ “We have to remain vigilant. But I strongly believe our leadership and our security cannot depend on our military alone. As Commander-in-Chief, I have used force when needed to protect the American people, and I will never hesitate to do so as long as I hold this office. But I will not send our troops into harm’s way unless it’s truly necessary; nor will I allow our sons and daughters to be mired in open-ended conflicts. We must fight the battles that need to be fought, not those that terrorists prefer from us – large-scale deployments that drain our strength and may ultimately feed extremism” (Obama, 2014).
I find the Presidents words here a complete and utter lie. Not long ago Mr. President you tried to throw the United States into a war in Syria, a civil war between factions of different Islamic believers that would have added to this countries deficit as well as the world view that other nations have against the USA. What American people would you be protecting in Syria? Not the US soldiers that would die due to this decision. What has Syria been if nothing but an open ended conflict. At what point Mr. President are you going to stop treating the citizens of this Great nation as idiots with no memories? Obama, B. (2014). CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obamas-2014-state-of-the-u The Effects of the Obama Administration on the Public Trust Michael Dawson 10/27/2013 To write a paper on any criteria one must first define those criteria: Public Trust; 1.” …the public’s confidence reposed in their elected officials and expectation that these elected officials will faithfully perform the duties of public office” ("Answers.com", 2013). Or 2. “Public administration and public employment, in particular, are consequently considered to be a “public trust.” As subordinates of the sovereign people, public administrators are also placed in a position that differs considerably from that of managers and employees in the private sector. Public administrators are engaged in the formulation and implementation of policies that allocate resources, values, and status in a fashion that is binding on the society as a whole. They are agents of the sovereign, which means that the actions of public administrators have the force of law and the coercive power of the government behind them” (Rosenbloom, Kravchuk, & Clerkin, p. 11, 2009). Each above definition offers insight into how to look at the public trust and each speak of the public’s expectations of an official to do their job. It seems simple that the American public has an expectation of service from those who are elected to office and yet some many times that expectation is not met, times like:
The apparent cause of the loss of trust is a series of events and responses by the President spanning his five- year Presidency. Events such as
Because of these breach’s in trust many organizations, such as the Inspector General of the IRS and Congress have investigated many of these incidents without much results, changes are made, rarely is anyone person held accountable. What is interestingly enough it is not that these breach’s of trust have occurred that has damaged the Presidents credibility with the public but more because of the Presidents response to almost all of them was that he did not know about them and learned from the news like everyone else, also he almost always spoke of the person at the lead position for each agency involved as if the person were doing a great job and placing blame on his rivals. Occurrences such as the news reporting the United States spying on the Chancellor of Germany, the Presidents response was through Jay Carney (Press Secretary) “I am not going to get into details of internal discussions,” press secretary Jay Carney replied, repeating previous promises that “we do not and will not monitor the chancellor’s communications.” This formulation conspicuously omits the phrase “did not.”” (Milbank, 2013). Also mentioned in this same article by Milbank is several occurrences when the President or Jay Carney tries to blame the Republican party or others for failures by his administration, failures such as the Affordable Care Act rollout which the President blamed on the Republican party. The resolution for many of these crises or as the press has written scandals is unsure, but it seems as if the current administration would rather lay blame than fix government. Bipartisanship was a campaign promise of the Presidents in 2008 yet since 2008 all the country has seen is division of parties to the point of a government shutdown. The President seems as if he is either woefully unprepared to be President or he is uninformed by his own people which raises the question of who is really in charge? Either way the American public is losing trust in a President, who is no longer accountable or trustworthy. As far as public administration and personal ethics are concerned the ethical standards should almost completely overlap. The American public in the surveys taken of the President’s approval want a man who keeps his word and accepts responsibility both of which it is hard to find with the current administration. The Gallup polls about the President’s approval paint a picture of hope and lost trust as they start in the high 60 percentile and slowly over five years erode to just over 40%. The poll itself shows that what the public voted for and what they received were different and the current administrations ethical plan of assigning blame was not what the American people wanted. As President Obama completes his last three years in office, he must make a choice to either continue his current practice of assigning blame and poor workmanship or start to keep his promises that helped him get elected. The American public will respond to either choice but as time slips away the American Public as shown through the Approval ratings of the President and of the parties themselves, 38% approval for democrats in Congress and 28%("Gallup,” 2013). Republicans numbers will simply continue to drop as long as current issues are responded to in like manner. They will only begin to change if the President, and the parties begin to fix the current problems and regain the trust of the people. Damage can be fixed and perceptions can be changed but to do this from such a negative standpoint will be difficult for the current administration. Like many parents telling their children that the first step to success is to take responsibility the American Public is telling Washington DC to do the same. As the problem continues it will become harder and harder for the public to trust anybody in office, and this will cause voting slumps and partisanship problems as trusting others will be unheard of. Ultimately as the current course chosen by the President the government will eventually become separated as will the American people that getting anything done at all will be miraculous. References Answers.com. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/public-trust-1 Rosenbloom, D., Kravchuk, R., & Clerkin, R. (2009). PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Understanding Management, Politics, (7th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.. Gallup. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/116479/barack-obama-presidential-job-approval.aspx Koffler, K. (2011). The Whitehouse Dossier. Retrieved from http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2013/08/01/obama-dozen-scandals-counting/ Milbank, D. (2013). Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-what-did-president-obama-know-and-when-did-he-know-it/2013/10/28/584702d0-4013-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html Gallup. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/163244/americans-rate-republicans-democrats-congress-poorly.aspx We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Interestingly enough as I watch the news and see how politicians treat the ideas of the constitution I feel compelled to revisit the document often. I have given my opinion on this several times as the current administration in my opinion tries to eliminate the people from understanding its meaning. This is not much different then the Catholic Church hierarchy basically telling Catholics to let priest read the bible and interpret that for them. I personally believe we all should know the documents our beliefs are built on.I have been looking at the preamble of the constitution and there are some telling words that I would like to make everyone aware of.
First we the people, not we the government officials. Second ensure justice, I believe this means that we should be acting in an honest fashion to not only each other but to those outside this nation. I feel the current administration fails miserably on this account. How can we demand honesty and trust of other nations when we spend so much effort in distrusting our own citizens and allies? Insure domestic tranquility, I am a regular work a day American citizen and I have not felt tranquil in some time. I do not believe the last presidential administration was working toward this goal and I am damn sure this current administration could care less about the citizen’s tranquility. The current administration mocks those that do not believe as they do yet they are supposed to be working for everyone’s tranquility. The President looks at the opposite party as enemies as he talks about bipartisanship. He threatens congress with executive orders if congress does not agree with him and they give him a standing ovation. Have we elected a building of idiots? I certainly would not feel tranquil if a man just told me I was irrelevant. Provide for the common defense, wasn’t our President just a few months ago trying to arm supporters of Al Qaeda? Isn’t he a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood? An organization that has tried to eradicate Christians in the lands they control. I do not care what any ones opinion of the historical value of the holocaust is, the reality is if you are an organization that espouses violence against your own people or the citizens of the USA then our government should not recognize them in any fashion. The current administration speaks against bullies and then rewards them in the same breath, how do we the people trust that? Promote the general welfare and yet the idea of general welfare for the current administration is to provide government programs to make life easier for the citizens. Give a man a fish and he eats today, teach him to fish and he eats forever, a simple concept but elusive to today’s politicians. Eliminate all the welfare programs and pay for everyone’s schooling, that is the stairway to a better country not welfare programs, debt and inequality. Eliminate worry by going to a flat tax and allow the states to collect on sales tax not income. This is how we garner the monies to rebuild the infrastructure, an infrastructure that is sorely in need of rebuilding. Do not add to social security with MyRA just fix Social Security. Allow people to chase whatever dreams they see fit to chase for themselves with an education and they will either add to the world around them or they won’t by choice, if they choose not to then that’s OK but stop giving them everyone else’s money so they can have an easier time of being non productive. No one said that life was easy and that anyone deserves any entitlement. We as citizen’s have a right to our general welfare and that to me is simply you can get educated in any way you see fit and do the best you can, no one owes anybody anything. Now probably the most important phrase, secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. Liberty folks is the freedom of choice, not the freedom to agree with someone else because I should recognize they are right. Whatever happened in this nation to agreeing to disagree? Liberty or Freedom is not everyone being in lockstep with each other it is a melding of ideas and cultures, an acceptance of differences, straight or gay, conservative or liberal or black or white. There is no acceptance of each other in America today and I am tired of us as citizens letting pundits and politicians use our difference for leverage to gain an advantage over us and then let us destroy each other while they get rich at our expense. Our differences should be celebrated not attacked. Evan Martin Luther King wanted equality not another master race.Have we secured the blessings of liberty for our posterity? I seriously doubt it. Before we can be good stewards of the world’s problems we must conquer our own problems. We must secure our borders and then each citizen decide what is acceptable for themselves, while allowing others to make different choices and create laws that allow all to grow and enjoy liberty. Only then can we help the world or maybe as we allow ourselves to grow we will learn to let others nations do the same without restraint as long as they do not threaten others It is human nature to cast blame on things we do not know, maybe the thing we do not know the most is ourselves. Maybe we, each citizen should look inward and ask ourselves if liberty is what we are fighting for or maybe we are trying to dominate others. If domination of others is your endgame there are several nations playing please go find one, I prefer Liberty. Michael Dawson |
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I am a Middle Class American with an opinion, living in the Midwest and tired of hope and change Archives
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