Let me preface this post by saying that I am proud to be an American. I love to celebrate Independence Day. I believe in the American dream, baseball, and apple pie and all that. I have had a great life and have benefited from all the freedoms that citizens of the United States enjoy. I am truly blessed! With that said, please don't hold what I express next against me.
I don't usually post anything political on my personal blog, but I have been so frustrated with how our government handles crises - and there are many of them lately - that I just can't contain myself. I need to voice my opinion somewhere and I guess this is my best option.
Politics gets in the way of common sense and that drives me nuts! Our current president of the United States, Mr. Barack Obama, has shown no leadership skills while acting as president. He goes out on fundraisers or plays golf when he should be trying to put out all the metaphorical fires burning throughout the world. I was reading an old Reader's Digest this morning and ran across a page of quotes on leadership that I feel are true and show what a poor leader Pres. Obama is. I want to share some of those quotes later in this blog.
One of the fires burning right now that Pres. Obama is doing nothing about is our porous borders. There have been an estimated 250,000-300,000 illegal aliens, including about 50,000 children illegally entering our country at our southern border since April. More arrive every day. The children are being dumped in care facilities in Arizona, Texas, and California that can't handle the numbers. These illegals are bringing many diseases, including AIDS and tuberculosis, with them. The Federal Government is covering up the extent of the health crisis. This puts American citizens at risk. Pres. Obama doesn't seem to be worried about this. His lack of interest shows his lack of leadership skills.
I like a quote I heard on a television news show from a protester in Murrieta, CA - just one of the cities the govt. is trying to dump these illegal children on and who doesn't want the responsibility, but is forced to accept. This Murrieta resident said, "This is a Federal Government forcing its will upon a community. It is frustrating because I am watching a federal government treat people like cattle for a political agenda." These children are being treated like cattle. They are sleeping on the floors of these facilities with little privacy and very few creature comforts. I agree with that man's statement.
President Obama and the left-wing Democrats want illegal aliens to be allowed into the country so that they can become citizens who are dependent upon the government and who will grow up wanting to vote for democrats in the future when they get the right to vote. I want the best for these children, but there are so many of them coming that we can't keep up with the demand. That is why they are being dumped in communities who don't want them. The sad thing is that they are coming here without their parents and they are hoping to be connected with "supposed relatives" who are already living in this country illegally. They must be very scared and feeling very uncertain about their future. This is a huge mess and our borders need to be secured ASAP so this problem can be resolved, preventing more illegals from coming into this country.
Thinking about how our President has handled the illegal alien problem, the IRS Scandal, the Benghazi Scandal, the VA Scandal, foreign policy (including what is going on right now in Iraq with ISIS and Russia's invasion of Ukraine), and other problems, I share these quotes on leadership to make my point that I believe Pres. Obama is the worst President our country has ever had.
Quote #1 - "A leader is one who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself the woe of the people. There are few men so foolish, hence the erratic quality of leadership." -- John Updike
President Obama has not taken upon himself the woes of the people. He passes all the problems on to others to try to figure out while he plays golf, goes on expensive vacations, poses for photo ops, or throws himself and his cronies lavish parties.
Quote #2 - "Good leadership requires you to surround yourself with people of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of retaliation." -- Doris Kearns Goodwin
President Obama will not work with those who do not agree with him. He is extremely set in his ways and will not bend at all when it comes to getting done what he wants to get done - even if it destroys the country in the process. He talks about the importance of compromise, but that always means that others need to compromise....NOT HIM! If anyone disagrees with him, they are considered a racist. Very sad!
Quote #3 - "You have to have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet." -- Rev. Theodore Hesburgh
Pres. Obama does not have a vision for putting out any of these "fires" going on around him right now. He hasn't voiced an opinion on how he will solve any of them. He just seems satisfied to put them on the back burner until something drastic happens or until someone else puts out the fire. I believe that even though he has over two years left in his presidency, he has become weary of being President and has mentally checked out.
Quote #4 - "When things go wrong in your command, start searching for the reason in increasingly large circles around your own two feet." -- Gen. Bruce Clarke
When it comes to Pres. Obama, he always places the blame on someone else. He is the most narcissistic person I know. I wish I had a dollar for every time he took credit for positive things that have happened that he didn't really have anything to do with, or every time he blamed Pres. Bush or someone else for the troubles he has had to contend with instead of taking the blame himself. With good leadership and a transparent government, these problems could have been nipped in the bud instead of growing to the size of giant redwood trees like they are today. He ran for office on the premise that his administration would be the most transparent administration ever. He was lying through his teeth. This is the LEAST transparent administration ever!
With all this said, I do want to say that I love this country in spite of its problems and in spite of its leaders. All of this chaos is just testifying to me that the last days are upon us. All of this chaos and destruction has been prophesied for thousands of years. I know that God had a hand in the founding of America so that this country could be the place where He could restore His true church. I am hopeful that Americans can rise above the adversity of a greedy and corrupt government and stand together as patriots who want the best for this country.
The Constitution is truly hanging by a thread, but quotes from Presidents Brigham Young, Joseph Smith, and John Taylor put my mind at ease. When Brigham Young (the 2nd Pres. of the Church) was asked if the Constitution will be destroyed, he said "No, it will be held inviolate by this people." Joseph Smith (the 1st Pres. of the church) said, "The time will come when the destiny of this nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction. It will be so." John Taylor, the third President of the Church said "When the people shall have torn to shreds the Constitution of the United States, the elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of the earth and proclaiming liberty and equal rights to all men, and extending the hand of fellowship to the oppressed of all nations."
In spite of its problems, America is still the land of the free. I salute patriots everywhere who are standing up for the freedoms we enjoy, especially those who serve in our military. Without them, our freedoms could disappear without a trace. I am grateful to have been born in and raised in America where I have been a beneficiary of all its freedoms. So far, the American dream is still alive. May God continue to bless America!
