Dear Mr. Obama,

Congratulations on making it into office! I voted for you.

Now, here’s my concern. It’s nice that you believe that it’s important to reach across the party line and try to unite people, but honestly, your own party has interests that should be as important or even more important than the other party’s. The Democratic party hasn’t had a president for almost ten years, and those were long years. It was time.

People voted for you for a reason. They like your policies, they like what you stand for. They like that you’re generally more progressive than other Democrats. And a lot of them were pissed off when you catered to the religious right with your choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at your inauguration. Even you have to admit, his speech was pretty lame compared to the rhyming benediction given by Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery. I know you’re a Christian, but I’m not and I even I thought Lowery’s speech was so much more beautiful and spiritual than Warren’s claptrap. You don’t get much better than this as spiritual things go:

Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around — when yellow will be mellow — when the red man can get ahead, man — and when white will embrace what is right.

You have so many things you can do for those of us who are true blue liberals and have been waiting years for someone like you to come along and do or reverse the doing of. It is our turn and you cannot deny us those things we have long been waiting for, especially in:

• Reproductive health (thanks for the repeal of the gag rule, by the way)
• Environmental protections
• Governmental responsibility/accountability (this is the “government of the people and by the people” after all)
• Corporate responsibility
• LGBT rights (we’re waiting…)

It is time for you to live up to your promises, not to pander to the right, who didn’t vote for you, and would never vote for you.  Pander to us, your constituents, the people who put you in office.  We know what we wanted and we told you.  You promised us liberals (and moderates) that if we voted for you, you would give us the world.  Now I’m not stupid, so I know that the number of campaign promises that presidents usually fulfill is negligible.  You’ve been doing wonderfully so far.  Please don’t flake out on us.  But there is so much left to be done and you know it.

Sincerely,

QueerLady

P.S. I will be later posting what I personally want from this presidency.  I just didn’t think it had any place in this letter.