Dear Editor,
Recently, there have been letters discussing the US presidential elections and predictions have come from all directions as to the outcome, with the current polls showing an election too close to call. ‘Experts’ give their views and analyses on a daily basis and even our ‘pollster,’ Mr Bisram, seems not sure of committing himself to who the winner will be. All these ‘pundits’ and ‘pollsters’ really can’t see the light of day in their serious deliberations when it comes to a decisive answer as to who will win this all important election in November.
Editor, the confusion and narrow perspectives held by many ‘experts’ is laughable at best, because to understand who the winner will be demands attention to the course of history and to the dialectical understanding of the factors which brought President Barack Obama to the helm of the mightiest nation which ever existed on this planet. But what have been the effects of President Obama’s four years in office, around the world and in the USA? I contend that his presidency has brought good effects overall to our world. Has Obama delivered good deeds and God’s good graces as the world’s most powerful man? Yes, he has. Has Obama shown peaceful intent and strong principles in dealing with the world’s problems? Yes, he has. Has he buried his head in the sand when facing tough challenges like the economic meltdown in the USA and abroad? No, he has not.
Editor, President Obama has strengthened democracy worldwide with his great support of the Arab Spring which continues to this day with the challenges of removing al-Assad of Syria. His work in Burma and the Far East is showing results and will bring lasting peace and genuine development; his style of leading from behind in international crises has turned a new page for the USA in its relationships with Europe, and has enhanced his stature as a friend of Europe who will always be there to help, even when financial crises affect members of that community. In Latin America, President Obama’s policies have forced positive changes in communist Cuba and strengthened democracy throughout the region, especially in Venezuela, where Chávez is back-pedalling every day as he faces an election which might see the end of his rule. In Colombia, Obama’s continued support of government forces fighting FARC and its drug allies has now forced the latter to talk real peace; in Africa, the very presence of Obama’s power in Washington DC has done wonders, and many parts of Africa are showing the strongest growth rates in the world.
In the USA, President Obama was elected in one of America’s most troubling times, but in the vein of other great presidents who faced dire contradictions and stark decisions, he has ruled with an even hand and a brilliant mind. When the first President of America, George Washington fought the British for America’s independence and then became the leader of his country, he struggled with the establishment of a new democracy and an altered free enterprise system different in many fundamental ways from the European models, and he faced opposition from within the USA, but he prevailed and the American experiment in governance and new economic precepts came into being. When President Lincoln assumed office in 1860, he faced one of the bloodiest civil wars in history (700,000 dead) but he persevered, not only ending slavery, but moving America forward from the South’s basic feudalism, a real drag on national progress, to a new forward-thinking capitalism already fermenting in the Northern states. When President Roosevelt became the leader of America in 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression and a world war looming, he turned things around to bring victory after victory in the economic enhancement of the USA and the destruction of worldwide fascism to produce new technological and scientific innovations which strengthened capitalism and the free enterprise system.
Editor, the real battle between Obama and Romney is that of the future of the American free enterprise system; Obama is in the vein of Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and leaders like them in America’s history, who stood at the summit of power and changed the economic system for the better.
Obama wants to reform capitalism, and by doing so, he will strengthen it, whereas Romney, on the other hand, wants the same old capitalism without the human face Obama is determined to offer the world. Romney is about the past, where the fat cats ruled and the regular citizens picked up the crumbs; for example, in healthcare, where 50 million Americans had no real healthcare, whereas Obama set things on the right track with his historic ‘Obamacare’ package which turns crumbs into real bites of healthcare for US citizens. This election in a few months time will show the greatness of the American nation when it continues on the same historic road which placed Obama in the driver’s seat four years ago, and his victory will be a victory for the USA and the world at large. I am confident in saying, especially after reading detailed historical data on Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt, that these great American leaders would have looked at this election and smiled with pleasure, knowing full well that America will choose Barack Obama as the next president to continue the legacies of change and betterment which they all strove for. President Obama will win this election comfortably and the next four years will see his greatness locked into history forever.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)
