Who is this Barack Obama? In the eyes of the Republicans he is fickle, weak, does not understand the Middle East, a timid decision maker, not so bright, a liar, a person who does not love America, an illegitimate president, a president who leads from behind, a president of America that any of the 2016 Republican presidential candidates would be better than and many other negative things that would comprise a list that is longer than I would care to mention.  Further – in their eyes, he does not pound his chest nearly enough to emphasize America’s strength or bully the rest of the world and threaten to annihilate them if they do not see things the same way that we do and agree to do them exactly our way.

Now I will tell you who my president is in my eyes. He is a strong and principled president who always leads from the front despite the tremendous demands of his office and the additional unwarranted and unnecessary weight placed on him by his fellow politicians whose number one goal was to make him a one-term president and now is to deny him any victories in order to ruin his legacy even if those victories are in the best interest of America.

He is a president who is consistent, strong, completely understands the volatile and sensitive Middle East situation, a strong decision maker, extremely bright, a truth teller who constantly monitors the emotional atmosphere of our country and world situations then skillfully incorporates the results – in consideration of the American people and the volatility of those situations – into his determination and the delivery of his message as to how America will handle these problems. He is a president who loves America and all of her citizens, without doubt a legitimate president, a president that has accomplished great things for our country, a president who is definitely not irreplaceable (no one is) but one who will leave big shoes to fill.  And finally, he is not the blowhard which it seems that Republican leaders around the country and Republican politicians in Washington want.

Obviously, my view of President Obama is the flip side of the coin that depicts how his Republican adversaries and others who see him as an illegitimate president view him. I believe that my perspective coincides with that of most other reasonable people whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents.  They might not like him or agree with the decisions that he makes but they do not condone denigrating him and sabotaging his leadership before American citizens and the world based on those things.

The best way to replace President Obama and prevent people like him who support his perspectives and way of governance from leading the country is to exercise your right to vote! I would quickly add that in doing this, the process should not in any way be sabotaged to prevent anyone who has a right to vote from exercising that right.

We are a democracy and have to work harder to act like one no matter how angry and frustrated we might be or might become with one another. We must realize and accept that this type of governance can be and usually is messy but also realize that it is what has helped to make America the great country that it is.

In realizing and accepting this we can continue to fuss, fight and complain but we must not let anything or anybody separate us based on race, religion, gender or any such thing; weaken us and then exploit that weakness for their personal gain or the gain of any cause that they might champion. To do so is playing right into the hands of ISIS and other terrorist organizations like it.  This is exactly what they want America to do!

I have disagreed with decisions that President Obama has made, felt the frustration of not receiving equal treatment as an American by those in power as well as from everyday white American citizens based simply on the color of my skin, been disappointed because my white brothers and sisters either cannot or do not seem to want to understand that disappointment and marveled at those white people who do not believe that there is any such a thing as white privilege. I get upset with them – many of whom I consider to be my friends, and gripe and complain (sometimes to them) about their lack of perception and inability to see something that is (to me) so blatantly obvious.  I can only imagine the reciprocal because I have not lived it but many of them are likely just as frustrated with me and my seemingly inability to see things from their perspective.

But I firmly believe that the great majority of white people want things to be fair and want everyone who is willing to work for it to have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. There are too many white people who have, from since almost the time that the first load of slaves were delivered to the shores of America, privately – and later openly helped people of color to advance for me to be wrong.  And during the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, white people have openly stood arm-in-arm with their black counterparts in an effort to achieve equality for all people.  And they have done this while all the time being ridiculed by other white people and at the risk of their own personal safety.  This is something that should not be taken lightly or for granted.

So I encourage all of us as Americans to consider these things in our decision making and to always incorporate them into our thinking before we act. I understand the fear that all of the recent senseless killing has engendered because I too am afraid.  But we cannot let fear rule us, instead, we must manage it.  We have all been afraid before at one time or another and have come through it safely.  I would wager that if we reflect on those times that we were afraid most of us would arrive at the conclusion that we were better off because we managed that fear than we would have been had we not managed it.

And again I say – if we must, let us fuss, fight, complain and disagree – in a civilized way – about the issues and how our country’s leader handles them but as Americans, let us always remain civil. In addition, politicians whom we have elected to lead and guide us must determine to avoid the temptation to sabotage our president’s leadership and programs and embarrass America in the eyes of the world in pursuit of political gain.  There are much better ways for them to achieve their goals and do it honorably.

Eulus Dennis