President
Obama should look at the history of how another Democrat president acted in the
First World War. At first, President Wilson did everything he could do to stay
out of the war. The American populace was dead set against entry into the war;
but as Germany was not willing to seriously negotiate and when on March 18,
1917, German U-boats sank three American merchant ships, Wilson changed his
mind—he decided on war.
Congress
declared war on April 7, 1917. Wilson used the presidential “bully pulpit” to
mobilize American motivation to fight the Germans. He took charge of raising
American fury against the German leadership, and he even set aside the
Constitutional rights of American citizens to do it. (Abraham Lincoln had set
that example during the Civil War when he set aside the right of habeas corpus.) President Wilson
convinced Congress to pass the Sedition Act in 1917, which outlawed draft
dodging and legitimized censoring printed material including the mail. In 1918,
the Sedition Act prevented private citizens from speaking out against the
federal government in the war effort. Wilson created the Committee on Public Information,
which distributed propaganda against Germany. He saw to it that taxes were
raised to the highest level in American history in order to raise money to
fight the war—taxes on the rich rose to an astounding 77% of income.
President
Obama could mobilize America to do something about the deteriorating world
situation if he only had the will to do it. If he really wants a favorable
legacy, as most pundits say he does, he must act militarily against tyranny. He
must get on his feet and convince Americans that we can, again, gain control of
an almost hopeless situation. We must act to prevent the slaughter of thousands
of innocent civilians by the Syrian government using nerve gas!!
However,
I am afraid that the legacy President Obama will leave will be a reputation as
the President who presided over the greatest demise of American prestige and
effectiveness in the history of the modern world.
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