Lyndon Johnson had a dog nearly destroy his career, when he picked up his beagle by the ears

Open Letter to Barack Hussein Obama on his Inauguration

January 21, 2009

President Barack Hussein Obama

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, D.C. 20006

Dear Barack,

Congratulations! I have to confess I got goosebumps watching your Inauguration and related festivities—you know, what with Pete Seeger singing Woody Guthrie and all. You also know that you weren’t my first choice. I supported and voted for our Peace & Freedom Party candidate, Ralph Nader, and I still think he would do a better job. But what’s done is done, and maybe it's for the best.

I do think you sincerely want the best for our nation, even though your program has shortcomings. I think of Abraham Lincoln and FDR, neither of whom really intended to preside over the historic changes which marked their presidencies, but they were forced to take the actions they did by the demands of the people and the course of history. So, who knows what the future will bring?

I also think of LBJ. He aspired to great accomplishments but the war in Vietnam destroyed his historic legacy. I would caution you, therefore, not to let that happen to you. The war in Iraq does not become OK now that you are President. It is still a Crime Against Humanity, and you own it now. (I know, there are those who think that LBJ did himself in by his maltreatment of his beagle. But I also know you won’t be lifting your little puppy by his ears.)

So, I urge you to take immediate action on the following: All U.S. troops and mercenaries out of Iraq and Afghanistan! All U.S. weapons and Israeli troops out of Gaza! All U.S. insurance companies out of health care!

I know, your Advisors and High Officials will tell you that you just can’t do all that, but I urge you to stand with the people of America and the world and say, Yes We Can!

That, of course, is just for openers. As you said in your Inaugural Address, we face serious challenges in the months and years ahead. Unfortunately, your Advisors and High Officials haven’t a clue about what to do. You would be better off following the suggestions of my running mate, Ralph Nader, as well as that of the Green Party candidate, Cynthia McKinney. Better yet, take a look at the socialist Platform of our Peace & Freedom Party. Here you’ll find concrete suggestions on how to move “toward a world where cooperation replaces competition, a world where all people are well fed, clothed and housed; where all women and men have equal status; where all individuals may freely endeavor to fulfill their own talents and desires; a world of freedom and peace where every community retains its cultural integrity and lives with all others in harmony.” Let me highlight a few points from my own campaign literature.

PEACE AND DISARMAMENT: Immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq and Afghanistan is of course a must. The U.S. must also honor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in which the United States and other nuclear nations agreed “to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.” (Article VI) We signed this over 40 years ago and so, under our Constitution, it forms part of the supreme law of our land. Honoring this treaty, of course, would involve closing our over 900 military bases overseas, honoring international law, including non-intervention in the internal affairs of other nations. Such disarmament would free tremendous resources to address social and environmental concerns.

GUARANTEED EMPLOYMENT: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations sixty years ago, guarantees everyone, in America and around the world, “the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment” and “to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for themselves and their family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.” The right to quality free heath care and free education must also be established and all forms of racism and sexism abolished. Along with guaranteed employment, we need public ownership of all industrial and financial institutions, so that they can be brought under the democratic control of the working class. These measures would also provide a framework for solving our current economic crisis.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: Americans must learn to share our planet with six billion other people so that we can meet our needs while preserving the earth for future generations. We must address the issue of global warming and end the ecological destruction caused by capitalism and build a new society that is in harmony with nature as well as our own people. Important steps include ending dependence of fossil fuels and nuclear power, development of solar technology and other renewable, non-polluting energy sources, massive development of free public transportation, and rigorous environmental protection. Again, these measures would be facilitated by public ownership of the Earth and the machinery of production and distribution.

Finally—and I know I’ll be on controversial ground here—I think you should get a beagle. I remember the many happy hours I spent with my old friend, Clarence the Beagle, and I hope you and your daughters can enjoy similar experiences. But be sure to tell them, lay off the ears.

Anyway, that’s what I think.

Sincerely.

Eugene E Ruyle

Emeritus Professor of Anthropology

Peace and Freedom Party Candidate for Congress

California’s 10th Congressional District

(parts of Contra Costa, Alameda, Solano, & Sacramento Counties)

(over 11,000 votes in 2008, looking forward to 2010)

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This is the forth, and maybe the last, of my Open Letters to Barack Obama. All have been posted on the mybarackobama.com web site, the first three at:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/eugeneruyle

This one is at:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/eugeneruyle2/gGxFSc

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/eugeneruyle2

I suspect they won’t last long and that they won’t make it onto President Obama’s official web page, whitehouse.gov, so I’m posting them on my own webpage:

http://www.cuyleruyle.com/