I served eight years in the United States Air Force, from 1977 to 1985. From there I went on to a 22 year career with the federal government, in the Bureau of Prisons. For 30 years I worked for the President of the United States and his cabinet members - the Secretary of Defense or the Attorney General. Only once during that career was I ashamed of the government for which I worked. And that was during the Carter administration.
Jimmy Carter was no leader. He may have been a decent governor - I don't remember because I was 19 years old and didn't much care about politics. And I didn't live in Georgia. He must have done something right because he ended up as President of the United States.
But as President he was mostly a failure. He negotiated an arms treaty with the Soviet Union which the Soviet Union had no intentions of honoring. He failed miserably when the American embassy in Iran was taken by terrorists and the Americans there were held hostage for over a year (444 days.) He cut funding to and reduced the size of our military, as Democrats seem to enjoy doing. Unemployment and inflation both rose during his administration.
The worst thing by far was Carter's handling, or non-handling, of the Iranian hostage crisis. He had no idea what to do. When negotiations failed the military attempted a rescue, which also failed and resulted in the deaths of 8 service members. (In all fairness, the failed rescue attempt wasn't the fault of President Carter but the entire hostage crisis was handled badly and Carter didn't have the backbone to take decisive action. The hostages were freed the moment Ronald Reagan finished his oath of office in 1981. Some say they were released because of ongoing negotiations. Most believe it was because Iran knew that Ronald Reagan would not sit back and allow them to be kept in captivity.)
The only reason I wasn't ashamed of the government for which I worked a second time is because I retired in 2007. If I had worked for President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder I would have retired. That's how bad things have gotten, in my opinion.
President Obama is not a leader. Despite the credit he takes for certain military actions, such as the Navy SEALs bagging Bin Laden, his military successes are negligible. He has gutted our military. He pulled all of our troops out of Iraq and it is being taken over by ISIS. His less than aggressive air campaign isn't much of a deterrent to them. Russian President Vladimir Putin is flying military missions near our coast and has threatened nuclear war if Obama one day lives up to the treaty we have with Ukraine. (So far Obama has ignored our agreement to defend Ukraine from Russian aggression.)
Obama talks about how great the economy is doing even as 47% of Americans are now on government assistance and the number of people who are actually still in the work force is the lowest it has been in over 35 years. He brags about the deficit being lower but ignores the fact that he has nearly doubled the national debt.
I won't even get into all of the various scandals and lies except to mention that according to President Obama, Benghazi was caused by a video and if you like your doctor and your insurance plan you can keep them. Enough said.
President Obama seems intent on befriending our enemies, such as Cuba and Iran, and alienating our friends and allies, such as Israel and Great Britain. (Sure, the leaders of Israel and Great Britain say assuringly that the relationships between our nations is as strong as ever but the tension between them [Obama and Netanyahu for instance] is visible when they are together.)
Obama's election was historical. He was the first-ever African American President. It was a milestone for the United States and her people. But on day #2 of his Presidency that milestone was left behind and his legacy began. Contrary to popular liberal opinion, his skin color doesn't matter. Being black doesn't make him a bad President. But it certainly doesn't make him a good one. His words and actions will determine his legacy. And so far it's not looking good.
I am ashamed of many of President Obama's actions within the world. He vowed to "fundamentally change America" and he is working hard to fulfill that vow. From his worldwide apology tour, to government run health care, to reducing America's standing in the world, to his apparent hatred of Israel and her Prime Minister, Obama just doesn't live up to the standards set by past Presidents. Even Jimmy Carter was better than Obama. It has nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with integrity and honor. And it seems Mr. Obama possesses neither of those characteristics.
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