I Believe

I Believe that Barack Obama is a pretty damn good President. I'm glad we once again have a President who uses his brain!

I Believe that Barack Obama is an imperfect human being and that we should all expect him to make mistakes and disagree with us.

I Believe that when my grandfathers served my country in World War II and Dad in the Army Reserves, they did so in defense of freedom - for all people.

I Believe that as much as I like Obama, I'd like him even more if he would back up his talk on GLBT freedom with more action (and not having his administration defend DOMA in the courts). Oh, and highlight his dedication to open government by releasing those torture photos. If there's no reason to hide them, then why hide them?

I Believe that the effort being expended to stop the release of those photos and to protect DOMA could be better spent on other important matters.

I Believe that there are very few people on DKos who blindly support Obama, and there are also very few who look for any opportunity whatsoever to bash him. Most think he's a great President, but far from perfect. I am in that camp.

I Believe that change takes time. We would be mistaken if we expected Obama to do everything we want him to do in less than five months. Or, for that matter, less than four years. Even so...

I Believe in accountability. Speaking out and holding our elected officials accountable is not merely a right - it is our civic duty. We can say what we want to each other on DU, but there's a greater chance it would have an impact if our elected officials knew our opinions. How can we expect elected officials to do what we want if we don't tell them what we want?

I Believe - no, I Know - that the Capitol Switchboard is at 1-877-762-8762 (1-877-SOB-U-SOB). The White House's comment line is at 1-202-456-1111. I have programmed the numbers for the White House and my members of Congress into my cell phone so I don't have to look them up every time.

I Believe that it's much more productive to share your views with your elected officials than to be silent.

I Believe that the Red Wings are going to dominate tonight!