Letter to the editor: President Obama needs our help

For the past few years, many were asking for a change in the political arena and to stop the $12 billion dollar price tag each month that the war in the Middle East had created.

Now, going on seven years, why are we still in the outskirts of Baghdad and sending additional troops into Afghanistan?

Evidently the Bush administration never glanced in the history book, which tells us the people in the war-torn countries have been skirmishing for more than 8,000 years.

Looking for weapons of mass destruction was in no way going to end this conflict overnight. It was grossly misled.

It seems the whole world is governed by two words: jealousy and greed. President Barack Obama will have to take on the biggest "can of worms" in history. Now, suddenly, the banks, automakers, Wall Street, mortgage companies and others are looking for a bailout.

Are the citizens of this country so gullible that they'll follow their leaders on this path of self-destruction time after time?

I often speak about how nice it would be if everyone would stand watch in their own backyards -- something has to be done to stop this journey into bankruptcy, home foreclosures and complete economic disaster.

But nothing ever was done and we must now face the music and pray for a way out of this tragic disaster facing our proud country. Obama cannot alone make this change. He has asked every citizen to cooperate and help him get the United States of America back on its feet and, as soon as possible, return our heroes who have been deployed to the war zone. They belong safe at home, with their families and loved ones.

We should set aside and bury the hatchet between party lines and become a single force. We should join our new president, each and every one of us, and sacrifice some of our excess luxuries and pleasures and help him get this nation back on its feet.

And, with most of us at home enjoying our freedom -- sporting events, etc. -- let us not forget the Armed Forces defending that freedom all over the world.

We must make a sincere effort to help Obama get us out of this deep hole that all of us are in today. Think positive and try to emulate the courage and prayers that were shown recently in the Hudson River plane-crash miracle.

Democrats, Republicans and independents set aside their political views and braved astounding odds to save those victims. That is exactly the kind of help our new president needs now!

Bob Watts

Canyon, Minn.