President Obama's Military Speech 27 Feb 2009

I believe President Obama's speech to the US Military at at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, late Friday morning 27 February 2009, regarding the plan to end the combat mission in Iraq by 31 August 2010, is the best speech he has given so far on any subject.

I have stronger interest in other subjects, so it was not just the subject he talked about that kept me on the edge of my seat and held my attention, but how he presented it. His previous speeches have been way too long on subtopics within topics, resulting in my mind starting to wander, and a couple of times I nearly fell asleep.

It is my opinion that President Obama does a better job addressing world issues than issues here at home in the USA. I still have 100% confidence for the job he can do on the world stage. By comparison, my confidence in what he can do here in the USA, and how soon, has fallen to about 40%. That is to say, I rate him a 10 on world issues, and I now rate him a 4 on issues within the USA. Giving him a 4 is actually high praise. I would have to give most other elected officials here in the USA a score that would be less than zero, a few of them as low as a negative 10.

I sometimes wonder if we should be electing two Presidents. One to manage all matters here in the USA, and the other to manage all matters with our neighboring countries and all other countries overseas. I'd like to get Feedback regarding that idea in Comments following this posting. The home leader, and the world leader. Perhaps, the President becomes the world leader, and the Vice President becomes the home leader, if not having two Presidents. Or, maybe just one President, but two Vice Presidents – one VP for matters in the USA, and one VP for world matters.

I believe Barack Obama will go down in history as a great world leader. Time will tell if he can make a difference for the better here in the USA.

James C. Harwood
Norman, Oklahoma
Friday 27 February 2009