Dear President Obama,

I write you at this juncture in your presidency when everything is at stake. You’re at an urgent tipping point that has the potential to determine the direction of the rest of your presidency.

I voted for you. In fact, you were the first person I ever gave the consent to govern me. So I have a stake in the outcome of your administration. Unlike those who did not vote for you, who are interested in seeing you fail, I want to see you succeed. I want to see you bring about change.

The noise within the political arena should not distract you. It has been amplified, I know, but you should expect that because your mere presence in the White House is a change many cannot get over.

Here is what is important. We elected you to bring about change. You have to bring about change for that is our mandate. Those who oppose change have a chance to vote you out of office in three years time. If they cannot wait for three years, they can move to another country.

In the meantime, keep working for change for we are behind you. We may not be noisy and frantic, but we are here – strong and sane.

I know you are smart enough to understand that the empty vessels make the most noise. In the history of the world, noise has never trumps necessity and shouting has never been synonymous with substance. The first sign that change has come is for a congregation of critics to go viral with their venom.

That is ok. They are doing what critics always do. Theirs may seem too much. But that is because your emergence is too much. The number of fleas a dog gets is proportional to its size.

What I want you always remember is Richard Nixon’s summation of life when he fell from grace. Nixon knew that matter how well you do your job some people will not like you. “Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.”

I do not want you to hate those who do not like you. Instead give them love. If they pull their kids out of school because you were to speak to student, just laugh for it shows how fearful they are and how inferior their argument is. If they want their family and friends to remain without life insurance because you insisted it is the right thing to do, keep moving on it.

Just note that the battle ahead will be fiercer. Those who are today pulling out their hair because you want other Americans to get health insurance will do things more dramatic when you push to give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

So be steadfast and be ready. You don’t seem like someone who needs to be loved to survive each day. But if you do, know that there are plenty of love awaiting you when your job is done. Now is the time to take the blow, expect the dirt and prepare for the fire they will set on your feet. It comes with the job.

Many people shun the labor movement today. But history knows they are the one who gave us weekends.

At the end, when history comes to make its assessment of your work, it will come up with that Shakespearean declaration that,

His life was gentle; and the elements
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up,
And say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN!

Remain blessed.
Rudolf