Dear Mr. President,

What Sara said.

This is a life or death situation and it is deteriorating. The history and the pathologies that got us to this point are well-documented by organizations like SPLC and by independent scholars. Some of us are trying to understand and deal with the situation in a sane and appropriate manner. We could use some support from our government and some leadership from you right now.

I know you inherited a bad situation. I understand you’re still getting things in order and you have a lot on your plate. Saving the world economy must be taxing the resources of the executive branch to the limit. But a lot of us put our feelings aside and supported you despite the fact that we totally disagree with you on many issues, and despite the fact that you sold us out on FISA.

Since you have given us no indication that you intend to dismantle the surveillance apparatus, I hope these domestic terrorists are very high on your list of “legitimate threats.” Please put everything you can spare into shutting this down, Mr. President. These people are bent on exterminating us.

A lot of us would be proud of you if you used the bully pulpit and the power of the executive branch to take a strong stand on this and shut down the virulent media actors who are inciting political violence against us. Since you are a brilliant and well-respected legal scholar, I am sure you understand the implications of the Rwanda Media Case.

It is time to deal with this issue. It needs to change. I think you can save some lives if you show some leadership here. You can probably score a lot of points, too. It seems like a win-win to me.

Respectfully,

geneo