An Interview About President Obama's Performance

The following is a hypothetical newspaper interview that I believe should have already occurred relating to the first weeks of President Barack Obama's tenure as our nation's Chief of State:

INTERVIEWER: "You were recently quoted as saying that you wish President Obama had talked about recycling a lot more than he has. Is that correct?"
POLITICAL ANALYST: "Yes, I do wish that President Obama would put a lot more emphasis on promoting revitalization and rapid expansion of our entire nation's natural-resource recycling industry. That, to me, should be an essential element in revitalization of our nation's economy. What we obviously need is a comprehensive re-alignment of our nation's economy that protects the environment, conserves raw materials and other recyclable items such as plastic or glass, conserves land, conserves energy, and protects the military security and independence of this country."
INTERVIEWER: "Why do you think it is that President Obama has not emphasized recycling enough so far in his term of office?"
POLITICAL ANALYST: "Possibly Obama is worried that the American people would dread the prospect of having to themselves participate in recycling at the household or workplace level. The vast majority of Americans and most American businesses currently do very little in the way of recycling, and may even regard it as unnecessary, in their view.
"President Obama probably senses that the American people are already feeling down from the severe economic recession. He may well have concluded that if he asked them to please recycle during this period of unemployment or under-employment or reduced work hours for them, the American people would resent that."
INTERVIEWER: "That's an interesting theory about what has prompted our President to neglect that issue so far."
POLITICAL ANALYST: "But that's not the only major issue our new President has neglected. I think our President should have the moral courage to say to the American people that rebuilding our nation's economy has to be accompanied by bipartisan qualitative and moral goals for our entire nation.
"We as a nation need to do everything we can to help reduce the role of the alcohol industries, the tobacco industries, the illicit-drug-industries, the gambling industry, the sexual-prostitution industry, and the tattooing industry, for instance. Those industries have all too regrettably caused a perversion of our national economic system and undermined the moral authority and integrity of our nation as a whole."
INTERVIEWER: "You seem to be indicating that you would like to see President Obama emphasize wholesome moral values by American citizens on an individual basis, is that right?"
POLITICAL ANALYST: "Yes, I think that's crucial. The American people need to be reminded that even though Obama is from what may well be the most politically corrupt state in the nation, Obama as our Chief of State will not tolerate the ruination of our nation by illicit-drug dealers, for instance. But we have to keep in mind that a disproportionately high percentage of all of the illicit drug dealers are African-American men, from what I understand. And possibly Obama senses that it would be a thorny issue for him, if he were to address that moral issue at an early stage in his presidency."
INTERVIEWER: "Are you suggesting that Obama should wait 12 months before he comments on the illicit drug crisis in our nation?"
POLITICAL ANALYST: "No, I don't believe that would be wise on his part. I personally feel that President Obama has a need for some well-publicized confrontations between himself and some of the most notorious illicit-drug dealers who have particularly offended him. That type of media event, which he could preside over either in D.C. or Chicago, would remind the people that President Obama will NOT be willing to 'pass the reefer', so to speak. I think that's a very important statement he has to make, in order to demonstrate he has moral authority in the White House."
INTERVIEWER: "I find it interesting that you hint at a Chicago and D.C. duality to the Obama presidency."
POLITICAL ANALYST: "Yes, but it's obvious that very 'Tale of Two Cities' quality to Obama's Presidency could hurt him in the long run. He needs to prove to the American people that his mind is not fixated on Chicago and the District of Columbia, that he is willing to travel to other cities and towns as well. Otherwise, the people in South Carolina are going to wonder whether Obama has an unfair bias toward helping the people of Chicago and our nation's capital, while neglecting South Carolina and its needs."
INTERVIEWER: "On the subject of Presidential neglect, would you also like to see him ask all American citizens, including our nation's teenage residents, to do more in the way of calling 911 and reporting suspected incidents of illegal activities that those Americans observe?"
POLITICAL ANALYST: "Yes, that would be very good for this country. But we have to keep in mind that during Obama's honeymoon period as President, possibly his advisers have told him it might appear 'uncool' of President Obama to urge vigilance and strong support for crime deterrence in this country on the part of all Americans."
INTERVIEWER: "Do you suspect that our new chief of state is determined to distance himself from the style of his immediate predecessor, from that standpoint?"
POLITICAL ANALYST: "Yes, but that can be quite a pitfall for Obama. If Obama proceeds on the assumption that his own ideology and conduct as President have to always differ markedly from what President George W. Bush had done, this could severely undermine Obama's ability to lead our nation in a wise and righteous manner."
INTERVIEWER: "Crime deterrence, by the way, inevitably raises the question of whether Obama is doing anything to ensure a massive nationwide increase, with help from increased foundation support, in funding for drug- or alcohol-addiction-treatment programs."
POLITICAL ANALYST: "That's exactly right. It's obvious that if we could cut our nation's illicit-drug-addiction and alcohol-addiction and tobacco-addiction rate in half, the crime rate in this country would also be significantly reduced."
INTERVIEWER: "Do you truly believe that Obama has the courage and integrity to confront those issues, though?"
POLITICAL ANALYST: "Well, we have to think that Obama's own well-publicized attempt to quit smoking tobacco cigarettes is grounds for hope. I just hope that he will remind the American people every week of his Presidency of why Barack Obama achieved that goal for himself. And, I might add, I just hope he'll encourage all other Americans with that problem to liberate themselves from tobacco products--and from alcohol addiction, for that matter."