PETERSON | Everyone is a critic

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Washington, D.C., has always been the bringer of the best and the worst in American politics.

These days, it seems the worst is all that can be expected from Capitol Hill and the White House.

Many people will complain about how pork-ridden President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus legislation is. But what’s new?

Of course, those who look to not gain from the stimulus package to the very letter will have a lot to complain about. How dare the president of the United States consider my needs less than those who would see their opportunities improve from the money being doled out to others!

Well, what else should Obama do to ease those pains? Give money to every person who has a problem with him?

The fact of the matter is that he won the 2008 election, and he has to start acting like he won and not become bogged down in currying too much favor to those who would just as soon choke him with the slack he gives.

Working with the GOP to get the country back on track is one thing, but getting assaulted by partisan bickering from either side of the argument that isn’t getting everything it wants is quite another.

When the second Bush administration felt like offering tax cuts from the Clinton administration’s surpluses, who complained about that? Do you like free money?

Sure, we all do! Why should we worry about paying back debts that we can put off? We are the U.S., after all!Fast forward to today, and America really ought to have heeded some of the signs on the wall, right?

Of course, anyone caught up in popular trends can easily blame Bush for all of the crises of the world, from Iraq to Guantanamo to Afghanistan to enough locations to fill up a traveler’s brochure. The point is that making criticism is cheap.

Art critics made a mockery of Pablo Picasso for all the odd-looking pieces he created, and did he stop painting because of it?

Did movie critics give hell to Francis Ford Coppola for making the third Godfather movie, and was he ruined forever for it?

Was JFK, despite his heightened aims for American values and being an American hero, criticized for being a Catholic and accused of Vatican connections, and is he forever tarnished for it?

Asking those who have any better ideas to come forward and suggest something else and not giving off a lot of hot air is not fully constructive enough, so maybe there should be something else to do, like volunteering hours, donating food and clothing, or just simply smiling at someone passing by.

The sooner America realizes that saying and doing something are two very different things, the quicker Americans can find out that things aren’t as bad as they seem.

Change is only worth a damn when you take a chance for once.