LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Change is possible, but hard

OPINION:

As a longtime admirer of Clifford May’s op-eds I have to shout “Bravo” after reading “Can America change course?” (Web, April 12). Underlying Mr. May’s thesis that it will be difficult for any new incumbent of the Oval Office to make dramatic changes to our national security strategy is the recognition of how much President Obama’s promise of changing America has been achieved during his time in office. The changes extend well beyond national security and reach deeply into our whole culture.

Several commentators have written about how the president’s statements on ongoing police investigations seem to have encouraged rather than assuaged racial problems. Others have pointed to presidential pronouncements on the introduction of Obamacare or on the events leading to the atrocities at Benghazi; some have pointed to the nuclear agreement with Iran or other issues that cast real doubt on the president’s honesty. The fact that there has been so little public outcry on these issues suggests that too few citizens pay close attention to the direction in which the country is headed, and thus no longer demand integrity from their elected officials.

The future has been clearly defined by the presumptive Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has made it clear that she intends to continue President Obama’s policies. If the nation really intends to return to solvency, true national security and integrity in government officials, it must awaken from the slumber Mr. Obama has introduced and vote for someone who will reverse this appalling national decline.

But Mr. May has made it clear the task will be monumental.

STANLEY ORMAN

Rockville