Great leaders, like Winston Churchill, are able to address large groups of diverse people in a way that brings them together, united as one, as Americans. Bad leadership does the opposite.

The President exercised poor and divisive leadership with his recent speech regarding the shootings, and further divided a nation on edge, when what Americans needed was unity and healing, and good leadership.

He was also flat wrong with what the true core problem is but, I’ll get to that in a moment.

A major issue we all face as Americans, is that we’ve turned over our country to the fat entitled political lambs of Washington, and they continue to create new laws that create more problems, and glass ceilings for certain groups of Americans.

American politicians are out touch with the core issues that affect ordinary Americans.

Problems like American children of all backgrounds getting a decent public education, access to good health care, fair tax laws that make sense, mass shootings, and further erosion of our constitutional rights to name just a few.

Most career politicians have never known a hard day’s work in their lives, or had to embarrassingly walk to the front of the classroom and collect a free lunch ticket because your parents can’t afford school lunch. The latter happened to me in third grade, and I still remember the brief few months of shame my parents had to endure before they got themselves off welfare and back on their feet. Which is exactly what welfare should be used for, a boost to get back on your own feet. Not a golden ticket to a lifetime of entitlement. This was an important lesson I learned as a young embarrassed third grader.

America is still the greatest country in the world and why everyone outside of the U.S. still tunes into every Presidential election we hold. Why? Because the election in America will affect the entire world.

But back to Obama’s speech. It was cleverly disguised as anti-hate but in reality, it was both discrimination and hate disguised in sheep’s clothing. It encouraged more violence and divide than it did the opposite, which was greatly needed. He also misdiagnosed the main problem. Government programs and policies that fail.

Too much government, and failed policies are why the criminal statistics cited in the President’s speech skew the way they do.

Obama cites skewed arrest and criminal justice statistics towards African Americans (I’ll address us all as Americans from now on) but, blaming the problem on the police and criminal justice system is flawed thinking. The problem, as I stated above, is about failed policies that are pushed upon Americans, and sometimes those same policies designed to give the poor a boost actually set poor people back even more and can be predatory in nature! All because most politicians fail to understand basic economics and incentives.

Warning, short rant on economics to follow.

An example is encouraging home ownership through lending programs that loan to people who really can’t afford it.

Another is government legislation cracking down on payday lending, when the issue would be solved by education on why borrowing this way is an extremely bad idea. How about we focus on teaching our children the value of a dollar, and saving for things, rather than encouraging an American economy built on consumer debt. A house of cards, built over and over again.

If I’m President, I want a country full of knowledgeable workers because I know minimum wage jobs are meant for people in transition (in school or enroute to higher paying jobs), not as a career. So I would focus on reducing the amount of people relying on minimum wage jobs by creating programs that allow for easier access to college education, or knowledge based work programs like “how to code” workshops that lead to a certificate. I’d also teach people how to save and borrow wisely, neither exist in this country.

Flawed entitlement programs (with no incentive to get off), a poorly ranked (globally) public education in shambles, healthcare, and inexplicable taxation and minimum wage increases that drive jobs offshore or towards automation are a few examples. Ever wonder why your new waiter is an iPad? It is failed government policy that is at the root of the tree that produces a never ending criminal bloom that the police and justice system in America have to deal with on a daily basis.

So Mr. President, don’t blame the majority of police for the way they’re handling the cleanup of a problem you (and the rest of the D.C. gang) helped along, blame the flawed government policies that created the mess in the first place. And sure as hell don’t encourage further racial divide and the hatred of the law enforcement community  in America, a group that puts it on the line day in and day out to protect and serve in impossible conditions and situations 24/7.

Much respect to the men and women in blue who put it on the line everyday to protect their fellow Americans.

Image courtesy of AP