Greetings From The President

I hope everyone had a great holiday season.

Mine was ok.

About two dozen old-fashioned snail mail holiday greetings found their way into my home this time around. The snowmen cards far out-numbered the religious ones. That put a smile on my face - and it probably will right up until the day a complete stranger comes up to me on the street and tries to tell me that Frosty melted away for my sins.

I even got a holiday greeting from the Obamas!

See?

I'm not sure why I got this. I've never sent them a card. Maybe every American got one?

If so, then you probably already know why I ended up feeling a bit miffed by the experience.

If not, well... reading the insert that came with the card might help you understand my feelings:

I think this is the first time in my life that I've received a holiday card that included a request for money.

Such a request would strike me as tacky under almost any circumstances I can imagine.

It especially struck me as tacky coming from a family with an income these days of $400,000 a year.

I understand that the money is going to the re-election campaign and not to keep Michelle in pearls, but even so.... From what I've read, that campaign is already expected to take in and spend a billion dollars this year. Hitting me up for another $50 at the same time that my local food pantry is begging me for any spare cans of peas I can spare seems more than a little inappropriate to me.

It never even occurred to me to send a holiday card to the Obamas asking *them* for money. Now that it has, I doubt that they'd respond very positively if I acted on that thought. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if using the postal service to ask the President of the United States for money doesn't get one placed on some sort of watch list.

*Sigh*

Just for the record, I also got a holiday card from a local plumbing company that I've never sent a card to. Sure, it's probably nothing more than an attempt to get money out of me somewhere down the road, but... at least it was subtle.

See?

NO obvious request for cash - let alone a list of suggested amounts.

What does it say about us as a nation when a local plumber has a better sense of tact and etiquette than the people in the White House?

I guess I should be glad that they didn't say the baby Jesus had told them to ask me for money, but... it's hard.

Or at least harder than it should be.

I can only hope that any Arbor Day greeting they might care to send me is a bit more endearing.