Dear Barack,

Stand true to your campaign promises for a expedited withdrawal from Iraq. Give Bob Gates the boot. Explaining your decision is easy as pie: "We preach democracy, and we practice it too. The majority of Americans want an end to the war, and to bring our troops home. I will follow their will. The Iraqi people want an end to the war, and the withdrawal of foreign troops. They too will see their democratic will implemented."

Also, support the Fair Elections Now Act. Lessen campaigns' reliance on political propaganda - television and radio ads - that they must shake down wealthy interests to fund. This goes hand in hand with media reform: the populace desperately needs a media whose function is not profitmaking, but to disseminate knowledge upon which decisions can be made. James Madison wrote that "a popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both." We live in both a farce and a tragedy; now, let us write the postscript.