President kept busy in first year of office

I love the naysayers blithering on and on about President Obama's first year in office - he focused on health care and let an underwear terrorist get through the gates, blah, blah, blah.

Here are the facts: The president's first main photo op focused on national security as he signed an order ending a torture program and closing Gitmo, one of the main tools used by terrorist to recruit followers.

Second was an economic stimulus package that, whether you like it or not, added to our economic growth and probably kept us out of a depression. Third was rescuing the banks, finishing the bailout his predecessor started.

He initiated a complete revamping of our approach to the Afghan war.

His way of dealing with Iran has put its current rulers in the most perilous position since their own revolution.

And yes, among all of these things he also is working on, a health care bill, climate change, and doing something that his predecessor did not do: taking time to look at all the information out there, on the hundreds of issues a president has to deal with, and making the best possible decisions he can make.

Or maybe you would rather have empty rhetoric and jingoism to keep us in the dark about the real problems facing our country today.

Symon R. Sanborn

Cedar Rapids