Interview with Barack Obama

This is not an accurate depiction of the President of the United States. It is a fictional interpretation for the benefit of learning through enjoyment.

Q. Mr. President, you have hit the ground running with an unstoppable ambition to bring about great change.

A. That is most important to me. I feel that this country has an amazing past and an amazing future, but somehow we have gotten off track and need to find our way back for that future to happen. There are great injustices done, and we are finding out about those things far too late, after they have destroyed our economy and the lives of millions of Americans. The political scandals must stop, this country's leadership must become leaders. Either those in office can become those leaders or those who can will soon replace them.

Q. Many foreign powers have shown open hostility towards the United States in recent years, even durin the Bush Administration. How do you intend to solve such foreign dilemmas and deter future tribulations?

A. Well, there are many answers to that question since there are many different nations with many different grievances and each must be approached and a solution found based on the individual characteristics of the nation and its government. To treat one foreign nation as you would another, as though there were no differences, is to treat them as though you knew nothing about them. As much as we Americans wish to be seen as equals, and to see the populations of the world as equals, is not shared by all of our neighbors. That is something we must teach them, but first we must play to their desires, to their needs and approach them with care and concern for these necessities.

Q. What about the situation in Afghanistan? How have you dealt with them on an individual basis?

A. I am bringing the United States to Afghanistan because it is the place we should have gone seven years ago. This business in Iraq has bore no fruit--I don't believe Dick Cheney's theory that we would have wealth in oil will ever come true either, even if we never left Iraq.

Q. Will leavin Iraq completely even be possible now? What about the oil, since we've gone in do we leave it behind?

A. Those decisions will have to be made. Personally, I want to see all U.S. military presence gone from Iraq long before my term is up. I would like to see the troops I send to Afghanistan home by that time and the United States presence in the Middle East will be nothing more than a few naval vessels on three month tours through the Gulf seas.

Q. How do you feel you are viewed by the citizens of the United States? After taking this election by storm, winning with almost three hundred more electoral votes than Senator McCain, do you feel that your approval rating is higher than it was when you took office, the same or has it fallen?

A. Well, it would be naive of me to say that it has not changed, and that it has not fallen in some respects. When a President is faced with the problems that he has only talked about before, all eyes are upon him and no matter what decisions I make, no matter what path I choose to follow, I will be criticized for my choices. No President ever keeps an approval rating that he has before election for before the elction he has a clean slate and has no where to go but down. No President is chosen unanimously by the three hundred million Americans so there will be at least some ill feelings toward any President, especially when the term begins. I hope to make many choices that will give people a reason to think highly of me, but I know that I will make many choices that will not be seen so well-but I know those choices must be made, the ones that people will hate, because this country needs someone to give it some tough love and make decisions that are difficult but only for the betterment of Americans and all human beings.

Q. In Europe, during your recent speeches, you said some things that have caused Americans to feel disenheartened towards you. Many feel betrayed and that your words were tresaonous. How would you respond to these Americans and ease their minds? How would you prove to them that you are a true and honest man ready to lead this country into the future?

A. I am working as an ambassador to the world, speaking to many populaces of many countries in the hope that by seeing me speaking to them one man to another, they will come to understand that what American's want is peace. We want coexistence, not dominance. Without force, we hope that others will see that our ways are good and wise, that our nation is one of honor and integrity, that as people we can accept the differences of our fellow man. I must show our similarities and to do this, I must admit our mistakes to show that we Americans know when we are mistaken and take responsibility for any shortcomings that have negative influences on ourselves or the world at large. Nothing I am saying is untrue and those citizens who hold my honesty against me are those who are not yet ready to admit that America is as human as the rest of the world.

Q. Do you believe that other nations will take your compliments as proof of your honest will to see them as equals-and that you are of course speaking for America as a nation when you say these thing-or do you think that they will also see, as many Americans already have, your choice of a description of the American people, their failures and shortcomings, as a sign of dishonesty and disloyalty?

A. I can only hope that all people, domestic and foreign, will see my words for what they truly are. In no way did I intend to insult anyone, and I know that I said some tough comments to other nations, in France and Germany particularly. My granny always tells me to see things as they are, say things as they are, and love things as they are-that is how I intend to lead, with this in mind, that is how I live my life