Prompt Generator

I was checking out a list of great resources for writers, and I found a couple of links to Web sites with writing prompts. Both of the sites that are included in the list are aimed toward student writing assignments, and I especially like this one, which generates somewhat random suggestions for things to write about until you find one that you like. (Homeschooling parents--this is your curriculum resource tip of the week, by the way.) So since I really don't have anything particular that I feel I need to write about at the moment, I used the prompt generator and came up with this: "If I were the president of the USA, this is what I would do." Here's my response.

If I were the president of the United States, I would recognize, after a year and a half in office, that I was incredibly under-qualified  and inexperienced and was doing a miserable job. I would pay attention to the numerous polls being conducted that show my approval ratings below fifty percent and recognize that my employers--the American people--were dissatisfied with my job performance. I would want to do better and I would start working to improve.

I'd remind myself of all the promises I made during my campaign and acknowledge that many were uninformed and many impossible to fulfill and that I'd simply made them to get votes with no intention of following through. I'd apologize to the American people, and especially my supporters, for being so reckless in making promises that I either never intended to keep or suspected would be impossible to keep.

I'd set aside my own self-serving agenda and put America's best interests first. I'd study history to see which president's policies had worked in the past to strengthen the economy and to make America militarily strong. I'd start with Ronald Reagan.

I'd quit appointing friends, novices, and flatterers to advisory posts and start appointing experts, people with proven success in the fields they were appointed to. I might not always like what they had to say, but I'd respect their judgment and seriously consider implementing their proposals because I'd realize that, after all, they are the experts, not me.

I'd put to rest for once and for all the issue of my citizenship. I'd produce a birth certificate that proves I'm an American citizen. Or, alternatively, I'd admit that I wasn't actually an American citizen and resign from the presidency.

I'd stop smoking to set an example for America's youth.

I'd find someone to coach me so that I could conduct myself in the office of president with more dignity, respecting protocol and tradition where necessary. I'd learn better public speaking skills and get rid of the teleprompter. I'd start using proper grammar when I spoke publicly.

I'd stop wasting energy blaming others for America's problems and own the responsibility and trust that was placed in me by the voters.

I'd stop coddling dictators and tyrants and start dealing reasonably with America's longstanding allies.

You know what? All of this would be a pride-sucking, humiliating exercise in admitting that I am wrong and that the voters who elected me made a horrific mistake that we're all going to have to live with for four years at least. So I think that if I were the president of the United States, I would just resign.