EDITOR,

The letter, “Suffering from Obama,” by Sara Blicharz (Nov. 14) epitomizes the level of pettiness that passes for Conservatives’ “intelligent” critique of Obama’s 10-month-old presidency.

The writer uses fleeting comments by two African journalists to bolster her preconceived conclusion that America is suffering under Obama. She quotes one of the journalists as saying that former President Bush had “helped Africa enormously.” The other added that Africa had hoped Obama would be of great help to them given his ancestry. But, “he’s under pressure from his advisers and he doesn’t know which solution he has to propose to Africa. This was not the case with Bush.”

Oh, really?

If Bush had made curative proposals for Africa’s problems, and he is barely a year out of the White House, why has Africa not applied those proposals to solve its problems by now? If it has, then what new problems have cropped up in Africa under Obama’s watch that require his immediate attention?

Let’s be realistic here: Obama inherited the most daunting economic and security problems — most of which were initiated by his predecessor — that the nation has experienced since the 1930s. Ms. Blicharz should appreciate the need for us to put out the fire in our own house before we try to help Africa and the rest of the world.