Fourth Grader Asks Obama, 'Why Do People Hate You?'

New Orleans fourth-grader Tyren Scott got a chance to ask the president a question, and this is what he wanted to know: "Why do people hate you? And why aren't they supposed to love you if God is love?" Scott asked.

President Obama gave Tyren a much-needed lesson in American politics:

First of all, I did get elected president, so not everybody hates me; I got a whole lot of votes," Obama joked. "A lot of it is what's called politics, where once one party wins, the other party feels like they've got to poke you a little bit to keep you on your toes. So you shouldn't take it too seriously.

He went on:

But people are worried about their own lives. A lot of people are losing their jobs right now. They're losing their health care or they lost their homes to foreclosure and they're feeling frustrated, and when you're president of the United States, you've got to deal with all of it. You get some of the credit when things are going good, but when things are going bad, you get some of the blame.

President Obama gave a great answer during a moment in which he could have actually taken a few potshots at his opponents. Let's take a closer look at the president's answer, though. He's right when he says a lot of the vitriol directed his way has been because people are in difficult situations regarding their jobs, home, finances and families. He's also right that you get credit when things are good and some of the blame when things are bad.

The problem is that Obama inherited much of the mess that this country is mired in.

The economy had almost collapsed by the time Obama took office; banks had long since lowered their lending standards, and Wall Street brokerages were overleveraged. In addition, Obama inherited two wars and a broken health care system desperately in need of reform. President Obama walked in to this mess and should be given some time to fix it.

Those who disagree with President Obama's policy should criticize but be willing to follow up their critiques with alternative solutions. With this country in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, now is the time to reduce the amount of politicking.

Instead, the white noise is at an all-time high. There's ridiculous talk of death panels when the debate turns to health care, talk of indoctrination when Obama wants to deliver a pep talk to the nation's kids and questions about the president's citizenship for, well, just the hell of it. There are those out there saying little Tyren's question was staged.

The response when Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize is a prime example. Instead of his opponents saying they hope that Obama will live up to the award, they called it a "farce."

"It's not clear to me [the Nobel Prize committee] speaks for the world. It speaks for five Norwegians," the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol said on FOX News. "This is an anti-American committee."

If a couple of years from now Obama's decisions have dug the country in to a deeper hole, then the criticism can and should commence. Until then, let's give the guy a chance.

"But that's all right," Obama said, adding, "I'm a pretty tough guy. Are you a tough guy? You look pretty tough. So you've just got to keep going on going, even when folks are criticizing you, when you know you're doing it for other people."