All Americans owe a debt of gratitude to the intelligence community for its diligence, the Navy Seals for being ready and able for such a dangerous mission as well as your judgment to give the order to strike.

The press attempted to digest this news in its many parts. Initially, most of the coverage was a collection of touts and fits over your administration’s decision to not release photographs of the deceased Osama bin Laden.

That is not what stuck out to me.

In your speech that Sunday, you said the achievement was “a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.” You said, “America can do whatever we set our mind to.”

Forget polls and your legacy, Mr. President. While you have everyone’s attention in the aftermath of this momentous event, I would suggest making Americans believe they can do anything — because we sure don’t feel like it right now.

Gas prices and unemployment are too high, consumer sentiment is fragile, economic growth is anemic and people think China, as Jon Huntsman has noted in recent weeks, is “the next big thing.” Regardless of what political advisers tell you (or what they tell congressional Republicans), the American people are not a line in an economic model.

Reductions of taxation and government stimulus can’t convince us our country has a direction. Family businesses and financial giants sit idle, unconvinced the politicians in Washington, D.C., have a credible game plan for America.

Mr. President, it is up to you to change that feeling of uncertainty. It is a tall order, but it has been done before. Presidents have rekindled the American spirit in past crises. Politicians have found ways to compromise and grow the economy many times before. If you rally a bipartisan agenda framed in the context of reclaiming American greatness, the American people will be more than ready to follow.

This is important because if we don’t believe America’s best days are ahead of us, you can be sure no one in the international community will either.

The media forgot to mention the message American military might have sent when news broke that bin Laden was dead. It was in contrast to the narrative understood by the world for the last decade. The image of a stumbling, inarticulate man without an exit strategy (or a plan in the first place) was what the rest of the world thought of as “Brand America.”

“Americans are all like him,” the world thought. “Americans are incompetent.”

And with all due respect, Mr. President, you have been viewed similarly for the last two years by our greatest adversaries. China has scolded and questioned, both privately and publicly, your economic proposals. WikiLeaks confirmed Saudi Arabia doubted you had it in you to stop Iran from doing the unthinkable when push came to shove.

That consensus changed, at least for a moment, the Sunday you announced bin Laden’s death. World leaders thought of you differently after hearing you ordered Navy Seals deep into Pakistani soil to execute the world’s most wanted terrorist in the dead of night. The world thought of America as competent that night. It thought, “Maybe Americans aren’t as dysfunctional as the politicians we have seen for the last 10 years.”

Mr. President, you said releasing the photos of Osama bin Laden would be “spiking the football,” and you were right to make that judgment. But you must now win the game. The American people and the world are waiting for a historic plan and a historic speech. Use simple language. Give a clear vision of where you want America to be. Then act on it. You’ll be surprised how many Americans are ready to answer such a call, even those who frequently disagree with you.

— Self-appointed pundit, concerned citizen and proud American

Ameek Singh is a State News guest columnist and an international relations junior. Reach him at sodhiame@msu.edu.