Last night's State of the Union speech was long on symbolism, civility, gravitas, and kumbya moments, as pointed out repeatedly by the mainstream media. However, it was also very, very short on substance and detail. In fact, after the speech, I found my self in the uncomfortable situation of agreeing with the twit from Delaware, Christine O'Donnell, who was selected by Good Morning America to sit next to Donna Brazile and to dissect the session, presenting opposing GOP and Democratic viewpoints.
To put O'Donnell in so called "expert" position on a political panel gives witness to just how far the media has fallen in common sense and credibility. The Christine O'Donnells of the world are nothing more than media created comic relief inserted into what should be real and informative discussions about the state of our world. Yet, here she was in pundit position next to democratic operative Brazile who attempted to make the most of a lousy situation. O'Donnell is a direct slap in the face to women such as Brazile who have worked hard for their credibility and respect only to have it shredded in the space of a 4 minute television interview by Bozo the Clown's daughter.
So, I was somewhat surprised to hear O'Donnell say that President Obama took all of his talking points from the Tea Party. I agree absolutely. Obama did last night what the GOP has been doing for the past couple of decades-talking a lot of stuff, but not presenting any solutions on how to get it done.
I would have loved to hear Obama present a plan for putting people back to work, like something along the lines of a WPA project to rebuild our infrastructure. We need bullet trains, but do you honestly think the GOP is going to fund such a project when the man in the White House actually said he was willing to look at cuts to medicare, medicaid and social security funding? Sure, he said he would not support privatization of social security, nor would he allow any cuts to affect those who are retired or stand on the brink of retirement now. After that, he invited cuts to the health care law, leading me to wonder what all the fuss was about two years ago, if he's not willing to fight for his masterpiece, now that it is actually on the books.
I wanted to hear Obama demand cuts in the military budget. It is not enough to bring home the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Military bases need to close. Antiquated weapons systems need to be eliminated. Pretending to fight spending by threatening to veto any bill with earmarks is an insult to the intelligence of the American people. Mideastern dictatorships that America has been propping up for years need to be allowed to fall as they are doing now. He stressed the need to improve education as states like Ohio dismantle and refuse the educational funding that he put into place just one year ago. New Ohio GOP governor Kasich has killed the rail system program, is threatening to stop all education programs, all the while giving his assistants big raises and bragging about it as they come into office.
The State of the Union address, as presented last night, could have been delivered by a republican, like John Boehner and except for the multi syllable words, no one would have known that it was crafted by the democrat in the oval office. It left me wondering if Obama has farmed out his speech writing to someone with Rand Paul tendencies. O'Donnell didn't disappoint, because after making the teabagger comparison, she then fell back into her usual shtick of Obama bashing without really understanding the words coming out of her mouth. Her points on the program obviously written by someone else with a better understanding of politics in general. She actually referred to notes during what should have been an impromptu session.
I have long been bothered by what I see as the "republican" tendencies of America's first black president. His total embrace of all things Bush began the day he took office. Others have compared him to the great communicator, as Ronald Reagan was called. Those comparisons continued last night. One pundit even said the speech echoed all things Reagan in tone and tenor, and sadly, I could not disagree.
The general lack of respect for Obama, with the Reagan comparisons continues albeit in a more civil manner. In other words, he doesn't have a thought in his head, that a white man didn't have first. But that's another post. I disgress.
This past Sunday, on CBS Sunday Morning, Ben Stein said based on what America has seen from its first Black man in the White House, maybe he should switch parties and run in 2012 as a Republican. I couldn't agree more. Doesn't mean I won't vote for him. Just means I would like him to come out of his political closet and be who he really seems to be.
