Watching most every major speech and address (or at least parts of it) Obama has made during his Presidency, I must say that Obama’s State of the Union address today was as strong as ever, if not in opinion one of his strongest speeches.
I have felt that in the past, Obama’s speeches have been able to bedazzle his devotees that don’t realize how little is being done for the American public in Washington — whether it is the president’s fault or not. Undeniably one of the greater speakers the world has seen in recent history (but then again, if I were the president after Dubya I’d probably look good too), Obama has the power to captivate audiences through a mixture of words that sound good and a God-given talent to deliver the utmost sincerity and deliberation in his speech. So while I’ve left many of his speeches feeling all warm inside, this particular State of the Union address left me with something that we have been supposed to be feeling since 08: hope.
Not that I would be the expert on things, but the lack of bipartisanship seems at an all-time high. There are those who will denounce every move Obama makes regardless of what it all means, resorting to “insults” including Muslim, terrorist, big government, black, etc. There are those, like my mother, who will love the man for whatever action he makes.
The problem with having these two parties with some independents here and there is that nothing gets done. The Democrats had the House, the Senate, and the Presidency in ’08 and they churned a quasi-successful Health Care Reform bill. While I felt that the bill catered to what I thought might be quite conservative ideas (citizens are penalized for not having health care, although that they’re making it more affordable and accessible for all socioeconomic classes, making people buy their own healthcare seems conservative to me), this “accomplishment” on the part of the Democrats seemed to spurn strong anti-Liberal views so here came the — oh dear God — Tea Party.
Obama’s State of the Union address pleaded for us to seek bipartisanship and unite to accomplish a multitude of goals. So I naturally agreed with all he said, and his requests to stop taking sides and vote for what’s right struck a good note in me. However hopeful I am that these sentiments will be taken in and thought of by all Americans, seeing the overly stern military leaders and old Republican white men, and fucking John Boehner looking like he was gonna shoot himself sitting behind Obama and next to Biden, I can’t help but think that the polarizing — not uniting — movement will continue.
So while I think that his presidency has been nowhere near successful, we must remind ourselves that there is absolutely no one that is making anything easy for Obama.
Sum Shit I Wrote 