Obama's Final SOTU Speech

Obama - A Tale of Two Speeches

The View from the Middle

It wasn’t long after the President took the podium for his last State of the Union speech that I was already sighing, “here we go again.”  He started with a joke (sort of) and then followed up with some “feel good” unique strengths that he said we have as a nation – optimism, work ethic, spirit of discovery, diversity and rule of law.  We all want to agree with the President that we still have those qualities, but many believe those traits are under attack.  For example, it’s hard to argue that we still support the rule of law when we have 340 sanctuary cities across the county that are simply not enforcing laws that are on the books.  However, we all certainly hope we still honor and even exemplify these strengths.

But he quickly got into a series of half-truths and misdirections that always makes me wonder if he and I live in the same country or on the same planet.  He said we have the strongest economy in the world.  He should have said that our economy just sucks less than most others in the developed world.  He boasted that he has cut the deficits by almost three quarters (75%).  What he didn’t point out is the fact that his administration drove our annual deficit up to a record high of $1.4 TRILLION in his first year behind his less than successful stimulus spending.  The largest deficit in the eight years under George W. Bush was only $459 billion, which Mr. Obama called “unpatriotic”.

Also, with all this talk of reduced deficits, Mr. Obama never mentioned that our total debt is fast approaching $19 TRILLION and will have more than doubled during his eight years in office.  This is an absolute deception being perpetrated on the young people in this country who will have to pay back or service this debt when interest rates return to more normal levels.  This actually is an existential threat to America and by the time it rears its ugly head, Barack Obama and I will be long gone.

Unemployment has been cut in half.  That’s true.  It is currently at 5% and it did reach a peak of 10% back in 2009.  What the President seems to forget is his promise that unemployment would never go over 8% if Congress gave him his $800 billion stimulus package.  He got his wish, but we still got 10% unemployment.

His message to this point was “it’s all good”, everything is copacetic, all is Okie Dokie and or Peachy – just use the term closest to your generation.  But everything isn’t OK in America.  The world is a mess and even the people in this country seem to be at each other’s throats.  Just as I wondered what the President had been smoking, he turned a corner. 

The President said that our country needs to work together.  He went on to say that a Democracy requires a basic bond of trust for every citizen and particularly for our leaders.  He admitted that the rancor has actually gotten worse during his Presidency.  I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  If you have followed any of my articles, you will know that I have been preaching the need for unity for a long time.  I have in fact said that this President had a unique opportunity to bring our people together, and that I was disappointed that he hadn’t done it.  I finally and totally agree with the President on this issue. 

But he didn’t even stop there.  He said that Democracy doesn’t work if we believe our political opponents are unpatriotic or the people we disagree with are all motivated by malice.  He suggested that we need these basic bonds of trust so that we can have a vigorous debate.  I would suggest that the best example of that vigorous debate happened back in 1787 during the Constitutional Convention, and look what that delivered.  I had to check the tape to make sure I hadn’t somehow slipped into a recording of Ronald Reagan.  But I hadn’t.  Our President said it, and I agree with it.

Just a side note here; remember that Hillary Clinton described Republicans as her “enemy” at one of the CNN debates.  She has since walked that back, but out of the mouth the heart is revealed. 

Mr. Obama then went on to describe some things that he would like to work on with Republicans.  He talked about stopping the gerrymandering of congressional districts to deliver certain results.  I’m OK with that, but it’s an easy ask when so many of the state legislatures are in the hands of Republicans.  Would he say the same if the Dems controlled those legislatures?  He talked about reducing the influence of money in our politics.  Again, I’m on board, but how about insisting that union money reflects the politics of its workers also?  And finally he talked about making it easier for everyone to vote.  Now, who is against that, but he must balance that with a strong effort to eliminate voter fraud. 

At the end of his speech, I felt as if I had some hope again.  This reminded me of the Barack Obama who said, “There is not a Liberal America and a Conservative America…There is not a Black America and a White America.  There’s (just) the United States of America.”  He did not live up to that rhetoric spouted at the 2004 Democratic Convention.  Talk is cheap.  I will be looking for signs of him reaching across the aisle in this, his last year before I pronounce my final verdict on his legacy!  I hope he can actually deliver this, his plea for unity.