Cute as a Reset Button

Well, if giving a real barnburner of a speech is any measure, we sure got our money’s worth with President Obama’s first State of the Union message. The buzz leading up to it was that he was going to hit the reset button on his administration as a response to some of the reverses it has experienced in the last year. He did speak of “setbacks” for his administration, but is it simply enough to endearingly characterize the problems of the country? Obama did this very effectively during his campaign and yet managed to create an Everest of doubt in his sincerity even among his most fervid admirers. He has been the President for a year and for those who supported him his accomplishments appear few and far between.

Nonetheless, it is my impression that he renewed his lease on hope with this speech and gave some momentum to his administration leading up to the elections in November. That he is a consummate politician and wordsmith was further ratified by this performance. He called attention to the strength and the decency of the American people and accurately described the desperate plight of working America. A line such as “No one should go broke because they chose to go to college” was later followed by recognition that American business will be the ultimate engine of our recovery. There was meat thrown to tigers of all political stripes. Rousing applause and standing ovation came most often from the Democratic side of the audience and a stolid and studied indifference from the Republicans. As with all such presidential speeches, remarks were made of such a general and patriotic nature that ratifying applause was evident from all segments of the audience.

However, it was interesting to note that the Republicans could not be moved from their seats by President Obama’s acknowledgment that American people are strong and decent, maybe because that was placed in the context of their gallant response to the economic downturn. Everything is perspective and from mine, the Republican side of the chamber looked like a collection of 250 suits each with a sneer in its lapel. The sneerer-in-chief Eric Cantor, the House Republican Whip, was turned out in his best supercilious expression, with which, in fact, he may have been born. Thus, no special notice need be taken of it. In any case, Obama’s desire to continue to work bi-partisan magic or the Democrats’ general tendency to defer to their opposition may not succeed, especially with all the serious financial and social difficulties facing this nation.

We are a pragmatic people and want problems solved and business done. The structural problems built into our political system seem to work against finding solutions, particularly the need for super-majorities before legislation can be passed. I know of no other real democracy that hobbles itself in this way. A democratic republic should truly represent its people. Rural states have much more power than their numbers warrant and lobbyists have much more influence than honest government can abide. Of course, many parliamentary governments with numerous parties are equally hobbled; small parties often wield power much greater than their size because of their strategic situation.

It will be interesting to observe whether Obama is able to turn the current tide in his direction. He has not really departed from the standard narrative nor has his political behavior been startlingly new. Yet, he is characterized in outrageous terms bearing no relationship to any reality. The ambitions of the American global empire remain unamended. The Republicans did not even applaud when Obama called for companies to keep jobs in this country. The fortunes of their patrons ride on a much freer expression of capital, one in which the government in all the moves that it makes works to their financial benefit. People – didn’t you attend the corporate orientation meeting where it was all laid out? The business of America is business and the sooner you learn that the happier you’ll be, and if not there’s always Prozac.