2012 STATE OF THE UNION – PART 1 – THE ENTERTAINER by T. Edwin Perry
Last year, my analysis took three parts to go through all of the President’s annual State of the Union Address in order to do it justice. This year, apparently, will be no different, but the headers will be. You see, last year’s analysis included THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE UGLY. This year, however, we were graced with the three faces of President Barack Obama: The Entertainer, the Politician, and the Dictator. Today, we’ll address the least offensive of the three.
Just as a reminder, the purpose of the State of the Union Address is defined in the CONSTITUTION, specifically to have the Executive Branch (ie: The President) advise the Legislative Branch (ie: Congress) about the issues that the Federal Government is facing in order to direct the Legislative Branch to determine how best to deal with it. This is the extent of the “Leadership” that our Founders intended for the President. Once the laws were written, it was then the President’s responsibility to execute his orders (ie: enforce the laws as written) until Congress convened again. Since serving in Congress was a PART TIME JOB, most of them were not in or near Washington for most of the year, so it was the President’s obligation to fill them in on what was going on, what challenges the Nation was facing, and to set them to task to address those issues.
And, as always, I’m going to suggest that, if you didn’t watch the State of the Union Address on 1/24/2012, that you take the time to read the speech in its entirety. It is posted at WhiteHouse.gov and you can read it for yourself HERE. Don’t just take my word, or ANYBODY’S WORD, about what happened. Read it for yourself. But what I’ll be talking about are my observations, some humorous, some positive, but almost all important about the tone of this President and what he has expressed as being his ambitions for the year to come. It’s no secret that I am not a fan of President Obama, but I have always tried to be fair. Unfortunately, pretty much everything he does makes my head want to EXPLODE!
So why is this section called “THE ENTERTAINER?” Well, before the speech even began, President Obama walked into the assembled Congress like the Guest of Honor at a College Frat Party. He was pointing into the gallery. He was bouncing down the aisle shaking hands and patting people on their backs. He was kissing the ladies, even blurting out, “Don’t get any Lipstick on me” to Representative Corrine Brown (D-FL) and laughing about it. This was not a man showing respect for the Office in which he is serving or the Men & Women of the Legislature: this was a man in celebration, a “Conquering Hero” regaling himself before the nation, basking in the “Adoration” of his Minions, all of whom just happened to be in his own Party. (Not surprising, really, considering that the Republicans in the Chamber were not in a particularly celebratory mood, as evidenced throughout the speech any time that the camera fell upon the face of a Republican.)
Then, as he approached the podium, President Obama encountered Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who had already announced that she would be stepping down from her seat. It was clearly a warm and dramatic moment, heartwarming even, and I don’t want to fault him for it. After all, her recovery is miraculous, and you would have to be a complete monster not to be supportive of her at this stage in her recovery. That said, there was something about the gesture that just felt staged to me. The hug just felt TOO dramatic, too prepared, too scripted to be sincere. I hope that I’m wrong about it, but it’s my responsibility to address it.
Not all of the President’s “Entertainment” came from the speech itself. Sure, some of it was what was said, but some of it was what went on around him. For example, there was a moment when President Obama was talking about “The America within reach” that he described as being “where we’re in control of our own energy,” and VP Joe Biden coughed into his hand. I swear I heard “BULLSHIT!” in the cough (a la “Animal House”). Unintentional entertainment, perhaps, but entertainment, nonetheless.
Then there was the fact that EVERYTHING that President Obama was proposing has been proposed before. The folks at the GOP were kind enough to put together a “Side By Side” video of the President’s Greatest State of the Union Hits…so great that he’s used them year after year as if they were new ideas. Education Spending? You bet. Immigration Reform? Yup. How about having foreign students stay & work here after graduation? Oh, yeah! Roads & Bridges crumbling? Three years in a row! Oh, and just so we don’t feel left out, blaming the Republicans for not playing along with his plans. As someone who has watched all of his State of the Union Addresses, I found that part of the speech to be VERY entertaining.
Now, I could go on, but the rest of the Speech was not particularly entertaining, so the next installment will address the parts of his Address that were limited to Barack Obama’s second Personality: the Politician. See you then!
It felt like a PBS money marathon. I’ve been hearing the same thing for the last three years! As Gutfeld said on FOXNEWS the five “if you took a drink every time Obama said “fairness” you would wake up naked in a tree somewhere!”