The atmosphere surrounding tonight's address was powerful: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords listened to the last speech she would hear as a representative of Arizona, and Steve Jobs's widow enjoyed the company of First Lady Michelle Obama as well as the moving words of the president. As for my opinion of the 2012 State of the Union address, my thoughts are as divided as the components of our president's speech. By addressing conservative issues with compromise and simultaneous liberal policy, our president's oration made me wonder how our executive leader and nation as a whole will fare in the coming months.
President Barack Obama lent much of his speaking time to fairly conservative issues: changing tax codes, offshore drilling, and industry within the United States. He proposed that tax codes be changed so that businesses would not be tempted or forced to outsource labor. He also claimed that we should increase offshore drilling and begin to use one hundred-or-so years that our nation's natural resources have to offer. Obama added that the recovery of the automotive industry in cities like Detroit will be happening all over the country soon. These conservative portions of the State of the Union address seemed highly conciliatory for Barack Obama. Perhaps I have been ill-informed for the past three years (I probably have been ill-informed; I have fed myself a steady diet of America's Next Top Model), but I thought Obama was an advocate of outsouricng labor, oil, and industry. Obama, I believe, had good intentions for this speech. He wanted to reach across party lines to build a better nation and most likely to secure wavering independent votes.
Of course, the conservative bliss of the State of the Union address would not last. Suddenly, my right-wing ear began to pick up on liberal terms. In a well-intended segment o f his oration, President Obama beings to stand up for the little man by claiming that everybody should play by the same rules in order to keep the economy and the nation a fair place. I'm not on a Communist witch hunt, here. I do see, however, another one of Obama's attempts to secure votes from the lower class by declaring a war on poverty that simply cannot be won. Ironically, towards, the end of his speech, Obama references Abraham Lincoln by concurring with Honest Abe's advocation of a government that will help the people do only that which they cannot do for themselves (and nothing more). This statement was, to me, a direct contradiction of the "fair play" society that our president seemed to support earlier in his speech.
Behind President Obama sat a choir of two: Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Joe Biden. A glassy-eyed Biden seemed to be enchanted by every word of Obama's pleasing rhetoric; whereas, Boehner sat skeptically and pondered the validity of our presidents' words. As for me, I sit between Biden and Boehner, acknowledging the intelligence of our leader but quesitoning his sincerity and leadership skills. Much like his red tie, Obama's State of the Union address could represent either a more conservative or more sharing-based economy. Or perhaps it was just flashy and colorful, the only clean thing hanging in a closet of dirty political laundry.
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