I’ve just listened to the whole of Barack Obama’s speech on the State of the Union, delivered to Congress on Wednesday 27th. It would be a long speech even if you could remove the all too frequent and annoying standing ovations. (Whatever happened to the practice of listening politely to the end and then applauding?)
Like all Obama’s speeches it was extremely well crafted and magnificently delivered. He concentrated on the US economy – unemployment, debt, regulating the financial sector and growth stimulus packages. The President got a good laugh when he described bailing out the banks being as popular as a root canal; and more laughter when he pointed out that pushing health reform obviously wasn’t good politics.
Trying to straddle the political fence, Obama pledged to improve security, build “clean” new nuclear plants and exploit off-shore gas and oil. A couple of times he came out with jingoistic slogans such as “I don’t accept 2nd place for America” which reminded me of George Bernard Shaw’s definition of nationalism… “the conviction that your country is superior to all others because you were born in it.”
However Obama briefly expressed some admirable intentions in foreign policy – working through the G20 to sustain global recovery, working with Muslims to promote science and education, moving from being a bystander to a world leader in tackling climate change, fighting HIV/AIDS, helping developing nations feed themselves. He pledged to have all US troops out of Iraq by August this year and out of Afghanistan next year.
Praising the 10,000 Americans currently working in Haiti, Obama stated that “our destiny is connected to those beyond our shores… because it’s right!… America must always stand for freedom and human dignity.”
Now it’s easy to be cynical of this sort of rhetoric… especially in view of America’s appalling track record in world affairs, particularly under Dick Cheney. (You don’t really think Bush was running things, do you?) It’s also easy to point out the yawning gap between Obama’s promises/good intentions and what he’s been able to achieve. But here we come to the crux of his speech and this article.
Obama pointed out that his country faces more than a deficit of dollars, it faces a deficit of trust. He spoke of corrosive doubt and obstructive, negative politicking paralyzing real progress.
Remember that when Obama came to office the USA was in a shocking state. The economy was on the brink of collapse, they were locked into two expensive, unwinnable wars and confidence in the presidency was at an all time low.
Obama swept into power promising change but it’s turned out that an awful lot of Americans didn’t really want sweeping change, they just wanted an alternative to Bush.
Obama has had to contend with blind, pig headed opposition from the Republicans – in spite of his best bi partisan efforts – and only patchy support from his own inept, divided and gutless Democratic party.
No one could solve America’s severe problems overnight. Obama’s government – in spite of all the unscrupulous obstruction they’ve faced, the fear and disinformation campaigns financed by corrupt, selfish corporates – have still managed to achieve an amazing amount in a short time. But still they were dealt a savage slap in the face by the recent Massachusetts bi-election where Ted Kennedy’s super safe democratic seat was won by a little known, thoroughly conservative Republican.
So Obama’s most fervent appeal was for idealism, for people to move beyond their entrenched positions and tackle the challenges the US faces with courage and optimism. This is where you could begin to hear the rhythm and rhetoric of the preacher as he called for a return to the values that forged the Union.
It’s a pertinent message for us, here in Aotearoa. We tend to be highly skeptical and critical of our governments. We pride ourselves on being down to earth, a bit hard headed. We don’t have much time for idealists. But wouldn’t it be good if our leaders could be somewhat more inspiring… if they could occasionally look past party politics to the real good of our country.
I was very glad to see both John Key and Phil Goff praising the contribution made by Jeanette Fitzsimons – a lady who courageously and graciously served this country in parliament for 13 years, who never descended to personal attacks but was the voice for vitally important green policy,
As Obama pointed out, politics isn’t about beating down the opposition at every opportunity but rather about governing for the future of the country. How about we all take his advice, remove or at least widen our political blinkers and embrace some idealism. Who knows – we might discover that working for worthwhile goals together beats wallowing in division and disappointment.
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