Wednesday, February 25, 2009
President Obama's First Speech to Jt. Session of Congress
Inspiring and Promising
Not a State of the Union address but it had the feeling of being one.
First, the trivial.
It was a pleasure to see Joe Bidden occupying the chair at the back, right-hand side of the president. What a difference from former vice president' Cheney's milk-curdling visage. Not only that. When I thought of all the intrigues and secret deals that R.B. Cheney engaged in, it was most unpleasant to look at him.
And instead of a smirking man who had difficulty reading the teleprompter, we had a president who looked dignified -- slim, fit, young, and dignified -- and didn't fumble. Made us proud.
Props were used, and members of the Congress bobbed up and down to applaud just as they did for Obama's predecessor. Ty'Sheoma Bethea, the eighth grader from Dillon, SC, seemed to be lost and have no clue about the occasion. But good if she wrote that letter.
The Speech
Words, of course, mean nothing until action is taken to follow through and deliver. Politicians of both parties have been brazenly conning us and getting away with it. Somehow there was a different ring to what President OBama said. Perhaps because we desperately need solutions to resolve the mess our country is in. His words resonated, gave us hope that while there was no miracle cure, we could expect changes that would be good for America...and the world.
Former President Bush and his cabinet members lied about torture. Now, President Obama is on record.
He said: "Living our values doesn't make us weaker, it makes us safer and it makes us stronger. And that is why I can stand here tonight and say without exception or equivocation that the United States of America does not torture." |
There is no wiggle room.
Republicans Lost in their Small World
The Republicans just don't get it. They appear to live in a bubble where things stand stock-still. America is changing; the world is changing but, apparently they remain unaware and dream of recapturing power by championing free-market economy without any regulations and by castigating big government.
And their rebuttal to President Obama's speech was delivered by squeaky, wimpy Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, who sounded and looked like a mechanical doll. Most viewers forgot about what he said before he was finished. Bye bye Bobby.
