Tuesday, January 25, 2011

What state is the union

Unless you have been in a media blackout since last week, all the buzz of mainstream media for the past week, has centered around the president's state of the union address tonight.

The founding fathers, back when they first established the country, wrote into the constitution the requirement that the sitting president, give an accounting to congress and to the American people once every year. The president is to report to both congress and the people, the 'state' of the nation.

The media has spent the last week trying to glean all available information concerning what the president might say tonight, in advance of the actual speech. So who wants to bet that the speech will touch on most of the hot button issues. Things like jobs and the economy, but with a heavy emphasis on the supposed accomplishments of the past two years.

In my opinion, the accomplishments of this administration won't take ten seconds of air time all told, although I fully expect the president to have put a lot of lip stick and lip gloss on his pig of an administration, in an attempt to reassure the American people that his hope and change is working.

Yeah right....

And mean while, the republicans will have to do battle with the Tea Party as to who will have the best or most watched rebuttal tonight, between republican Rep. Paul Ryan and Tea Party star Michele Bachmann.

Personally, I don't think there will be any earth shattering news one way or the other. Obama will talk about what a good job he has done, while at the same time calling for bipartisanship 'now' and a consensus that the American people and their politicians just need to get back to work on the nation's problems.

I am of the opinion that I have heard this song and dance before. I remember when Clinton told us we needed to stop shining a light up his skirt, so that he could get back to the business of running the country. Right before the Lewinsky affair hit full stride.

I believe the same will be true of Obama's speech tonight. He will attempt to call for a return to order and civility, bipartisanship and cooperation. He will cite his success with the recession, while deftly side stepping the unemployment reality and the fact that we are a hair's breath away from a double dip.

And the address will be met with the usually partisan smattering of applause at all the right moments. The only thing that will be missing, will be "Jack in the Box Pelosi" as his backdrop this go around. I'll bet even old Joe Biden is secretly happy about that.

No comments: