The State of the Union...

I managed to watch the entire speech... thanks to the President's slow walk to the dais... and I wanted to share my thought.

There was nothing new in the speech, of course.  More plans for the the woes of the world to be fixed by greater government control and intervention, paid for by higher taxes and a $9/hour minimum wage.

It wasn't what was in the speech that I found particularly fascinating... it was the manner in which the speech was given.

In my opinion, Obama hit a home run with this speech, and it was out of the park.  He played the room like a consummate expert, without a stumble or hiccup that I could notice.  His words were mapped out to evoke the maximum amount of emotion, without once drawing ire or anger from the other side of the aisle.  Now, I admit, the Republicans in the chamber didn't stand up very often... but there wasn't much they could point to as being confrontational or antagonistic in the speech.  Even the gun control legislation that the President brought up with such emotion and passion, knowing it probably won't pass, wasn't a call to get guns off the street or out of the hands of criminals (which would have been asinine in the extreme... every law on the books wants to do that), he simply called for Congress to give it a vote.  The grieving Chicago parents, the stoic Wisconsin police officer shot 12 times in defense of Sikh worshipers, the parents of Newtown, CT children who will never have another birthday... stating that they "deserve" a vote.  Frankly, I have to admit that I agree with him on this.

Put the legislation in front of Congress.  Put it to a vote.  Obama said this time and again in the speech, and the more I heard him say it, the more I thought about what he was asking for.

When bills are blocked along party lines, the Left can always blame the Right for not working in a bipartisan manner to improve the situation... and Obama brought up the "fiscal cliff" issue with masterful effect several times.  When Congress stalemates and does nothing to address major issues, the issues return year after year, perpetuating party line political drama and eroding American confidence in the very system that could fix the nation's problems once and for all.  The flip-side of this is that the Right cannot point to agenda-based legislation and its failure or success to support their position on conservative issues... and are routinely seen as about as helpful to the effort as mammary glands on a boar pig.  THIS is the status quo for the last 25 years... do-nothing Congressional sessions that simply point fingers across the aisle and blame the other side for the lack of results.  The very few times in the last 25 years that this hasn't happened were in '94-'95 and in '02-'03.  Real government reform (for good or bad) can happen... but only if something is done.

This President took the weight of the most pressing issues facing the nation OFF of his shoulders and placed it squarely ON those of Congress for the next four years.  This is EXACTLY what Clinton did in '93... he didn't "balance the national budget and usher in a government surplus" as he and the Left so often claim, but he DID let Congress do that, allowing him to take the credit for decades after OR (had it failed) to blame Congress for irresponsible action in a time of need.

I really think this is the only viable solution... let Congress vote on these issues and live with the results.  If they actually ARE voting the voice and will of the majority of Americans, then America will be what it is destined and intended to be.  If they are not, then the People will see the fruits of their vote... not in 10-second sound bites on CNN, but where it really matters: in their day-to-day lives and paychecks.  And as we all know, nothing swings a vote like a paycheck... or lack thereof.