The Right Stuff

(Arthur sent this last Tuesday evening, right after President Obama's televised speech.)

I had no idea that Barack Obama could channel Franklin Delano Roosevelt so effectively. After tonight I can believe that he has studied Roosevelt's talks and approach, judging by his "State of the Budget" speech. Great stuff.

What made FDR great was that he called on Americans to unite and undertake great works, well beyond the sphere of their own immediate interests. Obama told High School students that they owed it to our nation to graduate from High School, and then get at least a year of job-training, college or certification. They OWE it to our nation. Wow. There went the drop-out rate, shrinking to an acceptable level. Hey, if a kid is in reform school, that may slow up the process of their education a bit, but why should it? If we set a 100% graduation rate from High School, what then? What then? What impact would that have on our country and the worst areas and our most down-trodden populations. I think a lot. My guess is that teachers all over the country were crying and shouting out loud as they listened tonight. One hell of a speech.

And then afterwards that hopped-up little tick Bobby Jindal came out to give a response, apparently written last week, full of bullshit talking points that have been debunked already, but Jindal has never let facts get in his way. What a blow to the Indians to see an Indian-American who is so full of crap, who talks like a cracker. The bad kind.

I am feeling better about things, after seeing the speech. See, that's how it works, when it is done right. It is the same unfathomable knack that Winston Churchill had. Churchill in many ways was a moron, but boy could he give a barn-burner of a speech. When he told the British people that they were going to be going out into the hedgerows and fields to fight German invaders with pitchforks, instead of people saying "Are you joking?" the Brits thought it sounded like a good way to die, if the Germans were thick enough to consider invading. See, it takes a certain knack to make a situation that sucks seem like a noble and uplifting cause. I liked a lot of the specifics in Obama's speech. Behind the scenes he has hired a pit bull to drive a tractor through the middle of the defense budget, to root out the appropriations awarded in return for lobbyists providing Congressmen with hookers. Indeed, this new initiative could cause a recession in the Hooking Industry, if honest government catches on. Perhaps there should be a bail-out or retraining program? I'm not sure what the obvious career path is for a laid-off hooker, but presumably something in the Service Industry?

Okay, sorry... having too much fun tonight. Great speech, hopeful sign of a lot of important legislation that will be coming. Three things were mentioned (a) energy independence (b) education, and (c) health care. That comes the day after our Kaiser medical plan (for two people) went up from $1227 to $1,573. You do the math. A year back it was $973. What a difference a year makes. The cost of healthcare in this country is nuts. Something major needs to be done, and fast.

Great speech, great priorities. In the last eight years the priorities seemed to be (a) sow fear and hatred (b) deregulate just because we could, and (c) blow up foreign countries and spend lots of money on no-bid contracts. I cannot tell you how glad I am that we've moved on from those days. Please note that nowhere in tonight's speech was the buzz-word "Islamofascist" used. For that small blessing, and much else, I am truly, truly grateful.

Arthur