Last night’s address by President Obama was, in my opinion, a bravura performance, a great piece of oratory that informed and inspired. It was an interesting juxtaposition between the President’s speech and that of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who delivered the Republican response. Obama spoke with great confidence in a way that treated us as adults whereas I felt that Jindal was channeling Mr. Rogers speaking to children in his neighborhood.
I’m not a political wonk so I’m sure there will be those who will dispute this but I felt Obama effectively laid out an outline for recovery and at every turn trumped objections raised by the opposition, last night in the form of Jindal, who offered nothing more than we’ve heard from the GOP in the past eight years. His claim that they were the party of fiscal conservatism once again seemed to ring hollow when many of the same members of Congress who were at the forefront of the spending spree of the past administration are still there.
There were a couple of things that stood out for me. Obama’s assertion that dropping out of high school was no longer an option was strong. One hopes this forceful push for education will indeed reach down and pull up kids who are struggling within the current system and will inspire them to strive for achievement and responsibility in their lives. We’ll all be better off in the long run if this can be achieved.
His vow for renewable energy was music to my ears. We have waffled on this subject for 30 years and have paid dearly for our hesitancy in moving forward on achieving a level of energy independence. Now is the time for this type of investment in new level of energy technology.
I also liked Obama’s approach near the end when he tried to stir optimism by taking the view that while this time may present a great and dangerous challenge, it is also a great opportunity to forge a new and better future. That’s an important perspective to maintain, in this instance and in our private lives– in every crisis there is opportunity. Lessons to be learned. New ways of seeing and doing things.
If life is a journey, we may sometimes find ourselves in a place where the road seems to end, seems to have little hope. It’s at that point we must remember that the road will rise, as will we.
Redtree Times 