Earlier tonight, President Obama gave his first "State of the Union" speech. It didn't have the florid rhetorical flourishes or powerful turns of phrase that he, as an orator, is known for. Those are more representative of his contentious primary battle with Hillary Clinton. After that arduous campaign, as well as the sniping of the national romp that ensued against John McCain & Co. (with Sarah Palin used shamelessly as a blunt tool powered by stupidity), he could hardly have delivered the same Lincoln-esque eloquence each time he walked up to the microphone. What he also hasn't done much of, so far, has been to use his tongue as a cudgel to confuse Republicans (not very hard, really) and take them on.
Tonight hopefully marked the end of the reticence that has plagued the administration so far. I've been extremely critical and fatalistic about Obama's remove from the act of actual governance. Sure, he, like about every politician that sat in the House Chamber of the Capitol's rotunda listening to the speech, has chosen to parse his words strategically, but this particular moment in American history calls for hard talk to his detractors. The GOP, though, has selfishly placed its own party ahead of national interests.
With their tolerance and indulgence of idiotic ideologues like Rush Limbaugh, etc., the GOP squirms like a frantic insect moments before its inevitable death. It's extra-disturbing, though, because it has chosen to burn anything down that emanates from the pen of Democratic legislators. I forget who it was specifically--let's say it was House Minority Leader (by the way, I wonder how xenophobic Republicans feel about being labeled "the minority") John Boehner, from Ohio--but someone explicitly urged his fellow Republicans to act like recalcitrant brats and foil any attempt to pass anything in Congress. So far, this frustrating strategy of defiance has worked quite well. Take the health care bill, for example--earmarks of tepid, craven Democrats have made it disgustingly bloated, like the gluttonous murder victim in Se7en. I want to dismiss it wholly like Matt Taibbi, but realistically something has to be passed so I find myself grudgingly agreeing with the "pass something--anything" argument espoused by numerous pundits and commentators like Paul Krugman. Too much time has passed to do nothing.
That's what the GOP would like to do, though, and attempts at meaningful bipartisanship have failed. Now, with the election of Scott Brown over Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts Senate race, further compromise looks inevitable. Who knows, though? Maybe Brown will be the maverick that McCain never really was, although I doubt it so much that the mere idea of a Republican crossing the aisle in the name of pragmatism is ludicrous. I remember when John Roberts was going through all the confirmation rigmarole that ended anticlimactically with him being named the new Chief Justice. People optimistically (see: foolishly) thought that maybe he'd vote against his political affiliations. Lo and behold, he hasn't, and now oversees a dangerous razor-thin conservative majority on the Supreme Court.
The Court's recent decision to allow corporations to contribute nearly heedlessly to political campaigns served as a stark reminder that a reckless Republican agenda is still very much alive, and needs to be quashed. Obama campaigned on the hope of bipartisanship, but it has become clearer and clearer that this is an impossibility. Lest we forget, many Americans are really fucking stupid and their opinions should be immediately disregarded and jettisoned. Anyone who's ever seriously participated in a "Tea Party" that didn't spring from the mind of a puerile girl should face a firing squad. Now.
It was heartening to hear Obama talk tough to a divided Congress. I hope he continues to do so, and doesn't lapse into the same pusillanimous mindset that led him to leave health care up to Congress. Bad idea.
Previously, the Republican/Democrat dichotomy was summarized as "the party of bad ideas vs. the party of no ideas." Over the past year, that has confusingly switched to "Democrat vs. Republican." Obama sounded like he's finally ready to acknowledge this, but his struggle will be even tougher now with the possibility of a filibuster.
TS--the party is over, you are President, so now you have to do something. Like, oh, be President. And Republicans--get out of the way if you can't/won't lend a hand. This isn't Hollywood Squares, and your "no no no" attitude needs to be thrown out as violently as I always wanted to toss Whoopi from the center square.
R
