The President's speech

I have to admit. I was expecting to find lots of things to dislike about the upcoming presidential speech. I am a conservative and would naturally find lots of things to disagree about. I was not disappointed.

Our President called a joint session of Congress. Usually a President calls for this when a major issue of the national government is at hand. Such as when FDR asked a joint session of Congress to declare war against Japan. Or after 9/11 when a foreign organization implemented an overt, direct attack upon the United States. The American Jobs Act may be important. It is not on the same level.

President Obama mentioned ‘crisis’ several times. This financial ‘crisis’ must be VERY important to call a joint session of Congress. Yet I remember having been told by this administration back in early 2009 that we had been saved from ‘falling off the economic cliff’. And here we are 2 and ½ years later and this economic ‘cliff’ is back. So the first effort must not have worked all that well. And if the early ‘crisis’ was so dire, why did he not call for a joint session of Congress at that point? I agree that we have an economic problem today. I am attempting to point out how our leadership sees the ‘crisis’ differently today.

One major point that President Obama wished to impart is that unemployed Americans can’t wait the 14 months until the next election. They need action, NOW. So pass this bill right away. He repeated this a number of times. I have not seen nor heard much about this bill yet. So we should pass it before we know what it does? Sounds like “We must pass this bill so that YOU can find out what is in it.” And our President called a joint session of Congress for this? Hurry up and study this bill so that we can pass it and save the country? I was of the impression that he was not speaking to me, nor was he speaking to the Senate. He was addressing the House of Representatives. President Obama did not need to call for a joint session of Congress to speak to the House of Representatives.

Now I am going to become picky. President Obama is a good orator. He speaks well and sounds like a moderate, who listens and works well with others. As he wrapped up his speech, President Obama showed his dedication, enthusiasm along with firmness of belief when he described how he rejected the idea that we have to strip away collective bargaining rights in order to compete in the global economy. You could just tell that he really believes this and is very firm about it. Then his voice began to trail off as he ended his speech with ‘God bless you’. His voice then dropped much lower as he said, “And God bless the United States of America” and he turned his back at the cameras. Maybe I am putting too much into this, but it sure seemed to me that he did not really want to say that last sentence. It was like an afterthought. Let’s just get it over with. I had the distinct impression that his heart was not in it. Particularly when compared to the enthusiasm he showed earlier. What a lame ending of a speech where he called for a joint session of Congress.