President Obama made his State of the Union speech/lecture last week, opening with the obligatory, “I am happy to report that the state of our Union is strong.” As any entertainer will tell you, it is smart to start with a good joke.
A friend told me that Obama should have gone to the podium with an announcement: “There is a truck with Massachusetts tags parked outside the Senate. Please move it as it is blocking my agenda.”
The speech was classic teleprompter Obama: arrogant, dismissive, patronizing and uncontaminated by any sense of reality. I felt like I was listening to a high school principal who calls the students together after a troubling event in the parking lot, lecturing, casting aspersions, and implying that he knows who did it. Obama’s speech was full of scold and scorn, with none directed toward himself.
It would be fun to see Obama’s overworked teleprompters unionize, demand fewer hours for more pay, and then start fund raising and committing voter fraud on behalf of his Republican challenger.
In his first year, he has given more than 400 speeches and only five press conferences. As we know, dictators never like to be questioned very often. Obama seems to think he is making history by just speaking on a subject. I am sure he is documenting himself well for his presidential library, on which I hope he can start work in 2012. If he needs an extra videographer, maybe John Edwards’ “baby mama” will be available.
Fortunately, Obama never seems to follow up on all these speeches he gives. Somehow he thinks that if he just pontificates on a subject, he has done his part and the problem will magically be solved. Obama’s consistent theme has been that government does not work and we are here to give you more of it. But suddenly, he seems to be worried about jobs—his own and those of his fellow Democrats.
The mainstream media loved the speech, of course. They all shared a Chris Matthews moment when, yet again, chills ran up their collective legs. They will not take time out from cooing and braiding the Obama admininistration’s hair to point out that his actions seldom match his rhetoric.
It was fun to watch Joe “Plugs” Biden and Nancy “Picasso Face” Pelosi cheer Obama on during his speech.
Biden always nods his head in agreement when his boss speaks. He reminds me of the suck-up assistant sales manager at a used car dealership (and since they control GM now, this rings especially true) who stands beside the owner as he tries to fire up the sales force. I can see Biden spouting promises of what his dealership will do. “We stand behind every car we sell,” he exclaims—which is why we all need to be careful backing out of his parking lot.
Perhaps Obama and Biden are finally realizing that actually governing is a great deal harder than they thought when they were giving those soaring campaign speeches. It seems every decision they make is the same as what Bush did.
The Democrats now seem diminished by all of this, like a stripper who has to wear a change purse full of quarters on stage. Yeah, they are still in the spotlight, but something doesn’t feel quite right.
On Monday, after whining and fretting about spending, Obama submitted a budget with a record $1.6 trillion deficit. Imagine what the real number will be. Astonishingly, off his $3.8 billion record budget, 42 percent will either have to be printed or borrowed. To the degree there is anyone who benefits from his largesse, we do know that they are not the ones who will have to pay for it.
All the budget cuts he pretends to have every intention of enacting will supposedly take place in later years. It is like an alcoholic saying he is going to stop drinking in two years, or a smoker, like Obama, saying he is going to quit right after his next cigarette.
In fairness to Obama, having Congress, Pelosi, Reid and their merry band of leftist lobbyists revolving around the process is like having your drug dealer present at your intervention. Just do not tell them what comes after a trillion.
Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist, author and columnist. His Web site is: www.ronaldhart.com