2012.02.15
Ring: State of the Union
What Obama didn’t say
By Jessee Ring
Ring is a native of Giles County. He is a retired corporate executive who now lives in Pulaski County and is starting a vineyard.
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address was more notable for what he didn’t say than for what he did say.
The most glaring and telling example was Obamacare. At the time it was being debated and passed, Obama told us that his health care bill was vitally important to the nation; that if it wasn’t passed, the health care system in this country would collapse and people would die en masse in the streets; that his bill would save trillions of dollars in health care costs; that the quality of care would rise; that millions of uninsured people would have coverage; that finally we would have affordable, high-quality health care for all.
I was relieved to read this–really, I was. I was stating to think that I was almost alone in this valley in concluding the same thing about our President’s State of the Union speech. Mr. Ring’s criticisms are absolutely fair, although they are not aired by most media outlets.
Mr. Obama seems to be the next generation “teflon president,” a term that has been until now applied only to Ronald Reagan. I guess holding Mr. Obama to the same standards as past presidents wouldn’t be “fair.” Apparently, it’s enough to say that “he’s trying to do the right thing,” or that “republicans are undermining everything he tries to do.” Neither one of those arguments would have been taken seriously before now. Yet I often hear these same excuses for his lack of performance.
A “Brave New World?” Aldous Huxley would feel right at home.
Comment by Bill Van Velzer — February 15, 2012 @ 8:45 am