State of the Union from Afar

I recently read Obama’s State of the Union—I wanted to watch the video, but at an hour’s length, was taking much too long to download all the way. Each time I tried, I basically got to where the clapping died down and Obama got ready to speak.

I was struck a number of times during the speech, as President Obama said some very interesting, and to my mind, surprising things. The calls for bipartisanship make sense of course, especially given the shooting in Arizona. I have no doubt that a certain amount of the comments were born out of politics, but damn if he doesn’t make it sound good. And even if it is politicizing on one level, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t also mean it. He knows that now that Congress is split, he’ll have to compromise more, and it is impressive to see him noting just how and on what he is willing to compromise. I don’t remember recent State of the Union addresses sounding so candid.

I wasn’t as big a fan of the theme, “winning the future,” though not the idea, just the sound of it. It just sounded superficial to me in a way.

Something that surprised me was his call for colleges to open their doors to military recruiters and ROTC. I don’t know what it was exactly, but it didn’t seem like the sort of thing one usually hears from, well, anyone. I remember the presence of ROTC being debated a bit while at Gettysburg, and even though it was not a major issue, there were distinct and strong opinions on the issue.

I was also surprised by the humor in the address at times, like the salmon stuff.

“The Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they’re in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them when they’re in saltwater. I hear it gets even more complicated once they’re smoked.”

I liked what he had to say about education, though everyone talks about education, but little seems to be done. Still, as someone dealing with children that are taught to memorize, I was impressed with this paragraph:

"What’s more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea -– the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny. That’s why centuries of pioneers and immigrants have risked everything to come here. It’s why our students don’t just memorize equations, but answer questions like ‘What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up?’”

It was strange not being at home for this. Not just missing the actual speech, but being away from the pundits, the analysis, the satire. Where were all the people telling me what to think about what I’d just read/watched? It’ll be even weirder being away from home during the next election season, missing all of the debates and ads and arguing and yelling. Come to think of it, that doesn’t sound all that bad. It’s odd though, how attached to America I get when I’m away from it.