The post-speech spin just frustrated me further. Can we just put a temporary ban on the words “partisanship” and “bi-partisanship” for the next 90 days? If we can’t agree on their definition, the words have become meaningless.
The President made a point of seeking out and hugging Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who had spent the day dodging anything and everything thrown at him by the Senate Finance Committee. Granted he deserves the rough treatment, but coming from the Senate it raised the level of hypocrisy we’re seeing in Washington right now to another level. With the cameras rolling, one shocked and appalled Senator after another gave their best imitation of Captain Renault from the film Casablanca .
In his speech, the President got one of his rare bi-partisan (oops!) moments when he confessed that no one liked the idea of the bank bailout. Right now, the American economy is exposed to the tune of $27 trillion with not only subsidies—the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), for example—but also guarantees if in fact we have another financial meltdown. Which begs the question: If it’s such a bad idea what the hell are we doing?
Borrowing from FDR’s playbook—and one of the highlights of the speech—the President took on the Supreme Court and their recent decision to open the doors for corporate campaign contributions, raising the ire of Justice Alito—he of the strict constructionist, non-activist judicial mode. Maybe I’m an alarmist, but the idea of more money flooding into political campaigns and giving corporations another huge carrot to dangle in front of their lobbyists’ dollar bill-glazed eyes seems to be at the very least counter-productive, if not counter-intuitive.
The President may have had the specific of foreign interests wrong, but he definitely has it right with respect to special interests. I don’t view this decision as sliding down the proverbial slippery slope—this is jumping off the cliff. I wish the President all the luck in the world on this one, but as you history buffs know, FDR’s taking on the Court was one of his few miserable failures.
Last but not least, the President almost pleaded with his audience in the Capitol Building that they couldn’t and shouldn’t spend their time in perpetual campaign mode—they actually have jobs to do. Amen to that. Unfortunately, before the hallowed chambers were empty—and really since the Massachusetts Special Election—we citizens have witnessed nothing but back pedaling about past political positions, including the above-mentioned bank bailout, health care reform and now even the trial in New York City of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The Republicans have made it very clear they will do nothing while in minority. And the Democrats are still finding insurmountable obstacles as to why they simply can’t act as a majority party. Until someone takes charge of this junior high food fight—and that is what I found missing in the President’s speech—we as a country are going nowhere fast. As we all know, 2010 is an election year and the current inside-the-Beltway attitude seems to be “let’s just wait until they’re over,” which translates into “he who does the least wins.”
If I sound defeated, I’m not. But I am truly frustrated and remember I am a lifelong Cubs fan. I understand government can’t do everything, but I am seriously starting to wonder if it can do anything besides bicker. Right now, my lack of faith in the process is only matched by my lack of faith in the policy that’s coming out of Washington .
We hear a lot of words from our politicians, including some very eloquent ones from our President on Wednesday night. It’s what happens—or more appropriately, what doesn’t happen—after the speeches that’s really testing my level of trust. Somehow we’ve always managed to pull together in the past, turning crises into defining moments. So I’m going to try and recapture my Opening Day optimism and hope that maybe we’ll really do it this year.
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