Last night's Presidential address to a joint session of Congress is being widely praised for its blunt assessment of our problems and for its confident proposals that will bring us out of the economic slide. Speaking for nearly an hour, President Obama's address combined progressive proposals on health care, energy and education with a populist message that the days of corporate executive excessess were over. He rightly pointed out that he inherited an economic mess, after an era of greed and short-term profit seeking. The overall impression the President left: confidence, competence, and leadership. The public agreed, according to polls.
In perhaps the most memorable line of his address, the President said,
"While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: we will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."
The Rethuglicans had a hard act to follow, and the response by Louisiana Gov. Bobby "Bo Jingles" Jindal was an uninspired, pathetic rehash of every Rethug bromide over the last 30 years: cut taxes on the wealthy, reduce Government regulation, and every man for himself. Most Americans will recognize those "solutions" as the reason we're in this mess. This is the guy that Rush Limpballs called "the next Ronald Reagan." Maybe Bo Jingles (who looked a bit like Gilligan with heavy dark makeup) can get a role in a sequel to Slumdog Millionaire, because if last night was his moment in the national spotlight, he blew it.
(photo: Doug Mills, New York Times)
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