Speaking at a joint meeting of Congress, government officials, distinguished guests, the press, the nation, the world and Michelle, the President droned on for almost an hour. Much of the State of the Union speech was hyperbole about the great achievements that he had accomplished as the world leader that he envisions he has been. That’s the rough equivalent of the gelding that mistakenly believes the handsome colts in the pasture are his.
During his speech, we were admonished with four questions. The first question was, “How can we give everybody a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy?” The answer is to establish boundaries for welfare recipients. Reduce taxes, spending, national debt, waste and regulations. Require jobless individuals to apply for existing jobs and coordinate training for emerging jobs in this ‘new’ economy. As far as security is concerned, comply with current immigration laws and stop whining that immigration laws need to be updated. Admit that terrorists like ISIS, the Taliban and al Qaeda are threats to world harmony and safety and take them out. Stop the lethargy of passing along the terrorist threat to your successor. Stop taking guns out of the hands of good citizens and start treating the symptoms of criminal behavior, return police and military to their positions of common sense enforcement of all laws. Dig below blame-the-guns excuse falsehoods and root out the underlying causes of gangs and homicidal crime. Bring in law enforcement and military leaders and listen to them.
The next question was, “How can we make technology work for us, not against us especially challenges like climate change?” The answer to this question: Replace the politicization of climate change with genuine economic, demographic and cultural facts and figures. Forget these ‘world summits’ of thousands of interested parties where solutions are replaced by parties, oration, debate and expensive false compromise. Avoid trying to convert creative brilliant technology planners and operators into political climatologists.
Question #3 was, “How can we keep the U.S. safe without becoming the world police?” The mantle of ‘world police’ was bestowed upon the United States following WWI and confirmed after WWII. Who would our President see as the world’s ‘enforcer’; Russia, China, the UN? Like it or not, we ARE the world’s ‘police’ perhaps by default but the world is a better place because of the past and future policies of this great nation. Leading from behind is an eight-year hiatus from the reality of the influence our leaders have exhibited in the past as they will do in the future.
The final question was, “How can we make politics reflect what’s best in us and not what’s worst?” The short answer to this dumb question is A. Follow the Constitution, B. Recognize the Congress and The Supreme Court as equal bodies of governance through the rule of law and the precepts of statehood as envisioned by our founders and C. In God we trust. A Lead-from-behind President that is never wrong, plays the blame game and the race card, that fabricates falsehoods, that promises transparency and delivers cover-ups and murky, concealed policies and decisions will never have the ability to be fair-minded enough to have politics reflect what is best in anyone.
Perhaps the cornerstone proclamation of the SOTU sermon was that we (the people) were warned not to exaggerate the threat of ISIL (ISIS to us commoners). The President mentioned that it is over-the-top to call the ISIL conflict WWIII because it ‘plays into their hands.’ That sounds like ‘Gitmo is a ‘recruiting tool’; show us the evidence, Mr. President.
On Monday, January 11, 51 people were murdered in Baghdad; on Tuesday, 11 tourists were slaughtered in Istanbul; on January 14, two were killed and 23 injured in Jakarta; December 2015, 14 workers were gunned down in San Bernardino; during November 2015, 130 died in Paris and 43 in Beirut. In October, a Russian airliner over Egypt became the tropospheric morgue for 224 innocent passengers and crew and in June 2015, 38 mostly British tourists perished on a Tunisian beach; all attacks were inspired or carried out by ISIS employees.
Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive – Sir Walter Scott 1771-1832
Dick Baynton
