Thursday, September 10, 2009

The Speech

So what was LE’s uninformed, disinterested-on-purpose opinion?

Last night was the first presidential speech I listened to in its entirety. I must say straight out that as a rule I generally don’t watch these things. For the eight years previous, they’ve just been downright embarrassing. I do think our current leader was elected in large part because the American public desperately wanted someone – anyone – who could get an intelligent, intelligible sentence out without popping a clutch.

However, I quickly discovered over the past eight or nine months that the new breed of presidential speech, while an example of technical brilliance, so leaden down with arrogance and phoniness that I’m back to square one with my distaste of POTUS addresses.

My initial reaction to what I heard last night?

One part Southern Baptist preacher, one part used car salesman, one part cold-blooded partisan liberal. The president is such a masterful speaker that the Republicans have to learn how to speak in public to effectively challenge this man in 2012. We Americans love our style over substance, so for presidential challengers: you need both, period.

Oh, and there will be no compromise on the health insurance bill. At least from the president’s side.

And how will we pay for the whole new bureaucracy? We won’t – it will pay for itself. Hmmmm. Not sold on that one.

Only 5% of the American public will use the public option – which WILL be in the bill. Find that hard to believe, too. Opposing arguments sound too rational to me, and I have not heard proponents adequately dispel these arguments.

And no matter how effective a speaker you are, it never pays to laugh at your opponent’s objections when restating them, even if it’s a wistful, shake-your-head-at-how-they-just-don’t-understand-you chuckle.

My prediction? Remember, I’m a willful dummy when it comes to politics, so I don’t profess to crystal balls or special acumen here. I think the speech will give him a temporary bump in polls, but I think this health care bill is dead.

At least, I hope it is.

The best way to fix our health care system is to fix it incrementally, and not by adding additional tax and deficit burdens on ourselves and our children.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just be grateful that they didn't air Obama's speech to children in your oldest's classroom without your permission or knowledge, like they did in Jarod's school. After reading it online myself, I can't imagine how he was speaking to my child exactly??? Mine speaks english; doesn't have a runaway father, but one who busts his back every day to provide for him, and in doing so makes sooooo much money that we have to pay for our own food/housing/medical, etc; will never know what a foster home is because he was born to a married couple who worked hard for everything they have and planned/wanted their children; he lives in a neighborhood where he doesn't have to worry about feeling "safe" because his parents work to make sure of that; and best of all, I know he certainly doesn't think he's going to get rich through RAPPING or BASKETBALL!!!!!!!! I can't imagine just whom he might have been speaking to, can you ???????? -J

Anonymous said...

Spot on my friend... I disagree with just one point... The only reform the health care system needs is tort reform. You want to decrease the cost of health care? regulate the ambulance chasers so that our medical professionals don't have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each to protect themselves against frivolous lawsuits. But we won't hear that one from the teleprompter-in-chief.

Uncle