There were some definite benefits to watching the State of the Union Address on CNN last night. First and foremost, John Boehner sat behind Obama to the left. While I don't normally enjoy looking at Boehner (aka "The Annoying Orange," aka, "Cry Baby"), seeing him forced to sit silently while Obama spoke was definitely entertaining. He started out with an obviously fake, but polite, smile. As the speech progressed, the corners of his mouth drooped more and more. When Obama mentioned ending corporate welfare for oil and gas companies, he looked downright grim. And towards the end, when Obama mentioned a certain boy from Ohio getting his start as a sweeper in his father's bar, I thought we'd see the famous Boehner waterworks. No such luck. But he did look mighty, mighty embarrassed! Honestly, of all the things Boehner has done, sweeping the floor in a bar seems the least embarrassing. But, hey, I've never really understood the workings of the Republican mind.
Another high point was the President's call to more rigorous science education. The previous administration seemed against all science that did not have an immediate military application (or so they led their followers to believe). In fact, the previous administration seemed to have issues with knowledge and education, in general. After years of hearing the virtues of the "gentleman's c," it was nice to hear a president promote intelligence and education.
And there's the segue to what was possibly the most flawed aspect of Obama's address. I am all for funding science ed, promoting teachers as "nation builders," and innovation. Yet the context in which all of this was mentioned troubled me deeply. To endlessly mention "competition" with other nations, to speak of out-innovating other nations, brings back too many memories of the Cold War: an era that saw great gains for the military/defense complex, but few for scientific innovation or education.
I was disturbed by Obama's use of the "brain-drain" (at least he had the sense not to use that designation) in his arguments for the infamous "anchor babies"/young dreamers (kudos for avoidance of that catch-phrase, too). It's true that America does educate many foreign born scientists. It is not universally true that those scientists take "our" education back to their nations thanklessly, though. Yes. Some do return to their countries of origin. Many, however, stay here to work in research and development--or to teach college science courses. Invoking the over-used "brain-drain" is unfair and smacks of pandering, especially when we depend upon those same scientists for much of our present day innovation. To me, it seemed Obama was just rubbing the big, racist, xenophobic underbelly of our culture.
Frankly, I don't see how we can logically address either joblessness or illegal immigration when we refuse to acknowledge that it is our policies that have caused both. Pressuring right-wing governments in Latin America to keep our multinationals cozy led to mass slaughter in El Salvador and Guatemala in the 80's. Those slaughters led to wave upon wave of illegal (illegal in the sense that we denied them asylum) immigrants from those nations.
We have made it easy for corporations to ship their jobs overseas. Not, as the Republicans claim, by taxing them, but by culturing poverty in other countries and by supporting repressive regimes whose citizens will take any job they can, under any condition, no matter how deplorable. The whole debate, from the left and the right in this country, is artificial and unhelpful. I should qualify; it is unhelpful to workers whose jobs are being outsourced or given to immigrants. It is quite helpful to large corporations.
So. Final analysis of the SOTU--nothing changes. Lots of attitude, but also lots of concession, more than a smidgen of grovelling, and very little of either hope or change. Which, if you recall, are the pillars upholding Obama's election. But we did get to see Boehner grimace. And while I would have appreciated it if the Pres had stuck it to Boehner's party a bit more, anything that wipes the smile off his orange face is a lovely gesture. A mere gesture, but lovely, nonetheless.
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