State of the Union, 2010
Finally, a Democrat who doesn’t simply turn the other cheek.
President Obama, in his State of the Union, managed to maintain two
opposing stances. He continued to graciously ask for bipartisanship,
but he also scolded, and in no uncertain terms, those who oppose his
efforts to address the nation’s problems. He scolded the
Republicans, who as a solid group have blocked every Administration
initiative, presumably in an unabashed attempt to stop Obama simply
for the sake of stopping Obama, the country be damned. He scolded
the Senate, at least implicitly, by repeatedly giving credit to the
House for originating all the meaningful legislation. And he scolded
the Supreme Court for its incredibly misguided extension of the
“rights” of a corporation, prompting what will undoubtedly be even
greater than usual massive buyoffs of elections in the coming years.
Buyoffs that, as Obama pointed out, can even be paid for by
non-American corporate “persons”.
Of course the problem with scolding the Court is that the ruling in
question is so broad and fundamental: essentially that “corporations
are people”, a notion whose origins go back to an 1886 Supreme Court
decision whereby corporations were first recognized as persons. Many
(myself included) point to this legal construct as the singular
basis for so many of our societal ills and the lack of ability to
correct them: how does one fight an “infinite person”? I’m afraid
that to do anything to correct the court’s action on this matter
will require an amendment.
Nevertheless, I remain in awe of Obama’s ability to inspire: he
had them in that last bit of the speech. At least for a moment,
I’d like to imagine that the Cheneyesque black-hearted cynicism so
prevalent in Washington wavered, and in that fleeting moment, some
of those lifelong cynics almost regretted the greed and gluttony
they’ve let consume them for so many years. Yes, the darkness will
undoubtedly wash back over them; that’s the human condition, or
perhaps it’s the inevitable reaction of a soul that long ago had
sold itself away.
But maybe a few will at least wonder what might happen if they were to put the greater good before all else, what might be possible if the idealism that surely led them into public service had managed to survive the realities of public service. Is it too much to imagine such thoughts as seeds of change? A change our own cynicism may prevent us from believing in, but a change we can at least hope for.
© 2010 Chuck Puckett