The state of the union address, America’s chance to view a bipartisan assembly gathered beneath the rostrum of the President for, one would hope, an account of the nation and its people. An event steeped in tradition. So dignified, so sobering, so . staged.
The real meat and potatoes of the address came not with the words that were uttered. Words by themselves mean very little when the speaker doesn’t really believe in them.
There were plenty of vague allusions to the power of individuals to determine their destiny, shaping the course of history, building a prosperous future, expanding opportunities, liberty, freedom, democracy, God bless America, etc. They were all in there (you can check).
No, it wasn’t the words that filled this viewer with malaise. It was the audience full of Congressional automatons reacting on cue and in perfect unison to a scripted president.
If lucky, an observer was treated to three consecutive sentences from the president before his speech was interrupted by a (near instantaneous) standing ovation. Not even the most merciless churches are so demanding of their congregations. Perhaps that’s why the State of the Union is only offered once a year. It must have taken months to get the choreography down.
The president said what he was supposed to say. The compliant men and women of Congress behaved as they were supposed to behave. No one dared pause long enough between ovations to gauge the meaning or sincerity behind the words. But wouldn’t it have been nice if someone had?
What if we had a commentator who could translate for ordinary Americans the actual, unstated state of the union?
If we peel away the fulsome homage to American political decorum, what will we find? Let’s analyze some excerpts from the President’s speech and find out.
What follows is a list of excerpts from the president’s address, each followed with a brief explanatory footnote for the benefit of the reader:
“We will ensure that decisions about your medical care are made in the privacy of your doctor’s office, not in the halls of Congress.”
Two words: Terry Schiavo.
“We must trust American workers to compete with anyone in the world and empower them by opening up new markets overseas.”
Our president’s legacy will definitely be his gift for transposition, not only of syllables, but of complete thoughts. What he meant to say was that we must trust in opening new factories overseas that allow sweat shop laborers to not just compete with, but to outcompete, businesses that remain in the states. Sorry middle-class America, but jobs take a back seat to corporate profit margins and Wall Street earnings.
“To keep America competitive into the future, we must trust in the skill of our scientists and engineers and empower them to pursue the breakthroughs of tomorrow.”
Unless of course those breakthroughs involve global warming, environmental protection, evolution or stem cells, all fields of research this administration has done his best to stifle.
“Over the past seven years, more of our fellow citizens have discovered that the pursuit of happiness leads to the path of service. Americans have volunteered in record numbers.”
Except for the army, which has not only struggled to meet recruiting goals, but raised age limits, eased recruiting standards and issued a record number of waivers for enlistees with felonies to try and maintain the ranks.
“The Iraqis still have a distance to travel. But, after decades of dictatorship and the pain of sectarian violence, reconciliation is taking place and the Iraqi people are taking control of their future.”
And with the help of permanent U.S. bases throughout the country, we can be sure they’ll have exactly the kind of future we want them to have.
In Afghanistan, “. boys and girls are going to school. New roads and hospitals are being built. And people are looking to the future with new hope.”
They’re also harvesting a record amount of opium poppy and have become Europe’s number one provider of heroin.
For a party that likes to lionize Ronald Reagan, they sure haven’t stayed the course in the war on drugs.
“Tehran is also developing ballistic missiles of increasing range and continues to develop its capability to enrich uranium, which could be used to create a nuclear weapon.”
Did someone say mushroom cloud? Let’s send the husband of a covert CIA agent to Niger and make sure its yellowcake reserves are secure.
“Our foreign policy is based on a clear premise: We trust that people, when given the chance, will choose a future of freedom and peace.”
And if they don’t make that choice willingly, we have water boards and a string of secret CIA prisons to help encourage them.
“The secret of our strength, the miracle of America, is that our greatness lies not in our government, but in the spirit and determination of our people.”
It does, but only when people are willing to pay attention, to think and to speak out.
And the attendees of this year’s state of the union are counting on America’s unwillingness to do just that.

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