I am getting frustrated with people endlessly loving Obama when he hasn't really done anything yet to prove himself. I understand the excitement he brought out in people during the election. It was inspirational. Everyone wanted someone they could look up to and believe in again. They wanted change. Where is it? Yes, maybe he has done something to improve the way the rest of the world views us. I am happy for that. I appreciate that the whole, Toby Keith type rhetoric, we'll put a boot up your ass, it's the American way is behind us.
So far though, it just seems to be words and opinions. Yes, he is a great speaker, but we need more than speeches. He doesn't seem to listen to the public. The thing I don't like when watching him is his air of smugness. He seems to have an attitude that he knows what we meager public cannot understand. We are just supposed to trust him blindly. He should have had a bit of a wakeup call after the Massachusetts election.
I listened to parts of the State of the Union, and it just seemed the same as every other State of the Union. The same old great sounding ideas without any real meat to back it up. I hope things will turn around. I heard Obama talking about tax cuts and help for small businesses, and it was like déjà vu about John McCain and Joe the Plumber. I'm sure the plans aren't the same, but I can't help but hope maybe this is the beginning of some middle ground which could be a good thing. I haven't given up hope that our government has the potential to be better. I tend to be an optimistic person.
I think the change most people could get behind would be to meet in the middle on more issues. I am so sick and tired of hearing about the Republicans and Democrats bickering. Why can't they ever find common ground. I would love to have politicians brave enough to remember why they ran for office way back when they began, and to worry less about their upcoming elections. I feel like people would respond to actual work and honesty much more than these politicians seem to think. This shouldn't be such a difficult thing. At most regular jobs people compromise all the time.
The next morning after the speech, I listened to the Today show, and I couldn't help but be surprised by how much I liked what Jeb Bush had to say about it. Joe Biden of course sounded like an idiot, especially when he said, "Unemployment will rise" and Meredith had to correct him to "Employment". Jeb said that there are parts of the healthcare bill that both parties agree on, and he doesn't know why they can't pass it in pieces instead of a huge bill. This just seems so much simpler. Pass the pieces in the middle that we can agree on. Then bicker and work out the other parts. That would be great reform, and I believe the public would be much happier with the outcomes.
