[image: indiatimes.com]

Review of the President’s State of the Union Address: Jan. 20, 2015

Obama gives a good speech. And he has gotten better with time. His humor and his timing are flawless. When he said that his campaigning days are over, his comment elicited a bit of sarcasm from the Republicans. Their response of “Yeah, two elections are enough,” was followed by laughter. He smiled and said “I know. I won both of them.” His smile widened, and the cynical laughter was swamped by the “gotcha” laughter.

I watched the real time sense of approval ratings being monitored at the bottom of my TV monitor. It was broken down by Democrat, Republican, and Independent, along with a composite for all participants. Their “agree/disagree” ratings were continually monitored and recorded almost down to every word he spoke. Of interest is the fact that all groups agreed with him throughout his entire speech with an average agreement near the 90 percent level. To the extent that those entrusted to record their feelings were a representative sample of the American population, we may safely generalize those ratings to the entire population. Americans of all political persuasions agree with Obama. And we tend to agree with those we trust. Obama is on safe ground as a well-liked, trusted President with whom the great majority of Americans agree on almost all subjects. Those who hate him are a tiny minority who, more likely than not, are still immersed in the race laced world of the 1950s and earlier.

Those observations also tell us that the narrow point of view held by Republicans in Congress, and by those on Fox TV and other conservative media are supported by money only. Their beliefs are a thing of the past. Put another way, the Republican Party and right wing news media have sold their souls to the money lords of the land: the Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Rupert Murdoch, and assorted other billionaires.

Most of the rest of the industrialized countries long ago opted for health care for all, education for all, free public transportation for those who cannot afford it—the baseline needs for a society to meet its obligation of giving everyone a shot at following their dreams. That is also the Obama agenda, and there is nothing radical about it, nor does it smack of socialism, communism, or any other ism.

The great disconnect seems to lie in how to shield voters from themselves when it comes to voting. They need to learn how to avoid becoming a victim to the Lies that spew from the Great Propaganda machine that the right has so carefully nurtured and honed. That is a matter of education. Two years of community college will not change much, but it is a start. The Iraq War cost 10 to 20 times as much as community college for all. Personally, I would give them the XL Pipeline for the community college legislation. Pipelines are typically good for 50 years before they rust out and begin soaking the land with oil. Perhaps someone can insert that conditional into the legislation.

Did I mention that he also appeared to be in better shape physically than anyone in the room? His legacy is intact.