State Of The Bunion Address
By: Molly Secours
Tennessee Tribune
Originally posted 2/6/2006
Last Tuesday evening like millions of others around the world, I sat in front of the television set to endure the State of the Union Address. In many ways, it was like being drawn to a fire or a car accident -- only not as exciting -- but there was no fighting the impulse. The president was addressing our country -- and the world -- and I didn't want to rely on the "post-game" analysis.
Even though most of the pundits admit the State Of the Union Address is little more than a pomp and circumstance -- where low expectations abound -- many still watch in the hope that some words of power and truth would somehow be injected into empty ceremony.
So how did our fearless leader speak truth to power? He started out by defending the war in Iraq -- the number one reason his popularity has fallen so drastically -- by saying: "our Nation is committed to an historic, long-term goal -- we seek the end of tyranny in our world."
Never mind that much of the world now looks at our Nation as tyrannical, power hungry and self-righteous -- just to name just a few descriptors. And forget that our historic long-term goal to end tyranny has included numerous invasions in various countries, i.e. Panama, Afghanistan, in which we, the United States, behaved in ways that are construed as tyrannical -- depending on which part of the world you live in.
But then he went on to explain that "Democracies replace resentment with hope, respect the rights of their citizens and their neighbors, and join the fight against terror. Every step toward freedom in the world makes our country safer, and so we will act boldly in freedom's cause."
This sort of banter tends to make one dizzy especially when you consider that terrorist groups now congregate and flourish in the very country we invaded and the type of "freedom" we have delivered to Iraq has caused us to be less safe than we (as a country) have ever been. Not to mention how little hope and good-will we have engendered around the world and how many people experience their own rights are being violated right here at home.
And speaking of dizzy, the repetitive standing ovations every other paragraph on the part of representatives present at the address caused me to wonder what kind of shoes were being worn by all the esteemed guests. Perhaps they included gel soles in the invitations for those with bunions or other foot ailments? It was clear something was afoot in Washington to inspire such buoyancy among our elected officials -- as it certainly couldn't be attributed to the predictable pandering by the president.
In many ways it was reminiscent of watching a Saturday Night Live skit in which they were mocking the sitcom-like meetings of British parliament where havoc rules. Up, down, boo, hiss, yeah, nay, and of course there was the drama of removing anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan -- who apparently was not dressed appropriately for the occasion.
And it seems, as the evening progressed, so did the absurdity of the statements: "Our economy is healthy, and vigorous, and growing faster than other major industrialized nations." This on the heels of some of the most massive job cuts in recent history. Giant corporations announcing layoffs and plant closings that effect thousands of workers -- many of whom are losing retirement packages and have little chance of finding employment elsewhere.
Last year, over 34,000 businesses filed for bankruptcy relief in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Of these filings, over 10,000 were for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The number of workers who are now unemployed because of these bankruptcies is in the hundreds of thousands. Add that to the thousands now jobless because corporations have relocated their offices and manufacturing facilities to India, China and other countries where employees can afford to work for far less money.
Add to that the additional loss of health care for all of these Americans whom have become unemployed and relied on medical coverage through their employers. The most recent statistics indicate that 40 million Americans are now without health care.
And although the president neglected to seriously address our nation's health care crisis, he did manage to pitch his tax cut for the wealthy and expound on how much it has helped the 'average' American. Apparently the $880 billion dollars tax relief passed -- which kept and extra $350,000+ in the Vice President's pocket -- supposedly left billions in the hands of American workers, investors, small businesses, and families. Although this is not the first time we have heard these figures bandied about, we rarely hear from lower income Americans how much better they feel now that wealthy folk can afford a new speed-boat with a house to match -- if they so desire.
But maybe trickle down effect means that if rich people have a few extra hundred thousand in their pockets, they won't begrudge upping the minimum wage to $8.50 an hour so poor people only have to work two jobs instead of three.
There were many other inanities spoke that night and there is not enough room in this column to list them all but one must not be neglected. That is the announcement that "America is addicted to oil...and that the best way to break this addiction is through technology."
Luckily the press was there to cover this news flash which announced we must change how we power our automobiles, our homes and develop cleaner, cheaper, more reliable alternative energy sources. Wow!
So it seems the President is now gone hog wild on energy conservation and the environment. This is interesting since the Bush administration backed out of the Kyoto treaty a few years back. Until recently it seems we didn't like the idea of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases so the federal government has undermined efforts by states to require power companies to use an existing "green" technology.
In spite of the contradictions, they all jumped up in applause and acted as those something of substance was being spoken. For me, my feet hurt just thinking about it.
Molly Secours is a writer/filmmaker/speaker and frequent co-host on "Behind the Headlines" on WFSK 88.1 FM. She can be reached at: mollmaud@comcast.net or www.mollysecours.com
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