Thoughts on the State of the Union and America
Normally, my blog posts are encouraging or spiritual in nature. Tonight, I want to change course a little. I watched a little of the "State of the Union" address. Here are some thoughts on the speech and our country.
First, while I don't agree with some things President Obama said and some things he has done, when he is at his best, he is a good speaker. Tonight, in my opinion, he did a good job. I really liked two moments in particular; when he pointed out the man who went to Chile to rescue the miners with "Plan B" and, when he pointed out that the Speaker of the House started out sweeping the floor in his father's bar. That was a neat moment.
Second, our country needs to come together. Ok, I know win the prize for the "captain obvious award" with that statement but, it's true. I thought having Republicans and Democrats sitting together was good. There needs to be more of that. There is far, far far too much partisan bickering in Washington. Folks! We need to work together.
Third, while politicians TALK about cutting spending... I will believe it when I see it. When the special interests begin to push normally, unfortunately, our elected officials cave in.
And let's be honest;... we talk about the need to cut spending but, very very few local towns... officials... are going to turn government money down. I'm not saying some won't but most accept it. So, if we are going to say cut spending, we need to have integrity about it.
President Obama said this may be our "sputnik moment." Sputnik was an unmanned Russian satellite that went into space in 1957. The success of Sputnik moved America into the space race.
Today, in 2011, America needs to be moved like we were with Sputnik. We need to rise up and take action.
Alexis de Toqueville once said; "America is great because America is good and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
God bless the United States of America!
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