State of the Union

I spent tonight listening/watching President Barak Obama's first State of the Union address. I watched it over a terrible Telecom Broadband connection which meant that the video had to stop and buffer every 15 seconds. A seventy-one minute speech took over two hours to watch.

Anyway, the highlight of the speech for me came when Obama encouraged Washington to stop waiting to address the challenges that face America (see below). Washington needs realize that as they bicker among themselves and wrestle to be the top dog in politics, the rest of the world is leaving them behind.

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The theme Obama touched on in the video above was scattered throughout the rest of his speech as he talked about the economy, jobs, innovation, healthcare, green energy and more. The silliness of opposing an idea just because it isn't yours; of blocking legislation when there are no other viable alternatives; of dragging your heels, refusing to fix a problem so that you can campaign on that issue in the next election. this silliness has fatigued many Americas. As you watched the address these sorts of attitudes and behaviors were obvious. The Republicans sat in the chamber with arms crossed and fingers tightly clasped together. Many refused to clap for even the most common sense suggestions made by the President.

History will judge those who currently occupy the White House and Congress by what they ultimately accomplished. President Obama seems very aware of this fact. If the next generation of Americans find themselves living in poverty and without hope, they will judge harshly those who refused to act on their behalf when they had the chance.

Thousands of miles away the size and scope of the challenges that face America still seem daunting to me. Whether you agree with what President Obama said or not, one can't help but to reflect on what we are doing to make a difference in our own backyards. Are we avoiding big challenges because they are too daunting? Are we resistant to change in our personal lives because we think it won't make a difference? The President's speech has caused me to ponder the areas of life that I can do something about but have ignored because I'm waiting for the next person to do something.