As I sat down to watch President Obama’s Oval Office address, I had a few expectations. I expected him to officially announce the end of combat missions in Iraq. I expected him to tell us our future plans for Afghanistan. I expected him to deliver this message with the clarity and, let’s face it, star quality that he always has in past speeches. How did I feel about it? Disappointed.
He did announce the end of combat missions in Iraq, but he didn’t say anything about it that I didn’t already know. After that announcement, I wanted to get to the part I thought to be most important: Afghanistan. I kept waiting and waiting and listening to him ramble and tell stories (even give a shout out to Bush) and finally he mentioned Afghanistan. To my surprise, it was over in the blink of an eye. He, again, said things I already knew. He said he has ordered the deployment of more troops and, “As with the surge in Iraq, these forces will be in place for a limited time to provide space for the Afghans to build their capacity and secure their own future.” The problem? The surge in Iraq was coupled with the Sunni awakening. Those who were fighting against us joined our side to fight alQaeda. In my opinion, the surge in Iraq wouldn’t have worked if that hadn’t happened. Why would a surge in Afghanistan work when the Afghan military and police forces are half of that in Iraq. Can we realistically build up the Afghan army to the needed size by July of next year? I’ll let Petraeus worry about that.
Obama then turned his attention to the economy, which is the concern of every American. He said we have put off answering the tough questions concerning our economy and the middle class has paid for it. He said, “we must tackle those challenges at home with as much energy, and grit, and sense of common purpose as our men and women in uniform who have served abroad. They have met every test that they faced. Now, it is our turn.” Yes! Now we’re getting somewhere. I’m sure his next paragraph will tell me his plan to get our economy going again. “We must jumpstart industries that create jobs, and end our dependence on foreign oil. We must unleash the innovation that allows new products to roll off our assembly lines, and nurture the ideas that spring from our entrepreneurs.” Yes, yes, that’s what we need to do but how? What do your economists say? There’s no plan to speak of? No direction to look towards?
After this speech, I felt like I had just watched an episode of Lost. I have so many unanswered questions now that I feel more confused and uncertain than I did before the address.
Sounds like your an independent instead of a democrat. All the democrat's are praising him for the aw inspiring speech. He also eluded to the fact that Iraq was the reason for the deficits that our country is facing, however, in 2007 the deficits were the lowest of the last 10 years so sounds like he's grasping for any excuse available. I agree that it was a speech that made me yawn.
ReplyDeleteI still consider myself a democrat, just a disappointed one. Perhaps my expectations were too high, who knows.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how being disappointed in the President's Oval Office Speech makes you an independent, but sure, ok.
ReplyDeleteKristen, though I was a bit more impressed with the speech than you, I couldn't help but to remember something a teacher once told me. She wrote it in bright red pen that took up nearly the entire first page, "ELABORATE!" I for one, as a staunchly progressive liberal democrat know, that investing in green energy and technologies and create more jobs than the military will. But HOW do we get there? Now, the truth is, I have some ideas, but I want to hear them from Obama. I want him to spell it out for those who seem unwilling to listen. I want him to lay it out for all to hear. But I didn't hear that, and you right.
Great post, loved the title, keep it coming!
I couldnt agree with you more, I was very disappointed with what President Obama had to say, or rather failed to say in his address to the country. I feel just as you did when you said, he simply stated things that I already knew and Ryan is correct ELABORATE. Tell us something we dont hear every 5 minutes on the news.
ReplyDeleteYeah elaboration was one of his major problems. His speech the other day was much better than this one. I'm not sure if i'm in favor of the 50 billion dollar proposal but it was at least more entertaining.
ReplyDelete