If I hear one more lamestream media pundit or anchor call Barack Obama's 2011 State of the Union speech "Reaganesque," I will… never mind, in the new age of civility, I am not allowed to complete that sentence.
It's telling that the media was willing to lap up the White House talking point that Obama was not becoming Clinton, but Reagan last night. But since he wasn't making empty promises like "the era of Big Government is over," … oh, wait.
When Reagan was making his speeches, the media said they were divorced from reality because of their optimism, ignored America's deep deep problems, proposed no solutions and even dabbled in science fiction.
Wait, maybe the elite pundit class really DOES believe Obama was Reaganesque Tuesday night!
Now THIS is "Reaganesque"
Obama pretended the recession is over, dismissed industries that create jobs in the real world and proposed an economy based on future "green energy" that has yet to be invented (and defies the laws of physics) and said America will be "winning the future" … just because.
(As a physicist friend of mine has pointed out, missile defense tried to apply physics to the problem, while most green energy projects are trying to overcome physics.)
And here is the crux of why it is insulting to bring Ronald Reagan into this discussion. Reagan expressed confidence that the American people, freed from the constraints of government intervention, could solve our problems. Barack Obama is confident that the federal government freed from spending restraints can usher in a new era of prosperity.
So, other than a 5 year spending freeze which freezes spending at the current all-time high, there was really nothing new in the Obama agenda in the SOTU address. To paraphrase a Biblical expression, it was old wine in new wineskins.
If Obama was channeling anyone it was not Ronaldus Magnus, but Big Bro. The phraseology was positively Orwellian.
Tax breaks are "spending," but spending is "investment." A freeze at an all time high level of spending is a "dramatic cut." We can fix Social Security without touching benefits for current OR future retirees or raising taxes… say what?
Which means, of course that in Internet-speak, this post could have been titled "SOTU: SSDD" (Same… uh Stuff Different Day). Speaking of such things, since Obama's new catch phrase is "Winning the Future," and he is trying to channel past Republican presidents, perhaps he can take a page out of Jerry Ford's playbook and try to make his new slogan catch on with buttons.
What could be more perfect than… WTF?