As his speech of many thousands of words wore on, the president embarked on his “Blueprint for an America Built to Last.” It sounded mostly like a lot of work to do, bills to draft and pass. It’s the sort of thing that makes every Xerox machine on the Hill wheeze with anxiety, far too ambitious for a Congress that deplores finished business.
Given a curious lack of luster, the Twittersphere and other modern-day equivalents of the applause-o-meter went to work on the usual cues and memorable scenes. Sour-faced House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), for example. Or the uplifting final act of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), leaving office, who would be anyone’s definition of a tough cookie. Noted by CNN’s Dana Bash in a live tweet: “Bipartisanship: Jeff flake is helping giffords stand for potus applause lines — even when most repubs aren’t clapping. #sotu.” (This was quickly followed by the observation: “Irony is if gabby giffords hadn’t been shot, she may be running against Jeff flake right now for senate. #sotu.”)
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Get the highlights from President Obama's State of the Union speech in less than a minute. (Jan. 24)
As expected, Obama’s best work was achieved by walking us once again across the precarious rope bridge of class divide. “We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What’s at stake aren’t Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. And we have to reclaim them.”
Just look at how rich the rich are. Just look at Warren Buffett’s kempt-looking secretary up there in the seats of honor with the first lady. Just look at her tax rate, and now look at Buffett’s. Is this the American ideal? “Now, you can call this class warfare all you want,” the president said. “But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.”
But there again, you’re tempted to look at the whole thing as a reality show — only now it’s not just the GOP field and a “Survivor” allegory. Now there are 300 million contestants in an episode of “Wipeout,” all still fantasizing about the moment they’ll become rich.
“We don’t begrudge financial success in this country. We admire it. When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it’s not because they envy the rich. It’s because they understand that when I get a tax break I don’t need and the country can’t afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference — like a senior on a fixed income, or a student trying to get through school, or a family trying to make ends meet. That’s not right. Americans know that’s not right.”
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