What struck me most about Obama's speech last night was its clarity. I don't claim to understand whether the things he said will pay off. They sound like a sound step forward toward getting our financial system working as it should--cutting taxes for the middle class, helping banks get solid enough footing to begin lending again, creating an environment in which small businesses want to borrow again, investing heavily in education and energy production--but I guess time will tell if it works.
But its clarity, the way he explained the problems we're dealing with not in terms so inside that we couldn't understand, not in terms so basic or banal as to make it seem he's talking to a room of second graders (that was Jindal's tactic), but a very clear and concise explanation on how we got here, where we are, and where we need to go--as well as why he is doing what he's doing with the bailout and the recovery act. (And that, too: The American Recovery Act, not the Freedom Lover Act, or the American Eagle Liberty Act...)
He talked to us like adults. As if we cared enough and were smart enough to understand what he was saying, how it impacted our lives, and what we need to do to move forward. How refreshing. He was smart to acknowledge the anger of those of us who are getting the rawest end of this deal--namely those of us who have lived within our means, who will have to bail out those of us who have not--and to say simply that although that anger is justified, it is not a place from which we can govern.
That's the other thing that struck me: How nice it is to have adults in charge again. We ask so little, don't we?
Image from The Guardian
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