Riff on SOTU

Here lies the first of a new type of post: the riff. Not the Berber people or file format, or even Tony's buddy in West Side Story, but the "improvised verbal outpouring", thank you Webster. Different from my other posts how? Trying not to expound in any detail and with less forethought, just letting fly. I am inspired by last night's State of the Union. 

Thank you Mr. President! Loved the way he took it straight to the congress in so many ways and was actually willing to say, in not so many words, "Why the hell can't you get this done?" and  "What the hell is wrong with you?" Great.

Earning the minimum wage full time leaves you under the poverty line?! Holy blubbering hell! So what is the point of the minimum wage? To figure out what the minimum is that people will still work for? Madness.

Boehner looked like he had eaten something he didn't like, which now that I think about it is probably close to the truth. And I while I loved seeing him squirm, I also found it infuriating that he couldn't clap, much less stand, for stuff that you just can't in good conscience not support. Oh wait, unless it is supported by the President, in which case you are obligated to oppose it. I wish the president had spent a little more time on how party can't come before progress.

Who were the three women who looked so aggrieved when he called for the Fair Pay Act to be passed? Maybe some of the republicans who opposed the Violence Against Women Act. So you think women should be beaten and paid less than men for the same job? What?

Infrastructure!! How is this not a complete and total no-brainer? Let's see:
     - we desperately need to put people to work, especially in the blue collar sector
     - our highways, bridges, railways, dams, schools, etc are falling apart. 
     - businesses have said they will keep their operations in America - or bring them here! - if our infrastructure was better.
Get on with it!

Also on the list of things republicans should be shamed for not supporting: early childhood education. How can you not support that? And not because there is overwhelming evidence - not conservative anecdotal, I-think-I heard-that-somewhere, Faux news evidence but hard empirical data - that says it has one the great rates of return that we know of (as in it is a GREAT way to spend money) but because it is intuitively obvious. Should all little kids have access to a good pre-school? When someone asks you that, you say yes! Not if Obama thinks it's a good idea. 

Groundbreaking idea: instead of assuming the only way to balance the budget is to shrink or eliminate programs of a certain type, let's see if we can waste less money by being more efficient. Why didn't we think of that? Another crazy idea: people who serve in the military should ALL get the same benefits for themselves and their families? Mr. President, you crazy!

People who live in a Democracy should get to vote? Uh, yeah. The Congress should be able to hold the economy hostage while they forward an extremist agenda? Uh, no.

And a great big "Hallelujah!" for the emotional outpouring for the need to move on gun control. They deserve a vote indeed. Brought tears to my eyes.

As thrilled as I was by the President's speech, and that really is the word for it, I also stand amazed that so many of the things that I was thrilled to hear him propose or support are not already in place.  It is a tale of two emotions: joy that he is supporting these things in tension with horror that he has to. And that is underlined by much of the analysis being of this vein: "it is great that the President is proposing this but naive to think it will ever get through Congress." Oy. How weird to be hopeful and discouraged all at the same time.

But yay!

Selah.