President Barack Obama gave Americans the yearly pep talk, also known as the State of the Union address, Wednesday evening. Most of it was expected, though there were a few parts I didn’t see coming.
The beginning of his address started out as I figured it would, with a notable list of what he has accomplished. I was a little reminiscent of the first day back to elementary school listening to a student tell what he did over the summer. It was a good list, nonetheless. He focused on the Recovery Act, also known as the stimulus package. He listed how he has provided tax cuts to working families, saved 2 million American jobs and extended or increased unemployment. Obama also shared with Americans some difficult things we are facing, as I expected, like the current unemployment rate, noting that one out of every 10 Americans is unemployed. He also had to mention that we are still at war. He intended to share some hope as well, by committing to have troops out of Iraq by August and supporting the freedom for gays in the military, neither of which I expected.
There were other things I didn’t expect to hear, like his plan to freeze government spending over the next three years. He also did not talk about health care reform or education nearly as much as I thought he would. Obama also was unexpectedly comedic, getting a good laugh several times during his speech, adding a lightheartedness to the evening. Maybe he was just keeping the options open in case this whole president thing doesn’t work out.
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Nice job Jen!! I was astounded to learn his focus shifted from what everyone anticipated as well. I think you did great posting an update and comparing the issues he addressed to what you thought he'd say.
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a wonderful job of summarizing the speech and analyzing your predictions. I like how you mentioned that his speech was unexpectedly comedic. That was probably my favorite part of the whole address.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he did not talk much about health care reform considering the loss of the Massachusetts Senate seat and what that means about getting a bill passed. It's on the minds of a lot of people. I think he should have talked about it a little more.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed the comedic moments. I noticed he did that, too, in his other speeches. That made the somewhat dryer parts more bearable for me.