^ Missed it? Got about an hour? Then view much needed action....finally in action! President Barack Obama's address to Congress.
In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama took full possession of his job and his role.
“Dropping out of high school is no longer an option,” he said. “It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country.” That admonition, which won applause from both sides of the aisle, was not directed solely, or even primarily, at the young and underprivileged. It was a metaphorical call to duty and a redefinition of patriotism.
(A podcast version of this essay, narrated by Dan Bernard, can be downloaded from the iTunes Store or streamed to your iPhone or iPod Touch via Podcaster)
I've always adored the light footed way Hendrik Hertzberg handles heavy handed political issues, more so now than before, and definitely during last year's presidential campaign. His laser sharp eye focuses on the esprit de corps shifting the nature of our patriotism at long last. This is a very, very critical shifting as we tread unsteadily into the 21st century.
Hertzberg's essay infers a profound question for these times. Even just a few years ago, who among us would have ever thought on a grand scale that to be devoted American patriots, instead of militarily fighting for what our country stands for, we must now fight with intelligence, intellectual vigor, and sheer betterment from the inside out? To compete with, and lead, the world with our brains, not our guns?
And now, far more than ever, what is the price we Americans must pay for our unchecked selfishness, our strident and dunce individualism as pimped by the Republican Party? That price, alluded by both Hertzberg and President Obama, is the sacrifice of our collective morality, and our duty not just as responsible countrymen and women, but more importantly as responsible and conscientious citizens of the world.
After all, one can be as individual as one wants until it begins to interfere with the reality of the world one must live in, with the reality of other individuals.
As well, the more progress we make under the aegis of President Obama and his team, the more unrealistic, backwoods, and embarrassingly myopic the Republican Party seems. Governor Bobby Jindal needs to do more Rhodes scholar homework and go back to charm school while the RNC pays his tuition there. He has far too much catching up to do. President Obama - and we Americans by his side - are light years ahead of him and his cohorts.
Hertzberg's essay infers a profound question for these times. Even just a few years ago, who among us would have ever thought on a grand scale that to be devoted American patriots, instead of militarily fighting for what our country stands for, we must now fight with intelligence, intellectual vigor, and sheer betterment from the inside out? To compete with, and lead, the world with our brains, not our guns?
And now, far more than ever, what is the price we Americans must pay for our unchecked selfishness, our strident and dunce individualism as pimped by the Republican Party? That price, alluded by both Hertzberg and President Obama, is the sacrifice of our collective morality, and our duty not just as responsible countrymen and women, but more importantly as responsible and conscientious citizens of the world.
After all, one can be as individual as one wants until it begins to interfere with the reality of the world one must live in, with the reality of other individuals.
As well, the more progress we make under the aegis of President Obama and his team, the more unrealistic, backwoods, and embarrassingly myopic the Republican Party seems. Governor Bobby Jindal needs to do more Rhodes scholar homework and go back to charm school while the RNC pays his tuition there. He has far too much catching up to do. President Obama - and we Americans by his side - are light years ahead of him and his cohorts.
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