This will be - for me at least - relatively brief. It is my reaction to the most interesting of this kind of speech I have ever seen. it is my reaction. It is what I said to others, including several sitting members of Congress, after I saw, heard, and digested Obama's speech, and Jindal's speech.
The title of this diary is the key. If nothing else, the tale about the 8th grade student was the emotional high point, the key to the argument being made by our President.
"We are not quitters."
No matter how serious the challenge before us, we will not give up. Perhaps not as Churchillian as "we will never surrender" but right now carrying the same impact for the American people.
A few more reactions.
I have heard many formal state of the union adddresses, and several of this kind, with the incoming president addressing a key issue, usually economic. For all those, several dozen worth, this is the first time I heard a coherent speech. Too often the speech is just a laundry list, claims of successes, arguments for future programs, but no overarching vision with which to tie them together. This had such a vision, whether or not you agreed with it.
Another thing that struck me - while acknowledging that we face serious challenges Obama presented an important argument - that it is precisely at times like this that we can attempt the most important - and major - changes.
One side note, and I think it was important. When they scanned the military leaders, the Joint Chiefs, I noted the presence of Thad Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard. I am not aware of another time when the Coast Guard Commandant was included in that august group. Whether or not it happened, it was a quite acknowledgement of the positive role played by the Coast Guard in rescuing people during and after Katrina, and this turned out for me to be prescient given the later bloviation by Jindal.
Let's dispose of Jindal quickly. I did not think it possible, but he found a a way of outshining Bush, and that was in smirking. Forget the content for a moment - his appearance, his facial expression, was a disaster, especially coming after a powerful speech by a President who acknowledged the seriousness of the challenges before us.
As to the content of Jindal's remarks - to put it plainly, they were a disaster. The only good thing from a Republican standpoint is that few people pay attention to the out-party response. It was an embarrassment, or worse.
"We are not quitters." Given how much of the focus of the Presidnet's remarks were about going forward, about the future, using the remarks of a child to remind us of the importance of persistence in the face of serious problems drove home the simplicity and yet the power of the message we needed to hear. One House member told me there were few dry eyes after that portion of the speech. Rightly so - there were similarly few dry eyes among the people with whom I watched.
We may not get it all right to start. Many of us, including me, will disagree with some particulars of that already enacted into law and those ideas proposed for additional legislative and executive action. But we have an important commitment - no matter how bad things may be now, no matter how much worse they may become, we will not give up.
Why not?
It's very simple, as we learned from a young lady tonight, whose words were repeated by the President.
We are not quitters.
Reflect on what her letter represents. That the voice of the most ordinary of citizens can still have a powerful effect on the future of our country. That should remind us of our responsibility: to keep speaking out,writing, blogging, demonstrating, for the change we believe the country may need. One never knows when a solitary voice may be heard, may thereby be repeated to become a rallying cry for many, even a focus for the nation.
We are not quitters.
Later today (for it is now well after Midnight) I will hear what the reaction of my students was. They are but a few years older than the student in question. Perhaps they will be inspired, they will realize their words and actions can make a difference.
And most of all, they, like the rest of us, will realize that we can never give up.
Why not?
We are not quitters.
Peace.