The State of the Union was televised last week and despite knowing that President Obama’s speech would sound like every other State of the Union address that he has delivered, I decided to watch. Was I disappointed? Not really. Was I surprised? Was I inspired? Did it restore my faith in our nation’s leaders? Sadly, none of the above occurred. It is unfortunate that the most entertaining part of the President’s speech was watching Speaker of the House John Boehner not react to most of what the president said while Vice President Joe Biden applauded everything our Commander in Chief said.
It is impossible to have everyone agree on anything at any given point in time. Figuring out where to go have lunch with my ex-girlfriend was a challenge of epic proportions at times so I won’t be too harsh on Washington’s inability to hammer out all of the problems facing the nation on a first try. Not everything President Obama has done or said has been to my liking, but neither were the actions of President Bush or President Clinton or President Reagan.
However, what is troubling and sad is the unwillingness and inability of these grown-ups, which were elected to do a job, to better cooperate with each other. Both sides have displayed such an unwillingness to even consider what the other side of the aisle has to say that we have become accustomed to the gridlock in D.C. We have become so used to it, that we as a nation sat and simply accepted the government shutdown. There are many examples of former presidents willing and capable to negotiate under the most divisive of conditions. All it took was good will and flat out honesty. The behavior of V.P. Biden and Speaker Boehner demonstrate the willingness of our elected officials to first rally behind their party than their constituents. The behavior of our leaders is not only pathetic but a failure at fulfilling the duties for which they were elected to complete.
We are all members of this very diverse world where we interact with a myriad of people, all with different opinions, goals and methods to achieving said tasks. Despite those differences, we all manage to wake up everyday, go to work and do our part to be productive members of society. With the exception of a few stragglers, we are all capable of getting along with each other and at least display a basic level of respect toward other people. Even in those cases where neighbors, coworkers or classmates don’t like each other, grown ups are capable of moving passed pettiness for their own mental well-being and for the sake of moving forward with life.
So if we can look past our differences and go about our day and manage to overcome differences with the people we encounter every day, why can’t the suits on Capitol Hill do the same? The party pandering in D.C. is pathetic and displays the childlike behavior that has gridlocked our nation’s leadership.
