Dumber

I watched the Presidents State of the Union last night. I think I've blogged before on how scrutiny has ruined political speeches in the USA. Politicians seem to be afraid to speak because if they don't say something exactly right or if they make a mistake it will be turned into a big deal. I really don't see how any one can get excited by most political speeches these days with their plodding, monotone delivery.

To make matters worse, it appears politicians now feel the need to dumb down their speeches to make a connection with "the people." Are we really that dumb? Maybe we are. It isn't really the Presidents fault either. But it really makes the speech hard to listen to.

At one point last night, the President said, "We need to increase our exports." This one line received a standing ovation. Really? At that point he had not said why or how this was going to be accomplished (he did talk about it a little bit, later in his speech) and yet he was getting a standing ovation because he said we needed to increase our exports. And I thought Mr. Obvious was a joke. I didn't know that so many ideas really aren't obvious.

There were some other items that got applause which really surprised me. The President said that a company called eTec received $99.8 million to create 15 jobs with another 27 jobs to be added next year. Let's see, $99.8 million divided by 42 people equals about $2.3 million per person. And this is an efficient way to create jobs??? At this rate won't it take 16 trillion to get the unemployment rate down to 5% or so? Okay, maybe I'm missing something, but if so it is because it requires closer scrutiny. But instead of making a note to look at it more carefully people stand up and cheer.

Unfortunately we won't ever hear great political speeches again in this country. People have grown used to this so now it is normal. I can't believe how many people say they think it was a good speech last night. All that means is that we can expect more of the same. I would like to see a speech that is honest, relevant, passionate, and inspiring. I don't blame Obama or other politicians as much as our apparent collective inability to understand anything above a 3rd grade level.