Last night was President Obama’s State of the Union Address for 2011. Now, this is not a political blog and it will likely never be such. This is more to chronicle the fact that we watched the event together, not to review major points addressed by the President and how I feel they should be implemented. You should know that no matter how I vote, the President is never bad-mouthed in our home. It’s just poor form and honestly, I don’t know what it’s like to be president. I don’t want to be president, but I’m very thankful we live in the United States and are afforded the opportunity to be part of the political process. I want Beatrice to be excited to be part of things here too. Last night she watched the State of the Union Address with us. She liked it. I think it was because we were allowing her to watch television and there was frequent clapping; also, she’s started “social laughing” so anytime there was chuckling we heard a little “ha ha ha” from her too. It was adorable.
Here are two quotes from last night’s speech that I found particularly enjoyable:
One parenting and education: “We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair. We need to teach them that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.”
On commerce: “We live and do business in the Information Age, but the last major reorganization of the government happened in the age of black-and-white TV. There are 12 different agencies that deal with exports. There are at least five different agencies that deal with housing policy. Then there’s my favorite example: The Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they’re in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them when they’re in saltwater. I hear it gets even more complicated once they’re smoked.”
The State of the Union Address is one reason we have a television! It’s exciting to know that we’re watching the same speech as many Americans and that we’re part of a much bigger whole here in the United States. For those of you who missed it, head over to whitehouse.gov and check out the speech. There is also a place to see the “who’s who” of those seats around the First Lady last night. Amy Chyao from Richardson, TX is an impressive gal! Actually, they’re each impressive in their own way. I’m not going to lie, I hummed and sang “Proud to be an American” quite a bit during and after the speech last night. I’m thankful to be here in the U.S. and I’m thankful for the people who serve in our military and take part in the political process to make our lives easy. Back to work everyone: we’re 9th in the world for college graduates and we cannot stay that way.
