The State of our Humor

This State of the Union Address focused on the seriousness of our times and the needed fight for improvement, but did so in a manner that facilitated cooperation

Yesterday President Obama gave one of the best State of the Union speeches I have heard in quite a while.  Was his speech great because of his known oratory brilliance?  Did he use the same cadences that bred success during the campaign trail?  The answer to both of these questions has to be no, yet the speech was still brilliant.  The greatness of this speech was due to the fact that the campaigning has stopped.  The act of attempting to sell the supposed greatness of the man is over, and the reality of having to deal with reality has truly begun.  The euphoria surrounding his victory has gone away, and we should all be happy with that.  Now something has to take the place of that euphoria, and over the past year we have had many candidates.  Fear has always faced a constant battle with anger and indifference for the minds of Americans when we become faced with the seriousness of our plight, and during previous State of the Unions these negative emotions have been evoked to further selfish motives, yet this one was different.  President Obama instead decided to address the serious issues of our time, but instead decided to enlist humor to accompany the American public while we embark on this arduous journey.

During yesterdays address the President decided to make light of the fact that Republicans opted to not applaud with the Democrats when he mentioned the tax breaks that his administration has enacted.  President Obama poked fun at his wife by claiming that “she gets embarrassed” when receiving applause.  The President made light of the fact that the Republican Party may not enjoy the monthly meetings that he plans to hold with both Democrats and Republicans.  However, his speech was not just fun and games.  He reviewed the Stimulus Package, outlined a new jobs bill and even said he would pass the jobs bill through executive order if it did not pass the Senate.  He mentioned the error in the Supreme Court’s decision to make money more valuable that people.  He discussed the fees that those companies who were saved by the bailout must now pay to repay the American people.  He spoke about the revitalization of the American economy through clean energy and the large strides he has made with Russia to reduce both countries nuclear stock piles and fight nuclear proliferation.  He chastised Iran and promised that all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year.  He stated his stance that gay Americans should be able to openly serve in the military.  The President also spoke about the divisions that sully our political system that allow lobbyists to have an unwanted or unneeded influence and impair basic discussions between parties.  Additionally, he also admitted that he could not complete these changes alone.   The President made light of his own presidential campaign by explaining that “Change you can believe in” was never supposed to be easy.  It was never supposed to be something that did not require the support of millions of people.  The democracy of a country of 300 million people is supposed to be hard and messy, and we need to see this or change will never be able to occur.  It is funny that people may have seen these realities from a different angle, but it is only funny because laughing is far more productive than crying.

Yesterday, around 6pm a full three hours before the State of the Union I had a great discussion with a friend of mine about the importance of humor.  He is of the opinion that I should be a comedian, and I find that laughable.  He does not see the humor in my opinion, so a discussion started.  He felt that politics could be served at a later date, and that I could focus on comedy now because I am so funny.  Eventually, my success could help my additional aspirations.  That was his argument, and it makes sense, but that does not make it correct.  Humor is something that you can apply to all aspects of life, yet is needed most during the most serious of times.  When I look back at eight years of State of the Union Addresses being delivered by George W. Bush I should cry.  I should feel the pain of those who grew up in the lost decade to only see their President welcome them with fear and absurdity, yet what would that do.  Fear is crippling and crying is debilitating, and what good will those do for anyone.  We all should be able to look at the predicament that we are in and the absurdity that surrounds us and be able to laugh while we work hard to fix it.  St. Augustine once said, “Hope has two sons:  Anger and Courage.  Anger at the way things are and Courage to make them better.”  As Americans we have been overcome with anger and fear for far too long and the President yesterday marked the need for that to change through the necessity for us all to have the courage to confront our issues while being able to laugh along the way.  Humor is always a great companion for good judgment.  This President looks to be one that you can laugh with, and that should be much more beneficial than a President that you can have a beer with.

Below is the full video of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, and you will be surprised how quickly the 70 minutes flows by due to the ability to laugh along the way.



The Undemocratic Filibuster & An Idea for Fixing It

Paul Krugman has a good piece in the New York Times to day that highlights the disfunction of our present government.  Essentially, Barack Obama was sent to Washington, D.C. with a mandate for change, but sadly that mandate did not consist of 60% of the national vote.  A Congress under the control of a threat for a filibuster now requires a 60% majority for any legislation to pass, and this allows legislation to get watered down and less effective.  The Senator's that represent the difference between 52 and 60 votes now have a dispraportionate amount of influence over the other Senators and those Senators can drastically change the bill for their own motives instead of those of the peaple.  This does not help democracy and this needs to stop. 

You can read Paul Krugman's great article HERE.

Climate Change Cartoon

Tony Blair by Gerard Scarfe

For more info on Tony Blair go HERE.

Corruption in the World

Transparency International, www.transparency.org, has just released its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) to gage corruption throughout the world and determine the most corrupt countries in the world.  Afghanistan and Iraq were two of the five most corrupt countries in the world.

To view the whole list go HERE.

A Constant Juggling Act

Gerald Scarfe makes great cartoons and you can check them out HERE.

The Rare Iranian Mouse

This species has become endangered this week, but it's fight for survival is inspiring millions around the world.

As many of you know much of the events surrounding the Iranian election are spreading throughout the world thanks to websites like Twitter and YouTube. Despite the efforts of the Iranian government to suppress most forms of media from spreading news about the recent protests, they cannot stop the youth from twittering and posting videos on YouTube. Reporters from most major news agencies have been expelled from the country, but due to Twitter and YouTube this is not enough. This is the emergence and the struggle for survival of the Iranian Mouse.

Currently, the hopes of President Ahmadinejad that the protests would eventually fade away have been dashed. Despite the threat of incarceration, and violence the size and number of protests have increased. Many of the protesters have vowed to continue their protesting not only until the election is annulled and retaken, but also until the Ayatollah Khamenei is removed. The people are truly fighting for their freedom and the structure of their democracy. That is enough to make any Supreme Leader stand on a chair, and yell for help.

We get to know this and we get to see this thanks largely due to the evasive survival techniques employed by the Iranian Mouse. People used to say that at the end only the cockroaches would survive.  To the chagrin of President Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah Khamenei the rare Iranian Mouse may be the only thing to survive at their end.  

I would like to thank the Times of London for this great cartoon.