Tonight, President Obama will fulfill one of the constitutional obligations of his office, as nearly every President before him has, and as he has already done once before. [Yes, we know he gave an address in 2009, but that was not TECHNICALLY a "State of the Union" address.]
We could simply tell you what we'd like to hear the President say, or what we think he shouldn't. All kinds of other pundits and commentators have done the same thing already, so why join the ranks of the copycats? Some folks are even claiming that President Obama's State of the Union address tonight previews the 2012 Presidential race - although the facts say that no matter his talking points tonight, most Americans are already firmly dug in on their opinions of the state of the nation.
To us, that's one of the most telling facts of all about the current condition of our country - the unwillingness to change our minds, or more importantly work together with those who don't agree with us.
The problems that we find our collective selves in don't just affect the left or the right. Job insecurity isn't just for the poor, and unemployment has affected Americans at all economic levels. The continued breakdown of our infrastructure affects us all, as do the increasingly odd weather patterns we're all experiencing. The needs of our educational system affect not just those of us with kids, but every person who has to deal with another American who has gone through our current public schools, for better or for worse.
We are most certainly all in this boat together, as one nation - succeeding or failing without regard to party or partisanship.
With that in mind, we at The Daily Felltoon are usually among the first to applaud genuine bipartisanship. We deal with it all the time amongst ourselves - and we do pretty well.
Democrats clean off the cars of Republicans. Republicans share their dessert with Democrats.
In the hyper-partisan culture we have to endure these days, little things like those gestures sometimes seem beyond us. Thus, you might think that we support the show of bipartisanship that our Congresspersons and Senators will be showing tonight as they mix up their seating arrangements.
To a limited degree, we do.
But only to a degree.
This display tonight reeks to high heaven of just that - a show. Everywhere else, Republicans are already threatening to throw legislative temper tantrums if they aren't allowed to shove THEIR agendas down the throats of Democrats, like they believe the Democrats did to them. Democrats, of course, are responding in a like manner.
Bipartisanship doesn't mean, "You hit me first, so now I'm going to hit you back." Bipartisanship in our system of government means putting aside all the childish games to offer up to the nation solutions that work, regardless of which side of the aisle they came from.
When and if we see that kind of working arrangement in Washington - and elsewhere around the country - we'll applaud this little change in seating arrangements as more than just popcorn theatre.
