Watching President Obama's State of the Union address last night, and sifting through the media reaction to it afterwards, I was reminded of a moment from Sylvester Stallone's first "Rocky" movie (or, as I sometimes like to call it, "the good one"). The moment comes early in the film's climatic fight between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed, the world heavyweight champion. Creed has staged the bout as an exhibition commemorating the nation's Bicentennial but, for Rocky, it's a last chance to show what he's got as a boxer by "going the distance" with Creed. When Creed complains to his trainer about the punishment he's taking, reminding him that this is supposed to be an exhibition, his trainer snaps back at him. "Well, someone forgot to tell him that! He thinks it's a damn fight!"
Clearly, that's what the President thinks, judging from his speech. And I for one couldn't be happier.
The Republican Party has never liked Obama. And neither has the legacy media. He won two elections (more about that later;-)) not only without their help, but in the face of massive, unprincipled, nearly insane opposition that, despite its mendacity and sheer lack of patriotism, would have crushed a much lesser politician. That would have been especially true of a politician like Bill Clinton, who put himself into a position to be blackmailed, and lived to regret it, as did the rest of us. But Barack Obama is not a lesser politician. Barack Obama is not anybody's puppet, or tool. Barack Obama rocks. Hard.
And the Republicans and the legacy media have never forgiven him for it. The former, because he's black (sorry, I'm just the messenger here), and the latter, because he's won without--in fact, in spite of--the lack of blessing they chose to confer on him. All this has done is accelerate, for both of them, the lack of relevancy that history and the forces shaping it have decreed for both of them.
For the past two years, since the President did the "unexpected" (except to his supporters) and get re-elected, the GOP and the LM (legacy or lamestream; either one works) have teamed up to create their own, overpowering anti-Obama narrative. They squashed an immigration bill supported by the American people and more than two-thirds of the Senate. They allowed the Republican-controlled House to get away with passing virtually nothing to help the American people, on the theory that they should wait until after the 2014 elections and their expected electoral gains. And they received those gains through the worst combination of dark money and voter suppression in modern history. On top of all of that, they have spent the past two months joining hands in demanding that President Obama kneel to this craven, corrupt Congress--a Congress elected by the lowest voter turnout in 70 years.
What leader in what is still supposed to be a democracy would, or should, bow down to such bullying? Did the Republicans or the LM bow down to the Democrats when they won across the board in 2008? Did either of them bow down to Obama or Senate Democrats in 2012? Was their any serious effort in either instance of the GOP "reaching across the aisle"? Did the minority Congressional leadership do anything in response to those defeats except come up with new and more exciting ways to obstruct the people's business? And was that leadership ever called out by what passes for the traditional press? Then or now?
This is a damn fight. And Obama's SOTU address shows that he recognizes it and is willing to engage the Republicans in it. He's the leader of a co-equal branch of government, and has no obligation to bow down and worship John Boehner and Mitch McConnell for their election "victories." After all, as he gently reminded them, he has two of those as well. And that reminder was neither rude nor arrogant; it was far nicer than this.
Obama is very much feeling comfortable in the Presidential saddle, and all of us should be grateful for it. I am. The Republicans and LM need to find a way to get over themselves, and get on with the business of serving the people, instead of serving themselves.
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