It seems pretty clear to me that if someone can surpass candidate Obama's communication skills, it actually is President Obama. Tonight's speech was once again inspiring, uplifting, and yet down to earth.
I know you're going to read and hear a lot about this address, so I won't expand too much on it, but just wanted to highlight some of the things I found interesting, through some direct quotes.
First on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is now law, he described the promises of the plan and invited us to track them on a dedicated website
Recovery.gov .
He followed by insisting again on his 3 next priorities for future economic growth: energy, health care and education:
- Energy :
"I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders"
"I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America" - Health Care :
"a cost that now causes a bankruptcy in America every thirty seconds"
"let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year" - Education :
"the countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow"
"dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country"
"if you are willing to volunteer in your neighborhood or give back to your community or serve your country, we will make sure that you can afford a higher education."
He went on, talking about his budget, the entitlement programs, the tax cut for 95% of Americans and the cost of war... "for seven years, we have been a nation at war. No longer will we hide its price"
Good way to transition to fighing extremism, and the importance of upholding the values that American troops defend: "that is why I have ordered the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay [...] and that is why I can stand here tonight and say without exception or equivocation that the United States of America does not torture".
Finally, two "living-examples" of greatness in tough times: Leonard Abess "the bank president from Miami who reportedly cashed out of his company, took a $60 million bonus, and gave it out to all 399 people who worked for him, plus another 72 who used to work for him", and the young Ty'Sheoma Bethea, student in a school in South Carolina which seems to be in an hopeless bad shape. She wrote a letter to Congress, asking for help: "We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters."
Overall, as we all know, the task is enormous and President Obama ackowledged it many times before. Tonight, maybe more than lately, he chose to adopt a "action tone", determined, confident and optimistic, while still realistic.
He also made it clear that we will all have "to take responsibility for our future and for posterity"... and I think that this sense of responsibility is something that Americans really have as a common ground, and that we, at least in France, could learn a lot from.
I really hope I'm right...
