Last week, President Obama delivered his second State of the Union address. In his speech Obama covered a wide variety of topics. However, what was more interesting in this address was the way the members of the Congress conducted themselves. As you may remember, during the last Presidential address Representative Joe Wilson yelled, "You Lie!" towards President Obama when talking about healthcare. During this address, no such events occurred. The inspiring part of this address to our nation was that the members of Congress both Democrats and Republicans sat together. Normally, Democrats would sit on one side of the aisle while Republicans on the other. However, this time they sat intermingled. Democrats and Republicans were unified while everything else they seem to do in congress is divided. President Obama made a comment saying, "What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow". What Obama is saying is that the fact that Congress was sitting together at the address does not matter. What is more important is if the Democrats and Republicans can work together in congress. We have been accustomed to recently seeing democratic filibusters in both the House and Senate. But now since Republicans control the House and Democrats the Senate it will be imperative for the two to work together to pass any legislature. America needs to work together.
Another interesting aspect of this address was the topics discussed and the overall feeling within the House Chamber. One of the first things that Obama addressed was to pray for Gabby Giffords. The comment that Obama made received applause from the whole Chamber. Additionally, instead of focusing on one major topic, Obama discussed a variety of topics. This is unusual in State of the Union addresses. But what was even more surprising was the feeling within the Chamber. In previous addresses, comments by the President generally only receive applause from either Democrats or Republicans. During this address, it was not uncommon to see both Democrats and Republicans standing together applauding. This is possible due to the fact that many of the topics covered by the President were ones embraced by both Democrats and Republicans. Additionally it showed a sense of unity within the Chamber. This years State of the Union address was not what everyone expected. However, it did deliver significant information on the current state of our union.
A full transcript of the State of the Union address:
How both the Democrats and Republicans were able to sit together astonished me. Do you know what caused this to happen? I think this may be a new start to a better future for America. I really liked President Obama’s comment saying, "What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow". He wants to see them stop getting caught up with arguing and trying to corporate and work together to make America a better place. I can connect this to Apollo 13 because the Apollo 13 crew had to work together as a team or they wouldn’t have made it back safely. Also, I was surprised how both Democrats and Republicans stood together applauding when President Obama addressed to pray for Gabby Giffords. I think that this State of Union address may lead to success because of the sense of unity felt within the Chamber.
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