State of the Union Needs a Re-Vamp

The living space I have been renting for the past three months came with a sitting area with a television that I have never once turned on. For some reason, tonight, right around 7 PM, I felt moved to “turn on the TV and maybe watch some news.”

I figured out how to bring up the picture with almost no trouble at all (which I thought would be a challenge,) and the very first channel I put on happened to feature the United States of America’s very own President Barack Obama delivering his State of the Union Address. It had just begun when I got it on. Weird. I honestly didn’t even know the speech was happening tonight, but it seems as though someone wanted me to watch it, so I did.

I thought the address was gay. A bunch of stiff, boring people in suits clapping when appropriate at a bunch of bullshit spewing out of a man who happens to be trained in public speaking and hand movements. Don’t get me wrong, I voted for the fella, I just think the whole government thing is a bit outdated. I kind of think he should have done the speech at MCU (formerly Keystone) Park in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, NY…see if those people politely agreed with everything he said. Or maybe he should travel to different cities and do a State of the Union Tour, personally addressing the real people of the country…that’s not such a bad idea.

It comes with interesting timing in my life that I would sit and watch/listen to the State of the Union Address, because the President is pretty much talking about what needs to be done to ensure that America is NUMBER ONE in everything in the world, and I just finished reading a very excellent novel that touched on this very topic, but in regards to when Communism was present in China.

The book I am referring to is “The Three Daughters of Madame Liang” by Pearl S. Buck. This is the third book I have read by Buck. Her stories take place in China and are what I would classify as historical fiction, though from what I recall she does not pinpoint specific dates. I speculate “The Three Daughters of Madame Liang” to take place in the mid-1960s and it gave me interesting insight into what it is like to live a life completely controlled and monitored by the government. At this time in the book the Chinese are not free to do or think as they please, but they still show a great pride in their people and believe they should follow through with actions that will benefit and add to the progression and rise in excellence of the country.

I don’t really see a dominance in the belief of nationalism at the present time in the United States, but maybe that’s just the scene I am associated with. Though that brings me back around full circle in this writing; the fact that I thought the address was antiquated, appeasing and unconvincing. Was it supposed to make me feel patriotic? Because it didn't. I think the whole idea of the State of the Union Address needs a re-vamp. Enough with the conventional, the masses are so far passed that. Show me something interesting. Show me something that will make me believe.

Having been inspired by all of this political contemplation, I have decided to change the name of my blog to Camel Culture!