The State of the Union address is done by presidents to update Congress on how things are going. However, they’re used these days mainly to outline sweeping policies and to include panders to as many interest groups as possible.
According to Zack Ford, President Obama in his most recent SOTU address “said that ‘who you love’ should not impede your ability to be rewarded for hard work”.
If this is actually what Obama said, then this is a straw man on an scale that can be viewed from space. Literally zero people have argued that gays should not get equal pay for hard work. Let’s see what Obama said:
It is our generation’s task, then, to reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth – a rising, thriving middle class. It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country – the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or who you love.
In another sweeping platitude, the president erected a field of straw men and tore them down. There are no voices in the public square arguing against a “rising, thriving middle class”, “hard work and meet[ing] your responsibilities”, or hard workers getting ahead being inhibited by national origin, appearance, or sexual orientation.
Obama’s other reference to gays came in a reference to the Armed Forces:
We will ensure equal treatment for all service members, and equal benefits for their families – gay and straight.
Ok, well Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has been repealed, so now the President is just citing something that’s already been done as an example of what he’s going to do. It would be as if Ford got on stage and said he would put a man on the moon.
Zack Ford was troubled by the gay community’s inclusion in the State of the Union being like the inclusion of all other minorities—lip service:
Reactions from the LGBT movement were mixed, but not overly critical. Nevertheless, Obama did not utilize the opportunity to specify action on protecting the employment rights of LGBT people through either the Employment Non-Discrimination Act or an executive order for government contractors, as had been hoped. Further, there was no reference to members of the trans community, who continue to face some alarmingly high rates of discrimination and mistreatment in society. Still, references to gays and lesbians and the need to protect their families are important, and the high expectations for LGBT-inclusion in the State of the Union reflect just how far the nation has progressed.
First of all, this is the State of the Union address, not the “airing of personal grievances hour”. The President isn’t Oprah, he’s not supposed to get up there and feel your pain, he’s supposed to go on stage and outline his plans to improve our country in its dire straits.
Second of all, the gay community realizes now (too late) that they elected a President who talks a good story to them, but doesn’t offer much substantive change. Remember when Obama was strictly against gay marriage—while Dick Cheney has been for it?
This is what happens when you expect the President to be a magician to fix all your problems, real or invented—he doesn’t deliver. He’ll promise you the moon, and all you’re left with is the cheese. When you focus on realistic change, on passing laws through the normal process, instead of relying on sweet-talking politicians, then you can start to see real change. Until then—and this goes for any aggrieved community—enjoy remaining aggrieved.
