"Getting It Done" In a Divided Country

English: Cropped version of File:Official portrait of Barack Obama.jpg. The image was cropped at a 3:4 portrait ratio, it was slightly sharpened and the contrast and colors were auto-adjusted in photoshop. This crop, in contrast to the original image, centers the image on Obama's face and also removes the flag that takes away the focus from the portrait subject. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address of his second term made headlines before he even made it to the House chamber, with the word that 34,000 more military personnel were being withdrawn from Afghanistan within the next year.  That falls in line with his goal of wrapping up the war there by the end of 2014.

As for the rest of the one hour speech, it can be summed up in four words:  "Let's get it done".  That was the President's message to Republicans who mostly sat on their hands the entire evening while his fellow Democrats stood up and cheered his every word, challenging them to allow his proposals on everything from the economy to the budget to gun accessibility to go through, knowing full well that they probably won't be.

The president also made mention of North Korea launching another test nuclear warhead and Iran's alleged nuclear program, denouncing them both.   This sounds kinda curious in light of reports that the Obama administration is seriously considering launching drone attacks on American citizens who plan terrorist activities from abroad.  Left unchecked, drone attacks could be coming to a neighborhood near you.

As has become standard practice during these SOTU spectacles, various invited ordinary folk representing the President's pet causes were trotted out.  There were soldiers who were wounded in battle.  A person who benefited from Obamacare.  And a 102-year old African-American woman who waited in line on Election Day for what seemed like an eternity, just so she could vote.  We presume she represented election reform.

But toward the end of the speech, the President turned his attention to the guests who just happened to represent victims of gun violence, his latest pet project.  He called on Congress to give Gabrielle Giffords (also in the audience) and the victims of Newtown, Columbine, etc. a vote in favor of controls on guns.   However, his efforts are in trouble because even Democrats are reluctant to let go of their second amendment rights.

President Obama may have won a new four-year term, but he realistically has only two years for anyone in Congress to take his proposals seriously before the 2014 midterm elections.  Then again, his proposals haven't been taken seriously by the GOP ever since he took office.  So this is really his last chance to just get it done.