An empty State of the Union

When George W. Bush — educated at Yale and Harvard, may I remind you — bombastically declared in his State of the Union Address, "Now, America is embracing a new ethic and a new creed: 'Let's roll,'" I was reminded of my high school's pep rally. Many of us didn't like the football team, neither a particularly kind nor a terribly intelligent group of guys, yet we all sang the songs and chanted the cheers. We supported the football players not out of any genuine affection toward them or faith in their abilities but as a reflection of our belief in ourselves and our school. Similarly, the congressmen leaped from their chairs and applauded the president in an effort to win support and recognition for themselves. True, the politicians lacked face paint and pom-poms, but based on the current fawning and appeasement of the president's every whim I wouldn't be surprised to see Cheney with some glittering stars on his cheeks some day soon.

Over a week after the address I am still left wondering, what was the point? It contained no information which might enlighten even the quickest skimmers of newspaper headlines. Anyone following current affairs could have predicted the president's focus and positions on issues; he explained that the country was in a recession and at war, and that in response he would raise the defense budget and increase spending. Surprise.

The only people who could have benefited from the State of the Union Address were those unfortunate souls whose only source of news is the television. A twenty-some minute television program cannot sufficiently cover the information on a good newspaper's front page. In addition, while a newspaper presents different sides of the political spectrum from which you can pick and choose, the television spoon-feeds you. The producers decide which words and images you will hear, and most often they make these judgments based on what is exciting enough to keep a listener tuned in.

The president's address did not inform listeners because it actually needed to be devoid of any information: the Bush administration, in language filled with empty rhetoric and nonsensical truisms, carefully sought to scare people and to rally them around the president. He shamelessly said, "Thousands of dangerous killers, schooled in the methods of murder, often supported by outlaw regimes, are now spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs, set to go off without warning." What was the purpose of that statement other than attempting to frighten "fellow citizens?"

I recommend reading rather than viewing such addresses in the future, a process which not only will save you the endless standing ovations but also will quickly reveal the shallowness of the contents and the inanity of the verbal expressions: "We've come to know truths that we will never question," said the president. "Evil is real, and it must be opposed." Does that sentence inspire confidence in the leadership's intellectual abilities? But rest assured! In this increasingly threatening world the president has seen a vision and knows the clear distinction between good and evil — being with us is good while being against us is evil. And only he can save us.

Out of curiosity I read George Washington's State of the Union Address. He covered many more topics than George W. Bush in less than a third the number of words. Rather than aiming to rally the support of citizens through a television screen he solely addressed the House and the Senate, laying out his agenda for the rest of the term and making clear his positions on issues.

The State of the Union Address was necessary in an era when people did not have easy access to information, but in this period in history of internet sites and extensive newspaper coverage there is no need for a speech to tell citizens what they should already know. Nor do we need the empty rhetoric designed to frighten the people into supporting the president out of fear rather than trust. Nathan Arrington is an art and archaeology major from Westport, Conn. He can be reached at arington@princeton.edu.