The latest Barack Obama’s speech in front of members of Congress was his last State of the Union Address in his capacity as the president. Yet, according to numerous analysts, this speech did little to raise his popularity both in the US and abroad.
In his speech Obama made several key statements that, in his opinion, would demonstrate to the world “the incredible might” of the United States which was largely achieved under his “wise management of the country.” What he however didn’t mention was the fact that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “peaceful policies” in the Middle East, therefore the world should be thanking him for the mass exodus of refugees heading to Europe to escape bitter hunger and poverty imposed by the White House on the countries they used to live in. And the words that the sitting US President said while leaving the hall of the House of Representatives, when he looked back and said: “Alright let me look at this thing one last time” seem somewhat appropriate in this case.
Looking at Obama’s speech, one should note that he openly stated that: “We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined. Our troops are the finest fighting force in the history of the world. No nation attacks us directly, or our allies, because they know that’s the path to ruin.” He acknowledged that the United States is unable to lead the world “without becoming its policeman.“
As for the difficult topics like the financial crisis that has virtually crippled America, the failure of Obamacare and other social issues that are directly affecting the living conditions of the US population, Barack Obama boldly stated that under his rule the US became a better state, while stating that “anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction.”
However, he was forced to admit that Americans do feel uncertainty about the future because of their living conditions, yet he chose to push the blame on developing technologies, sating that “technology doesn’t just replace jobs on the assembly line, but any job where work can be automated.”
According to the Financial Times, as far as the amount of public attention and the real impact on the situation in the world is concerned, the State of the Union Address is one of the most influential public speeches on the planet. However, according to the same newspaper, with each year fewer Americans actually do listen to them. Last year, Obama drew the attention of 32 million viewers, 20 million less than in 2009. In recent months, his approval rating has dropped to approximately 45% and it keeps on falling, showing the true attitude of the US population toward the “wise leader” Obama believes he is.
However, the true state of affairs in the US today can be traced by headlines in the American media:
– As Obama Delivers SOTU, 23% Satisfied With Direction of US;
– Fact check: Obama’s final State of the Union
– Six Years Later, 93% of U.S. Counties Haven’t Recovered From Recession, Study Finds;
– Survey finds a majority of Americans unable to pay for major unexpected expenses;
– The US Government Is The Most Complete Criminal Organization In Human History;
– 45 Million Americans Live in Poverty, but You Wouldn’t Know It From Watching 2016 Coverage;
– Older and sicker: How America’s homeless population has changed;
One could provide hundreds and hundreds of links on such publications that testify to the political impotence shown by Barack Obama. But it would be better if his immediate entourage would spend at least some time reading the US media, for them to at least try to change the living conditions of the American people and those of the people of the world for the better.
However, the hardest slap in the face Obama received so far occurred hours before the State of the Union Address in the waters of the Persian Gulf. There’s no better sign of the failure of Obama’s foreign policy than Iran detaining 10 American sailors on a US Navy boat that infiltrated Iranian territorial waters. Those sailors were actually put on their knees for journalists to take good pictures.
This incident, however, wasn’t mentioned in Obama’s speech, yet instead he wasn’t ashamed to state that: “No nation attacks us directly, or our allies, because they know that’s the path to ruin.”
As it has been noted by the Zero Hedge portal: “the scandal was quietly swept under the rug when the 9 young men and 1 woman were released earlier today, and all questions just why the soldiers were released only well after the SOTU’s conclusion (were they a hostage bargaining chip in case Obama said something out untoward last night regarding Iran) were soundly ignored.“
Numerous pictures and videos of American soldiers kneeling upon their knees were published by different media sources across the world, including those where a sailor apologizes for the mistake they’ve made.
Yet again, we are urged to believe that Barack Obama was accurate in describing the United States as the most powerful country on Earth.
Martin Berger is a Czech-based freelance journalist and analyst, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.