De defensa

Nous choisissons deux réactions au discours sur l’état de l’Union de Barack Obama, qui nous paraissent caractéristiques de l’état d’esprit régnant à Washington. (Le discours sur l’état de l’Union est désormais évoqué par l’acronyme de SOTU – State Of The Union.)

• La première est une réaction “à chaud” de Steve Clemons pendant le discours, tel que Clemons l’a trancrite sur son site The Washington Note (ce 27 janvier 2010). Après une longue liste d’impression in vivo du type: “il a raison mais comment va-t-il faire alors qu’il n’a rien fait jusqu’ici dans ce sens?”, Clemons résume son sentiment – et l’on parle bien de sentiment dans le sens de l’émotion.

«I want Obama to succeed. I do. But this speech – thus far – does not push me in his direction. […]

»I am frustrated by it. It's a check off the box speech – not an “I'm changing the game speech.”

»There is a deep part of my mind and psyche that really likes Barack Obama. I am mesmerized by his oratorical skills and framing… […] I want Obama to get this right. He just checked off the boxes on immigration and Don't Ask Don't Tell. Good to mention. Better to get to getting these things done.

»The part of Obama's speech about how hard change is is very good. Change is hard. I get it. But he is a brilliant man – a great man, I think. But he is not winning and he needs to know from those who care for him and his success that the fact that politics is tough is no excuse for not getting the nation moved forward.»

• La seconde est une interview (par RAW Story, le 28 janvier 2010) de Dennis Kuchinic, démocrate de tendance radicale de gauche, un franc tireur qui se trouve très souvent en position antagoniste contre l’establishment.

«Deeply disillusioned last week by his party's insufficient response to the recession, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) said Thursday he views President Obama's State of the Union as a step in the right direction but urged him to “be much bolder.”

»“It would be helpful if he could take a page from Franklin Roosevelt,” Kucinich told Raw Story in an exclusive interview. “FDR saw the need for broad structural changes in the economy and also the need for government to invest and put America back to work.” “If we can't fix our economic injustices and improve the standard of living for regular people, we could lose our country.”

»While Obama explicitly called for a new “jobs bill” in the speech, he didn't put forth many details. What kinds of reforms would Kucinich like to see? “We need investments on a massive scale – in the areas of job creation, health care, education, housing. That could change everything.”

»“Is there still time? Yes,” he added. “But we lost a year. And now we need the president to truly rally the nation in a ringing, clarion call for economic reform. The Democratic Party must demonstrate to the people that it has the ability to govern.” “Wall Street cannot be left to its own designs,” he added. “We allowed that and the economy collapsed, in an orgy of deregulation and exotic financial instruments.” […]

»Kucinich said Obama “underestimates his own ability to lift up the nation, and that's why I would advise him to look to do great things. If he calls upon the nation to take bold measures, I think the nation would respond.” “He could still be the transformational leader that so many have seen him to be,” he said.

»Kucinich slammed Obama's economic team for having “yet to demonstrate that they can help America regain economic momentum for Main Street” and alleged many of their suggested policies “run contrary the president's instincts.”»

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