
The stark contrast between President Obama’s State of the Union message and the petulant rantings of Newt Gingrich and vacuous vaporings of Mitt Romney, make you wonder about their supporters. Evangelicals, breaking out of their closed communities, want to convert the world. Greedy economicals, terrified they may have to pay up, would gladly bankrupt it. And Tea Party traitors, grinding their teeth for four years, would not hesitate to unholster their Glocks and Kalashnikovs to shoot you dead. It’s an angry pack.
An election campaign is a battle, but going into battle blinded by anger is no way to win. Martial arts masters teach calm with a clear head. Actions primed by rage allow victory to go to the clear-headed fighter.
I thought of this watching Barack Obama last night, the coolest President since FDR. FDR countered every lie spread about him, calmly calling it a “misstatement of fact,” then nailing the truth. Too cool to use the word, “lie,” his forceful reasonable tone won him four terms in office.
Some of Obama’s supporters consider him too cool, are agitating for more heat. Yet his clear optimistic reasoning blows away Gingrich’s choleric claptrap, rings past Romny, 20 million dollars a year pathetically pretending to be middle class.
A poll taken immediately after the State of the Union address gave it an approval rating of 90%, a historic high. It was Obama’s call to action. The months ahead will be historic too.
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NOTE TO READERS: From tomorrow until February 7th, no new posts as I tackle my income tax return. So I invite readers to scroll down to peruse past posts, and welcome all comments. Once my return is calculated, like last year, I’ll add an extra 1% to be sent directly to the U.S. Treasury.