President speaks up for the people

Considering his low poll numbers, President Bush's final State of the Union address might well have been an embarrassment. It would be easy to see him as an irrelevancy, and members of both parties certainly want to see him go away.

But there was one thing about Monday's speech that made it hard to dismiss - he spoke clearly and repeatedly on behalf of the American people, something which if he had done more of it during the last seven years, maybe he would now be beloved instead of berated.

As he said early in the speech before Congress, "All of us were sent to Washington to carry out the people's business. That is the purpose of this body. It is the meaning of our oath. It remains our charge to keep… In this election year, let us show our fellow Americans that we recognize our responsibilities and are determined to meet them. Let us show them that Republicans and Democrats can compete for votes and cooperate for results at the same time."

Everybody applauded, as they did many times that evening, but when the speech was over, it seemed obvious that the spirit of bipartisanship could not reach much past an hour in length. The usual complaints were heard from the mainstream media, and secondarily from the Democrats. Uninspiring, blah blah blah, dull, aimless, blah blah blah. Couldn't keep our eyes open, let alone our ears.

But really, did you expect anything else? Of course, the cynics of Washington, D.C., could see no good in Bush's speech; that's the thing about cynics - they don't see the good in anything.

Average people on the other hand are more likely to take note of the issues that President Bush spoke about and see that he made a certain amount of common sense: On keeping taxes low, on making health insurance more affordable, on winning Iraq, on taking care of our veterans.

Uninspiring stuff? Maybe so, but only because most people realize that the president can't deliver anything without the help of the even lower-rated Congress, which surely won't give him anything without a fight.

One fight which is certain is over the president's decision to make a pre-emptive strike against congressional earmarks.

"Tomorrow, I will issue an executive order that directs federal agencies to ignore any future earmark that is not voted on by Congress. If these items are truly worth funding, Congress should debate them in the open and hold a public vote."

That little bit of innovation by itself could make a substantial difference in the way things are done in Washington, and the public certainly wants things done differently. So give Bush some credit for trying, even though he probably knows as well as anyone that as a lame duck his influence has waned severely.

Everything in the speech might not win over a majority of the public anymore than it can claim a majority in Congress. People on the left will reject the president's call for increased national security, and people on the right will reject his call for immigration reform. But the vast bulk of the speech was conciliatory to his opponents, and unassuming in its call to action, just as this president has been unassuming in the way he has wielded power.

Finally, the speech ended as it began, with a tribute to the power of the people who are the true sovereigns in this country:

"By trusting the people, our Founders wagered that a great and noble nation could be built on the liberty that resides in the hearts of all men and women. By trusting the people, succeeding generations transformed our fragile young democracy into the most powerful nation on Earth and a beacon of hope for millions. And so long as we continue to trust the people, our nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure, and the state of our Union will remain strong."

Any American should be able to endorse those words at least.