The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam, the history of Saddam, and his willingness to terrorize himself.

-Kudos to Ian on his AMAZING post title...I laughed for about 20 minutes.-

In class we have been speaking about nationalist documents. We’ve been dissecting documents from the past that inspired and enflamed the actions of earlier Americans. Today’s discussion of Thomas Paine was particularly revealing. Those who know how to use propaganda in a discreet yet convincing way have a very potent tool that can be used to inspire the masses.

Recently, our President made his annual address to the nation. Unfortunately, due to prior commitments I was not able to watch his State of the Union address, but I obtained a copy of his speech on msnbc.com. Oh the joys of technology and the internet are unlimited…

Since it is an address to the entire nation, the President used the ever faithful ‘we’ device throughout his speech. It is expected that he would do so, to unify the people from across this vast nation into one collective group. Those of us in European history might have started to discuss the belief that ‘nationalism’ is an idea from the romantic era. True philosophers of the enlightenment believed in a more cosmopolitan view, a worldly one as opposed to one divided into many separate countries. So, the entire State of the Union address can be described as a type of emotional appeal to our desire to belong to a collective group or nation.

Many people have disagreed with the Presidents policies and plans of action over the course of his presidency. However this statement was made:

“We have faced hard decisions about peace and war, rising competition in the world economy, and the health and welfare of our citizens. These issues call for vigorous debate, and I think it’s fair to say we’ve answered that call. Yet history will record that amid our differences, we acted with purpose. And together, we showed the world the power and resilience of American self-government.”

Regardless of whether or not you agree with the President, it has a very moving and ‘touchy feely’ quality to it, as if this group of resilient American’s deserve a pat on the back and a night off. What puzzles me is that with the country so divided in terms of politics, who is the ‘we’ he is referring to?

One answer would be that he is referring to all Americans as a collective group. This seems to be the most obvious response because it is in fact, an address to the nation.

However, what puzzles me is his inclusion of the line ‘and the health and welfare of our citizens.’ Who is the ‘our’?

The President could be making a reference to Congress, but if Congress is merely a representative body of Americans, why does an ‘our’ need to be included? In my mind, ‘our’ always seems to imply some type of ownership over something. But Congress should not have control over us; we should have control over Congress.

The final reason that I believe the ‘our’ might have been included is most likely not the case but still an interesting and controversial theory. In my opinion, it almost sounds as if the President is speaking merely to his supporters. It is as if he believes that those who oppose him need to be watched and guarded over by the ‘we’. Also, it is as if together his supporters showed the world the power and resilience of American self-government (which is a very debatable statement).

I don’t mean to step on anyone’s toes. I know that politics is a heated subject, and I did not intend to attack the President (it’s not as though he wrote this speech himself), but with this huge schism between parties it is almost impossible not to wonder if one party blames the other for a lack of success, or failure. (Please tell me what you think!)

Also on a side note, the quote on the title of this post is actually a modified version of a quote (so that it would all fit in the title bar) from President Bush from the Grand Rapids, Michigan on January 29, 2003. How fitting…