Obama's Do-over

Saw the speech to Congress last night. Initial gut reaction: Not bad as far as it went. It seemed like that was his do-over for the supremely forgetable inaugural address, which seemed to leave the vast throng looking at each other and going, "Huh?" This time, he outlined domestic goals for the next four years (interestingly, referred to in quasi-Freudian manner as "my first term") clearly and at the top of his form. ("Top of his form," for President Obama, means well-articulated but vague. Kind of like the proverbial cuisine which tastes really good at the time but leaves you hungry an hour later when you realize there really wasn't all that much substance there.) The criticism that there wasn't a lot of detail is just carping; the occasion didn't call for detail, but for reassurance and broad outlines.

Also, clearly, the occasion didn't call for much on foreign policy (the one aspect in which this wasn't entirely an inaugural speech do-over.) There were a few sentences thrown in as an obvious after-thought essentially saying "we'll handle it" for major foreign policy challenges, including Iraq, terrorism, and the Middle East. In effect, 'I've got people working on it, and we'll get back to you.' OK for now but, as with the ambitious domestic goals (including the cure for cancer, which I remember at least both Nixon and Carter pledging in speeches they made to Congress), details to come later.