There is much to critique about what was included and omitted in last night’s State of the Union address. But one particular omission bears mentioning, as it reflects poorly on the man delivering the address.
There is something of a tradition that when a member of the House or Senate is absent from the chamber during the State of the Union because he or she is battling a grave illness, the president addressing Congress acknowledges them in his remarks. In 2007, for example, Senator Tim Johnson suffered a stroke before the State of the Union, and President George W. Bush began his address with a prayer for his “recovery and speedy return” (and that of Representative Charlie Norwood who was battling cancer and passed away the following month).
So it was striking last night that President Obama made no mention whatsoever of Senator Mark Kirk, who suffered a stroke over the weekend and is recovering in a Chicago hospital. The omission is all the more striking because Kirk is from the president’s home state of Illinois and occupies his old Senate seat. It would have taken one line, elicited raucous applause, lifted Kirk’s spirits, and added a bipartisan note to an otherwise partisan address. But it either did not occur to the president or he could not be bothered.
This does not mean Kirk was forgotten last night. Senator Joe Manchin, who was planning to sit together with Kirk in a show of bipartisanship, paid tribute to his colleague by keeping the seat he would have occupied empty. It is unfortunate the president couldn’t offer a single sentence to honor him as well.
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Kirk is my Senator; mentioning him would have taken so little it is presumptive for us to think a fellow Illinoian would have made honorable mention. It was a huge and telling omission on the part of the POTUS.
Other than that it was like listening to Krushev speaking in PC code, straight up statist marxism gussied up for a US audience. This guy is toast in Nov.
I view the omission as striking in the sense that it adds to this President’s growing list of character deficits. These traits are just as important in judging this man’s suitability for office as they would be for any other business between two men. What a man doesn’t say or do is often more illuminating into who they are than the words they speak.
Sorry, classless is classless. Add this to the long list of ways Obama has displayed his lack of class to people who should be his friends/allies/colleagues.
Another indication the POTUS is out of touch. Very sad.
This “omission” is the exact opposite of “striking”. If there is “much to critique,” then let’s actually critique the policy stuff thoughtfully, rather then engage in this much-ado-about-nothing nonsense.
I was disappointed the President didn’t mention about Senator Gabrielle Giffords in his speech.