Obama, the State of the Union, and Commentators

The other day, January 27th to be exact, I wrote over on Roland's Ramblings about the State of the Union.

After listening to the State of the Union message from President Obama, I have listened to many commentators tell me what President Obama said, what President Obama did not say, what President Obama really meant by what he said or didn't say, etc., etc., etc. ad nauseum.

Also since I first wrote that Roland's Ramblings State of the Union piece and since President Obama delivered the message on the State of the Union, I have been reading plenty of comments in the print media and on the internet from others commenting in the same vein. The basic vein of response has been that many people have been critical of the President and of the President's State of the Union message; however, there have also been those who have had positive responsive commentary.

It seems as though while each individual heard the exact same words, almost everyone has heard a different message. Let me paraphrase in summary format what I heard: Members of Congress should quit playing partisan electoral politics and get down to the business of representing the interests of the American public at-large. PERIOD. However, for the most part what I have been hearing from others commenting on President Obama's State of the Union message has been that of good ol' everyday partisan politics bashing the President. Apparenly, the naysayer commentators and commenters simply are not interested in advocating that we all work together for the benefit of all Americans; they'd rather take their sniping political potshots to tear down rather than to build up.


If you have a hankering, go this-a-way to read the January 27, 2010 Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address for yourself.

Oh, and by the way, whatever your politics and no matter what you think, I personally feel people put too much emphasis on the importance of the "tradtional" January State of the Union address. Quite frankly, it is my opinion that this "annual exercise" is much more about a lot of hot air with little substance regardless of who is President. Therein lies the problem; too many people have the mistaken belief that the "tradtional" annual State of the Union address is supposed to be relevant to their own personally-held political beliefs.

Ohio's DeWine Besmirches Social Work Profession

Apparently the Chairperson of the Ohio Republican Party holds a low opinion of social workers and regards social workers with a low level of esteem. At least that is the impression I get from reading his remarks that have been reported over at Writes Like She Talks. I interpret DeWine's remarks as besmirching social workers. Then again, it also appears that DeWine cannot distinguish between the social work profession and that of the mental health profession.

Click on over to Ohio GOP Chair DeWine insults, slurs mental health professionals and read that entry written by Jill Miller Zimon for yourself.

Lucas County Educational Service Center: New Governing Board Member

Rather than writing a whole big deal about what is happening with the Lucas County Educational Service Center Governing Board, I suggest you click on over to Judy's Jewels New Member entry and read my comment attached thereon.

The following is updated commentary as of January 13, 2010:

The same is applicable to Lucas County Educational Services Center Updates by Angela Zimmann "Organizational Meeting; Special Meeting Dates Set" entry where you may read more current information along with my comment attached thereon.

In addition to my comment over there at Judy's Jewels and over at Lucas County Educational Services Center Updates by Angela Zimmann, I cannot help but wonder if there might be a renewed interest by the nonunionized nonteaching employees to form or join a union. I would not be surprised if that were the case.

The Worth of a Politician

Oftentimes, I hear and read comments other people make that politicians are paid too much, that politicians have too many perks, and so on and so forth. It is not uncommon for these same people to make the same type of comments about government employees, aka civil servants, public servants, public sector employess, etc.

I have a question. In terms of monetary compensation, how much is a politician worth?

It is not uncommon for various citizen groups, civic organizations, community clubs, and other such groups to want a politician (as in elected official or candidate) or a government employee to attend their meetings, to be a guest speaker, to be part of a panel discusion, to be a part of some special event, etc., etc., etc. These public appearances could be day or night, weekdays or weekends.

I have another question in addition to the one previously posed. What work hours should be expected of a politician?

Oh, for sake of reference in considering the worth of a politician, you may wish to look at:
Salary Charts - What Americans Earn
Average Salaries in the United States
Executive PayWatch