Tonight, Wednesday, January 27, 2010, President Barack Obama will deliver his State of the Union Address in a joint session of Congress.
I always find it funny that State of the Union address are the few times that presidents really feel the need to inspire the public, to ask for their help, in inventing a solution. In last year’s State of the Union, he stated:
“The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this Nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and our universities, in our fields and our factories, in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest working people on Earth.”
He said that the solution to the “people’s” problems will indeed come from the people.
So I say, “OK, then, so what in the world are you wasting your time with talking to Congress, why don’t you talk to us?”
Then I always remember, “Oh right, that would involve the President of the United States actually making an effort to get personal with personnel he’s requesting the solution from” no pun intended.
I think it’s almost a 100% guarantee that in some way shape or form, tonight, the President will tell us something exactly along the lines of what he said last year – that we haven’t fixed our problems and that the solutions lie in the “pride of the hardest working people on Earth.”
With that being said he’ll probably go another whole year where he doesn’t make the connection with the people he’s seeking a solution from – the public.
Where am I going with this and what does this have to do with inventing? I think all of us innovators know that the president is really on his knees right now waiting for the next brilliant idea that could single-handedly save the economy and boost the morale of America, and I think he’ll hint to it tonight.
I believe he’ll ask the public to keep fighting for a solution, keep pushing the limits to finding a solution, and maybe he’ll even be honest enough to ask for a solution, because he sure doesn’t have one, but that’s just my opinion I suppose.
Tonight, as the world watches, Obama will seek our community of innovators asking for our help.
It probably won’t be in plain sight, and he’ll probably won’t just come out and say it, but I have a strong belief that it’ll be there.
Hopefully, he’ll get personal and be more of a friend, not the guy you love or hate. You might say you wouldn’t want a friend as your president, but if that’s what it takes to find a solution to the problems facing our nation, if that’s what it takes for the invention to be sparked, then so be it.
As the world watches, listen up, take notes, and start your latest invention with Obama’s words always in the back of your mind, and let that be your inspiration.
Let’s Show the World…Don’t Stop Thinking
Devin White
Editor’s note: Devine White is our resident teen blogger.
