"In nine years, the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding--250 years since the day we declared our independence. It will be one of the great milestones in the history of the world. But what will America look like as we reach our 250th year? What kind of country will we leave for our children? I will not allow the mistakes of recent decades past to define the course of our future."
--President Donald Trump
Surely a lot of Americans have been waiting for something like this since, oh, the nominations were secured back in the summer. What the country saw Tuesday night was a president sounding presidential. Professional. Human. Surely the speech President Donald Trump gave to Congress only hours ago has been his finest hour in office.
And we might be saying that even if his first month hadn't been so chaotic. It's been a while since a prepared speech by any politician sounded this refreshing. (That may be helped because the last president's voice had become tiresome years ago.)
Somebody said that the current occupant of the White House has good speech writers. Don't all presidents? But this particular president might finally be listening to them, and staying On Message, as the the PR types call it.
That's no easy thing. It takes discipline to lead the American people these days, or maybe any people in any days. Discipline hasn't been a characteristic of one Donald J. Trump. Not until the other night.
And it was a speech about hope. Real hope. The kind that's not just spoken, but planned for:
Like other countries, this one needs an immigration system that's merit based. That is, folks who come here should be able and willing to become tax-paying, law-abiding members of society who are able to work and improve the country. That's not too much to ask for. And it's not un-American. It's as American as apple pie and immigration.
Infrastructure is a problem, and if you don't believe it try driving in downtown Little Rock about 5 p.m. tonight. Even when the Broadway Bridge does open again, there are thousands of bridges around the country that are weak and even dangerous. (See NBC News' report this week on corroding bridges.) This president wants to put a trillion dollars--a trillion--in roads and bridges in the next few years.
The president's plan to reform health care may be too detailed to go into here. But it is a plan, no matter what his opponents say. It keeps the good parts of Obamacare--such as ensuring Americans with pre-existing conditions have coverage. But gets rid of its many bad parts--restrictions on crossing state lines to buy insurance, government mandates on coverage options, etc.
And, thank the stars, the nation finally has a president and a Congress who are not indebted to the teachers' unions, and can start offering even the poorest among us a decent education. Or as the president put it Tuesday night:
"I am calling upon members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African American and Latino children. These families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them."
It may say all about American politics that when President Trump said that, the members of one party stood and applauded. The others sat on their hands.
As anybody might expect, even on his best night this president doesn't indulge his critics or even dabble in innocuous or safe pandering. His guests included a man whose son was killed by an illegal immigrant. And the widows of two law enforcement officers shot down in the line of duty. These stories appear in American newspapers on too frequent occasion, and this president isn't afraid to use real examples to urge Congress to come up with real solutions.
But mostly the speech was about expectations and confidence. Expectations for the nation's future. Confidence in its people:
"On our 100th anniversary, in 1876, citizens from across our nation came to Philadelphia to celebrate America's centennial. At that celebration, the country's builders and artists and inventors showed off their creations. Alexander Graham Bell displayed his telephone for the first time. Remington unveiled the first typewriter. An early attempt was made at electric light. Thomas Edison showed an automatic telegraph and an electric pen. Imagine the wonders our country could know in America's 250th year."
Some of us hope we're around to see it. With technology changing so fast, in just nine years this could be a whole different world.
For now, we'll hope that Tuesday's speech was a new beginning for this new administration. (All new administrations get off to rocky starts.) And look forward to more speeches like this one from the commander-in-chief and leader of the free world.
Aka Mr. President.
Editorial on 03/02/2017