Listening to last week’s State of the Union Address, one is reminded of the nuns in Catholic school rapping a ruler against a troublemaker’s knuckles as a disciplinary action. When the president aimed his stern admonishments at the “Just Say No” Republican members of Congress, he was reminding them that it is important to work together as a team for the benefit of the citizens who voted for them, not disrupt the process of needed legislation by stubbornly refusing to cooperate. 
At last, we heard him promise the use of the executive order to counter a blocked Senate vote on the creation of a bipartisan fiscal commission to study the massive deficit and come up with suggestions for solutions. His remarks to Republicans concerning their unwillingness to participate in any meaningful dialogue for change were as follows, “From some on the right, I expect we’ll hear a different argument — that if we just make fewer investments in our people, extend tax cuts including those for the wealthier Americans, eliminate more regulations, maintain the status quo on health care, our deficits will go away. The problem is that’s what we did for eight years. That’s what helped us into this crisis. It’s what helped lead to these deficits. We can’t do it again.”
Basically, the president was agreeing with Albert Einstein’s comments, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Insane is a nice way of describing the state of politics over the past nine years. Instead of responsible legislation, we have seen nothing but finger-pointing and reproach. Watching House Minority Leader John Boehner, along with his cohort Representative Eric Cantor, smirking and sneering at the president’s comments, it is obvious they are not concerned about the plight of their constituents, but only concerned with putting down this president and his policies in every way possible.
Showing up at the Republican House Retreat in Baltimore, has been compared to a sheep entering the lion’s den revealing those lions to be nothing more than paper tigers. Obama confirmed he is an in-your-face president who will not back down when he is passionate about an issue, but will also listen to the other side when they actually generate something worth listening to.
If Republicans insist on acting like children, they can expect to get their collective knuckles rapped until they open their minds and hearts to helping this country get back on track.

Susan Young is a resident of New Smyrna Beach. For more info email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .