NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

Unsurprisingly, President Obama's first address to a joint session of Congress was a good one... even if I still couldn't shake the reminders of the campaign days. Although, he was conciliatory and refreshingly positive in his outlook, there was nothing new that would warrant me writing much more...

What I found to be relatively impressive - and noteworthy - was the Republican response delivered by the 37-year old Governor of Louisiana. Aside from most of his rhetoric on 'national security' the speech was solid. He started out by highlighting the significance of Obama's presidency and he immediately drew a personal comparison as the son of Indian immigrants. Bobby Jindal then went on to make a number of points that are difficult to argue against. He pointed out the resiliency of the American people (as opposed to the US government) and he lamented the passage of a stimulus bill that many argue comes at far too high a price. He also spoke the truth about healthcare reform - specifically that bureaucrats should not be in a position to tell medical professionals what and what not to do. Sounds pretty reasonable to me...

2012? Probably not.

There is nothing good I can say about our two-party system. But there are some good things to be said about the Republican party. One of the reasons so many progressive people have such a negative view of the Grand Old Party is the racist stigma attached to it. Even if Jindal had what it took to be the next presidential candidate (I don't know enough about the guy yet), there is no way the majority of Republican voters would rally behind him.

For the record - I am not a Republican (not that it would be any worse than being a Democrat). But the fact is that there is good in both parties, which is precisely why we need more than two to choose from.