President Barack Obama’s much-anticipated health care reform speech went off Wednesday night without a notable hitch, discounting the usual repeated interruptions of applause. It was the most decisive Americans have seen their president on how to reform the nation’s health care system. His voice was hopeful but firm, his words simple but transcending and his tone sprinkled with notes of chastisement toward his Congress for allowing party polarity to – among other national problems – foster a ravaged and corrupt health care system. The new plan, which combines responsible government aid with private enterprise accountability, should arouse support from constituents and skeptics alike, as it was so calmly and clearly outlined by their president.
But after the initial thrill wears off, the president’s audience is left wondering about the feasibility of these great initiatives. Few would accuse Obama of being poorly articulated, of course, but many will question the veracity of his almost too-good-to-be-true promises, regardless of how cleverly crafted his sentences were. The truth is, Americans ‘- especially those suffering the effects of an unstable economy and a crooked health care system ‘- need transparency. More importantly, they need to be able to trust Obama’s promises.
Obama’s hour-long speech seemed to obliterate each and every health care woe currently on the table, and it did so not only with impeccable style, but also with the added benefits of solving party conflict and the recession ‘- all to be accomplished within four years. Yet with some of the most pressing issues of his campaign still left unresolved, such as the treatment of illegal immigrants and the status of abortion legality, the public is left wondering whether to feel sick with overindulgence or still hungry for something more. The speech seemed like a panacea ‘- one big band-aid that might heal some problems but otherwise is simply masking the rest.
In the president’s defense, there’s only so much a speech can do. The address was an elegantly spoken laundry list of promises and plans, all of which will only truly prove to be legitimate when they’re enacted. In other words, the prognosis looks good, but if skeptics’ quandaries are realized and the prescription doesn’t end up fitting the condition, Obama and his cabinet will have to return to the lab, at which point it may be too late.
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