SOTU
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Okay, that’s all that we had to say. We’ll go back to wrapping up our loan refinancing, and let you get back to what you originally came here for — State of the Union Addresses! Yay!
Every year (more or less — there are plenty of exceptions), the President of the United States gives a little speech to Congress (and anyone else who might be listening or watching). They call it the “State of the Union”.
And yes, the State of the Union addresses are usually pretty boring. You may be tempted to play online slots instead. Sure, if you’ve missed all of the administration’s rhetoric since the last one, it may be a good chance to catch up. Otherwise, they’re generally like ‘hey there, we’ve got some serious problems but we’re in this together and things are either starting to look better, or going to start to look better real soon.’
It wasn’t always that way. George Washington delivered the first State of the Union, though it was written instead of spoken, and it was called the “Speech of the President of the United States to Both Houses of Congress”.
This document is full of congratulations on the progress that young America was making. He specifically names “the rising credit and respectability of our country, the general and increasing good will toward the government of the Union, and the concord, peace, and plenty with which we are blessed are circumstances auspicious in an eminent degree to our national prosperity.”
When was the last time you heard such an optimistic and proud president? Not in my lifetime, anyway, though we’ll see for ourselves in further pages (you are permitted to visit an online casino USA before continuing)…
Washington does address two specific issues of concern: the military, and education.
Washington writes: “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” One might expect this from a General, especially during an especially bloody age of Revolution. However, he also stresses the importance of education, asserting “…there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.”