President Obama is re-scheduling his State of the Union message to avoid preempting of the premiere of “Lost,” the cult sci-fi series that will be starting its final season.
Let me say that again so it sinks in: President Obama is re-scheduling his State of the Union message to avoid preempting of the premiere of “Lost.”
!!!!!!!
The health care reform debate rages, America is fighting two wars, Iran is developing nuclear weapons, unemployment is climbing to disturbing levels, there have been massive breakdowns in our anti-terrorism systems…and the annual address of the President of the United States to Congress about the year ahead is considered subordinate to a TV show.
By the White House!
When some Christian conservatives complained in December that President Obama timed his Afghanistan address to preempt “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” I though it was ridiculous. This is national business! This is the President of the United States! This is important! The President shouldn’t give two seconds of thought about what TV shows he knocks off the air, because what he is going to say is, by definition, is more important than anything else on the air.
Now this.
It is undignified. It is irresponsible. It is condescending. It is opinion poll politics at its most cynical. It is disrespectful to the American public, especially those who do care more about national issues than J.J. Abrams’ creation.
The President’s job, one of them, is to engage the citizenry in civic responsibility, to make them care more about their nation, its role in their lives and, as J.F.K. said, to ask”what you can do for your country.”
“In a minute, President Kennedy; as soon as I finish watching ‘Lost’!”
How will Americans ever become more serious and informed about the issues facing the United States, if the President himself trivializes them?
Ethics Alarms 
If the president wants to engage the public in debate and get them passionate about issues in order to involve them in politics, then perhaps speaking at people instead of with people is a poor choice. It’s 2010 and I can talk with Jack Marshall about important issues, but I can’t talk to the president. Maybe I could, I simply haven’t tried.
If the president’s speech was so important that it should preempt a TV show many weeks from now, maybe it should be moved up a couple days or weeks. If this information needs to get to the public, let’s get it to the public today!
Let’s do a what if! (I love those!)
What if the State of the Union address was scheduled for February 7, 2010. Then, someone points out that the Superbowl will be on at the same time, and CBS likely won’t preempt its coverage of the Superbowl for the president, or if it does, a large number of voters will be upset.
Now you might be asking a different question. That question is: Who is making the schedules at the White House!
I know traditionally the SotU address is a Tuesday in late January to coincide with anniversaries of the inauguration, so isn’t it kind of apathetic of the president to push his speech into February? Can’t he get his homework done on time? Or is he hoping to get that first thing accomplished by the time he has to give his own performance review?
I’d say if the President scheduled his speech on the day of the Super Bowl, it would be the NFL’s patriotic duty, and the network’s, to reschedule it. The extra week is too much anyway.