State of the Union a rerun

I would like to say that I am a good citizen of the United States of America.

I would like to say that I make it a priority to keep myself well-versed in all the major events that shape our country.

And I would like to say that I watched attentively Monday night, as President Bush gave his annual State of the Union address.

But when it came time to watch the speech Monday night, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

That's not completely true, mind you. I did catch about 30 seconds of it. The president was lauding the merits of the troop surge in Iraq, which he says is working. And he may very well be right. But it's something I've heard before, and I couldn't bare to listen to it again.

So I flipped the channel over to the Spike network, where they were showing the David Spade-Chris Farley buddy flick, "Tommy Boy." (I love that "fat guy in a little coat" bit.)

So I guess I'm not a good American. I didn't do my duty to listen our leader report on the state of our union.

Of course, it's not like I'm completely tuned out. I do work at a newspaper, after all, and I did see to it that a story about the address was on the front page of Tuesday's Courier News. And I even read the story. So even if I didn't watch Monday's prime-time snooze-fest, I like to think I still know a little bit about what's going on in this country.

Yet my failure to watch the State of the Union — a failure I share with millions of other Americans — illustrates an ever-present sense of cynicism when it comes to our government. The whole thing is no more than a political show, played out over and over again. And it's often difficult to see how this show has any relevance in our daily lives.

Take the president's speech, for instance. He spent time talking about things like the economy, the war in Iraq and education spending. His comments were met with a barrage of praise and criticism, usually falling along party lines. This isn't to say these aren't important matters; it's just that it's the same old debate we've been having for years.

And it's hard not to have the same cynicism when looking at the ongoing presidential campaign. Sure, the campaign offers a bit of excitement, much as a horse race does. But it's still no more than a litany of repetitive arguments. I mean, every candidate in the field has a health care plan. And each one is different. And if you ask health-care and economic experts who's plan is the best, you'll get no agreement. And yet, we voters are somehow supposed to know which plan will work the best?

The bottom line is that when it comes to many of the issues raised by candidates — whether it's health-care plans, tax plans or education plans — nobody knows for sure what will work and what won't work. And all the time and energy spent by talking heads and political junkies professing the merits and drawbacks of this stuff is simply noise. Just like the president's speech — it's no more than a rerun of the same arguments we've been having, and the same arguments we will be having, for years.

So perhaps it's understandable why I didn't tune in for the State of the Union Monday night. The speech was new, but the show, I've seen before.

And if I'm going to be stuck watching a tired old rerun, I'd at least like to be watching something that makes me laugh a little. Something like "Tommy Boy."