State of what-ness?

President Donald Trump delivered his first state of the union address Jan. 30 and friends and foes want to know was it Ronald Reagan-esque?

For many years state of the union speeches are more about style than substance. Reactions from Congress are more about one-upsmanship rather than diplomacy.

Should we really be surprised by this?

The American public says it wants our presidents and members of Congress to be more civil toward one another. As it was under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and now Trump, it was a missed opportunity.

Who is to blame? It all starts by looking into the mirror.

Years ago I can recall the “WWJD?” movement, an acronym for What Would Jesus Do? The study of scriptures only lends itself to what an individual should strive to do. Christ gave the oft-quoted answer “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Christ was silent on government although he recognized the need for organized structure for human beings to try to live in a civilized manner. He noted the need for God-fearing judges and leaders to be fair and just.

A movement to make significant change is going to be a marathon. The movement to elect Donald Trump in 2016 was real and continues to be real. Supporters and opponents are riveted by the prospects of 2020.

The state of the union is designed to have a president tell us what we accomplished and what he would like to see accomplished for the current year and beyond.

From what I could follow there was little substance devoted to farmers and ranchers about market access although there was hope that a long-term transportation program could be undertaken.

A visionary like Dwight Eisenhower saw the need for an interstate highway system although its premise had more to do with national security than commerce. It did not take long before an economic pipeline took hold. Now the interstate system in some cases is over 50 years old and like many other roads and bridges it will need repairs and upgrades. It will take bipartisan leadership to make it happen.

More often than not we spend much time worrying about things we have no control over and that leaves us prey to factions looking to appeal to our emotional side and not our rational side. Fact seekers are those who can best govern.

When citizens are willing to set aside pettiness and over reaction derived from today’s social media and “gotcha” movement then the opportunities to make government work better will succeed.

I remain optimistic about the self-cleansing nature of democracy. It is going to be awhile before it returns to its roots.