For over one hour I listened to a terrific orator present a failed attempt at painting a rosy picture for the 
current state of our union.
While the pundits debated over whether the touch phrase of the speech was ‘a sputnik moment' or ‘we need to do big things' or ‘winning the future'...I was thinking more of how the current state of our union was misrepresented when the President suggested it ‘was strong'...
To me, that phrase indicates we are a Country in denial...A Country that needs a ‘twelve step program' to solve its problems...
Now, there are none who would deny that the state of our union stinks...even though I personally haven't been hurt by the over 5 year long economic contraction as much as others I know, nevertheless, I can easily sense that many around me are hurting...
Unless and until we own up to the present realities of our economic condition, we will remain powerless to fix it...you have to admit a problem exists before you can effectively tackle correcting the problem...
I actually heard a person say, after listening to the President's message, that unemployment has declined since Obama took office...Every thing I read supports the total opposite...
Unemployment has risen, more jobs seem to be threatened in the future as companies reduce their workforces to stay afloat in our anemic growth economy, debt, both personal and corporate, is mounting, property values continue to fall, school districts as well as many state economies budgets are in trouble...
How can we turn a blind eye to all these realities that tell me that the state of our union is anything but ‘strong'...
Don't get me wrong, I'm still an eternal optimist with the Christian hope that God will help us get out of this mess...
But first we must take that initial step that all recovering in twelve step programs must take...
Admit we have a problem, believe that a greater power than Yankee ingenuity is necessary to resolve it, and don't return to solutions that failed to work in the past...
Then, and only then, will our nation be on the right road to economic growth and fiscal stability...!!!
Maybe the liberals out there ought to listen to or read some tea leaves...!!!
