Susan E Fillippeli

Tonight Obama will address a joint session of Congress to deliver an address on the state of our economy.  In the weeks since President Obama’s inauguration we have witnessed a profound shift in his rhetorical style. 

The Barak Obama of the campaign trail was a man who preached hope.  “Yes, We Can” and “Change we can believe in” have been replaced by a President Obama who is fixated with explaining the depth and breadth of our “crisis.”  Those who listened to Obama on the campaign trail reported being inspired to hope for a new and better future.  If you’ve been listening to President Obama lately it is hard not to feel the weight of an economic crisis that, according to Obama, threatens to crush us all.  Clearly the stock market sees nothing in Obama’s leadership to inspire confidence or hope.  Record declines have even prompted Bill Clinton to implore the President to speak a little more optimistically.

It is no accident that Obama’s rhetoric has shifted significantly from one defined by hope to one defined by crisis.  It has nothing to do with worsening economic conditions or with any discovery that upon assuming the presidency he has found things to be even worse than he thought.  This is a planned rhetorical shift necessitated by the size and scope of the changes that Obama seeks to implement.  In short, Obama’s rhetoric is about creating an exigence that will warrant the type of changes that would otherwise not be tolerated by the American people.

An “exigence” is an imperfection marked by urgency.  It tells us that something is wrong and it is significant enough to require action now.  The bigger the problem, the more important it is to take action to resolve it and the less that action deserves scrutiny. We generally don’t like change unless there is a compelling reason for it. In other words, Obama’s rhetoric is designed to magnify the problem.  He doesn’t want either the American people or the markets to feel optimistic or hopeful.  He is seeking to heighten our fears and bring us to the verge of panic. 

Yes, panic.  Obama understands that the American people have to be on the verge of panic to accept a $1 trillion stimulus package that no one had a chance to read before it was voted on.  We have to be on the verge on panic before we will accept (and even applaud) nationalization of our banks and industries.  We have to be on the verge of panic before we will accept policies that reward irresponsibility and penalize traditional American values such as work, responsibility and individual liberty.

Make no mistake about it.  Obama is engaged in a calculated campaign to weaken the economy and stoke our fears for the future.  It is the only way he can implement the type of change that he believes in.

UPDATE--2:40 pm

The following quote is from a CNN piece on tonight's speech:

"Obama also is planning to build on Monday's fiscal responsibility summit to make the case that it's time to try and tackle a whole series of big challenges, from financial regulatory reform to reshaping Social Security and the health care system.

In the words of the senior official, "you never let a serious crisis go to waste" because it affords an opportunity to try and accomplish big things."