In a variation on the man-bites-dog story, Barack Obama last night pledged in his first (God help us!) State of the Union Address (full text here) to go after "Washington."
Now, maybe the misunderstanding is all mine. Maybe he means Washington State (a pox on them)! Or maybe he means a different Washington. According to this disambiguation page at Wikipedia, there are Washingtons in some two dozen-plus states.
Surely, the president doesn't mean Washington, DC --- which is epitomized first and foremost by the head of the executive branch, the president himself. Then again, I'm pretty sure that's exactly the Washington he had in mind.
But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day. We can't wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about the other side --- a belief that if you lose, I win. Neither party should delay or obstruct every single bill just because they can. The confirmation of --- (applause) --- I'm speaking to both parties now. The confirmation of well-qualified public servants shouldn't be held hostage to the pet projects or grudges of a few individual senators. (Applause.)
Did you notice that warning to both benches? That was kinda neat. He understands that it's not the Republicans alone who are mucking things up, though it's mainly them. He also took a shot at the third branch of government, the Judicial, by dressing down the Supreme Court, while its members sat there in the chamber.
But I digress. Look again at that quote. He feels our pain, he says. He understands that what frustrates us, the People, is "a Washington where every day is Election Day." He is right. I for one am sick to death of some idiot getting up on stage day after day, campaigning for an office he already won. But I can think of only one person among all the presidents in my lifetime to do that, and it was the speaker of those words.