Cognitive Dissonance

The U.S. president delivered a 66-minute State of the Union address. As is usual with this annual event, the incumbent gives a long laundry list of his achievements and makes promises for the rest of the year. This drumbeat is business as usual advertising, especially when it happens just 40 weeks before election day. In addition to the usual bombast that the United States is bigger, more democratic and simply superior to any other nation, the part dealing with foreign policy borders on satire. For example, “America must always stand on the side of freedom and human dignity.” This from a president under whom Guantanamo remains open and who has given more assassination orders than any of his predecessors.

Congress, as well as the president, lives in a world that is a mirror reflection of reality when it comes to foreign policy. Obama declared: “Because when we act together, there is nothing the United States of America can’t achieve. That is the lesson we’ve learned from our actions abroad over the last few years. (Applause) Ending the Iraq war has allowed us to strike decisive blows against our enemies. (Applause) From this position of strength, we’ve begun to wind down the war in Afghanistan. (Applause)”

Psychiatrists call this phenomenon that afflicts Obama and the United States Congress “cognitive dissonance.” It also holds true of his remarks about Iran: “Through the power of our diplomacy, a world that was once divided about how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program now stands as one. The regime is more isolated than ever before. (Applause)” Apparently, Washington is unaware that a majority of the world (China, India, Russia, Brazil and even Turkey) supports Iran and is against the U.S. and European Union sanctions on Iran.

But in the domestic portion of his address, Obama pulled off a coup against the Republicans, who are absolutely against any tax increases. Warren Buffet, one of the wealthiest men not only in America but in the world, has stated in a newspaper column that he felt he and his billionaire colleagues should be paying more in taxes, saying it wasn’t right that his secretary was in the 30 percent tax bracket while he paid taxes at a much lower rate. Obama made that the centerpiece of his address, thereby setting the theme for his campaign. He told Republicans, “If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes.” He did so knowing he was specifically targeting Mitt Romney, the “vulture capitalist” who last year earned $20 million but through loopholes in the tax code was taxed at a rate of just under 14 percent.