I am writing this before the president gives his annual State of the Union address to Congress as required by the Constitution. I am sure the entire speech was filled with campaign themes and the Republicans sat when the Democrats stood. Below is my opinion of what should have been said to the American people about the actual state of THEIR union:

“My fellow Americans, I come here tonight to address a growing crisis that started on both sides of these aisles and continues to be made worse by the political bickering of everyone in your nation’s capital. The crisis: the crumbling and eroding American promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Our children see their fellow Americans killing themselves through drugs, guns, and a culture that insults and reduces the value of all forms of life. As a nation, we’ve stopped making decisions for the betterment of mankind’s future; instead, choosing decisions based on instant gratification.

Well, instant gratification didn’t win the Revolutionary War, the Civil rights movement, or earn the right to vote for all. Men and women united and suffering in the name of a better way allowed this nation to become the inspiration to the entire world. I challenge those men and women in this chamber tonight, all of whom have been entrusted with the fragile future of our infant nation, to once again take up the cause of Nature and begin working together to rebuild a nation that allows for life instead of keeping her people grasping for it.

The liberty of each and every one of us is being taken away by fear, economic failure, and global pressures. No longer can the average American freely move about the countryside without unwarranted search by various authorities. The finances of every American are known by too many and the personal choices made on the Internet are now being preserved for all time and will, I fear, be used as a future “pistol to the head” in blackmail and intimidation threats.

The chains of surveillance and the burden of oversight have taken freedom from our citizens and sustainability from our businesses. We must remove the weight of government from the backs of our people if we expect them to climb out of the hole we’ve dug for them.

The pursuit of happiness used to be the whispered phrase on the lips of every immigrant daring the harsh seas to voyage to our shores. The idea of a new chance and a fresh start inspired millions of immigrants to work hard to build the American economy into the strongest in the world. We, the leaders of these people, must allow for happiness to be pursued. The government cannot grant or bestow happiness. She can only create an atmosphere of opportunity that allows the creative human genius inside of all Americans to be unleashed.

My fellow Americans, the current state of our Union has been weakened but our future is filled with the dreams of those who came before us. Let us once again be the America that shines brightly in the eyes of those poor and timid masses in our own country and around the world looking for their chance at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We’ve done it before. We’ll do it again. This is our moment to remake the destiny of man.

In deep humility, I know I speak for all of us when I ask God to once again bless America.”

Buddy Boe, a resident of Garyville, owns a public relations and program management company and is well known on the local political (and food) scenes. His column appears Wednesdays in L’Observateur.