President Obama concluded his State of the Union speech Tuesday night with a heartstring tug involving a small-business owner from Pennsylvania — and in the process undermined a major theme of his address.
Obama repeatedly stressed his vision of a government intimately involved with the national economy — but then introduced Brandon Fisher, whose 13-year-old company specializes in drilling technology.
Fisher, the president said, took it upon himself to design and deploy rescue equipment after last summer’s Chilean mine collapse — gear that proved instrumental in rescuing 33 trapped miners.
That’s testimony to what a man of vision and integrity can do.
But Obama’s speech, up to that point, had made it clear that he believes it takes a government to raise an economy — that the federal government is wise enough to make the right investments, figuring out the business winners and losers to such a degree that it can guarantee that America will “win the future.”
Pretty much the antithesis of the Brandon Fisher story, in other words.
Fisher played an integral role in a humanitarian effort that captured the world’s attention — without massive federal involvement and oversight.
Pretty much the opposite of the Obama way, in other words.
The irony, obviously, was lost on the president.