Despite not having any special beverages to get me through last night’s live-tweet of the State of the Union address, it was fun engaging with some of our followers, friends and fans. But now that morning after feeling sets in and we look back at what was really said and if it really matters in terms of policy.

What many in the Latino blogosphere were interested in was if President Obama would address issues like immigration and link that to the bigger issues of jobs and the economy, because yes, they do go together. To the surprise of many, Obama did mention immigration, specifically referring to the DREAM Act and then reverting to the usual enforcement first language we have come to expect from the right and we have seen in practice from the current administration. Overall, the SOTU though was an “America is Number 1″ pep rally and in the worse, most predictable, contradictory way.

Before I get in deeper into the SOTU, you can read the transcript here and watch a video here.

The theme of the State of the Union last night seemed to be, we are all “Americans” and “America needs to be #1″. Part of that narrative means other nations need to be #2, or even better, the enemy in order to support wars, investment into the war machine and no doubt tax breaks for corporations who will be lauded for pushing the U.S.A forward. From the speech :

They’re right. The rules have changed. In a single generation, revolutions in technology have transformed the way we live, work and do business. Steel mills that once needed 1,000 workers can now do the same work with 100. Today, just about any company can set up shop, hire workers, and sell their products wherever there’s an Internet connection.

Meanwhile, nations like China and India realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world. And so they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science. They’re investing in research and new technologies. Just recently, China became the home to the world’s largest private solar research facility, and the world’s fastest computer.

So, yes, the world has changed. The competition for jobs is real. But this shouldn’t discourage us. It should challenge us. Remember -– for all the hits we’ve taken these last few years, for all the naysayers predicting our decline, America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world. (Applause.) No workers — no workers are more productive than ours. No country has more successful companies, or grants more patents to inventors and entrepreneurs. We’re the home to the world’s best colleges and universities, where more students come to study than any place on Earth… And now it’s our turn. We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. (Applause.) We have to make America the best place on Earth to do business. We need to take responsibility for our deficit and reform our government. That’s how our people will prosper. That’s how we’ll win the future. (Applause.) And tonight, I’d like to talk about how we get there.

How we get there, according to Obama, is through moving forward on technology, including technology that will move the U.S. towards clean energy (although how this includes “clean coal” still confounds me). Another part of Obama’s formula for U.S. domination, I mean success, is education. In this portion of the speech the president used language emphasizing parental responsibility, without any practical words as to how parents could engage without access to affordable childcare, good pay etc. Obama ties funding to success following a model that seems to be based more on standardization as opposed to real learning. Additionally, Obama used language that talked of school reform in the absence of community development. Bad schools were blamed on “gangs” not poverty or it’s root causes.

Again from the speech:

That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It’s family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair. (Applause.) We need to teach them that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.

Our schools share this responsibility. When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance. But too many schools don’t meet this test. That’s why instead of just pouring money into a system that’s not working, we launched a competition called Race to the Top. To all 50 states, we said, “If you show us the most innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student achievement, we’ll show you the money.”

Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation. For less than 1 percent of what we spend on education each year, it has led over 40 states to raise their standards for teaching and learning. And these standards were developed, by the way, not by Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the country. And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that’s more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids. (Applause.)

You see, we know what’s possible from our children when reform isn’t just a top-down mandate, but the work of local teachers and principals, school boards and communities. Take a school like Bruce Randolph in Denver. Three years ago, it was rated one of the worst schools in Colorado — located on turf between two rival gangs. But last May, 97 percent of the seniors received their diploma. Most will be the first in their families to go to college. And after the first year of the school’s transformation, the principal who made it possible wiped away tears when a student said, “Thank you, Ms. Waters, for showing that we are smart and we can make it.” (Applause.) That’s what good schools can do, and we want good schools all across the country.

It was in this context of education that President Obama raised immigration via the DREAM Act but that was where the good news ended. Obama talked about the necessity to legalize children of the undocumented as a way to raise the intellectual cred of the country and so that “they” don’t go to countries that compete against “us”. Then Obama said that comprehensive immigration reform was needed, but guess what framework came up first? Securing the border and enforcement of course. Again from the speech:

One last point about education. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not American citizens. Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing to do with the actions of their parents. They grew up as Americans and pledge allegiance to our flag, and yet they live every day with the threat of deportation. Others come here from abroad to study in our colleges and universities. But as soon as they obtain advanced degrees, we send them back home to compete against us. It makes no sense.

Now, I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration. And I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows. (Applause.) I know that debate will be difficult. I know it will take time. But tonight, let’s agree to make that effort. And let’s stop expelling talented, responsible young people who could be staffing our research labs or starting a new business, who could be further enriching this nation. (Applause.)

This year’s State of the Union gave us more on immigration than last year’s SOTU but it is pretty much what we have been hearing from Obma all along while what we have been seeing from Obama is policy that has increased deportations and detentions which is pushing more of the undocumented into the shadows, not out.

Of other interest to Latinos is Obama’s mention of trade negotiations with Panama and Colombia. How these trade negotiations will be connected to demands regarding government policy in those countries remains to be seen. Obama also announced trips to Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador.

In terms of healthcare, there was mention of fixing what was wrong, and Obama made specific reference to burdens on small businesses but made no mention of burdens on the poor, immigrants, women, and all the places where they intersect.

Obama called for a freeze in annual domestic spending for the next five years, which was met with hardly any applause. Obama also said that the war in Iraq was coming to an end and that the START treaty makes for a safer world, but that the U.S. had to “defeat determined enemies”. He did make clear though that those enemies were not “American Muslims “, who are part of the “American family”. Also part of the the “American family” are military recruiters and ROTC apparently because President Obama wants all college campuses to open their doors to them.

I felt like there were many contradictions in Obama’s State of the Union address and perhaps such is the nature of U.S. politics. especially when success seems to be measured more and more on adopting language and policies to appease rather than to pressure so that the United States respects everyone inside and outside it’s borders.

What did you think of the State of the Union? Was there anything that surprised you, excited you, or pissed you off?