Wednesday evening President Obama gave a measured State of the Union that tried to appeal to Americans suffering from the economic downturn. He was honest in pointing to employment problems, but optimistic about the future, as any President must be.
As Republicans watched grimly during the 71 minute presentation, he devoted only nine minutes to foreign policy, mostly through the prism of national security.
Most interestingly, he said: …”China is not waiting to revamp its economy. Germany is not waiting. India is not waiting. These nations - they’re not standing still. These nations aren’t playing for second place. They’re putting more emphasis on math and science. They’re rebuilding their infrastructure. They’re making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs. Well, I do not accept second place for the United States of America.”
At the same time he was speaking, Serena Williams was playing Li Na of China in one of the semi-finals of the Australian Open tennis tournament, the first time a Chinese player had reached that stage of a Grand Slam tournament.
Li Na had beaten Serena’s sister Venus in the quarter finals. Her compatriot, Jie Zheng, also reached the semis for the first time, setting a record for Chinese players.
What is the relation between President Obama’s reference to America’s remaining number one and the tennis results? The great American historian Henry Steele Commager taught me that sports can often be an indicator of political transformations.
Specifically, in 1968, he was referring to baseball and the rise of Latin American stars in the major leagues as an indicator of upward mobility in the U.S. following the Irish, Italians and African Americans.
The Chinese breakthrough in tennis could be an indicator of an upward mobility of Asia in general and China in particular. Fareed Zakaria recently wrote about the rise of the Brics – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa without assuming U.S. decline. He said these countries were merely going upward in terms of the United States.
Serena Williams barely won the match in two tie breakers and went on to win the tournament. The United States is still hanging on.
