New Year's Speeches, Part 3A

Well, one last thought about New Year's Speeches. My high school classmate Riva Meade points out that the State of the Union speech in the United States performs a similar function to the political New Year Speeches that are given elsewhere in the world. She makes a good point. An interesting thought, however, is that the new year implies hope, looking to the future, whereas the State of the Union speech focuses on the present and past, together with, in recent years, a laundry list of proposed policies. Does the occasion of the new year make a difference? Does it inspire us to think more about the future? I really don't know. Maybe...