Despite admitting yesterday that reading about the Bush family makes me want to give up on political commentary and go live on an ice floe, I spent most of today marking up a biography of George W. Bush that I am reviewing. I’m taking some time off from that to watch the State of the Union. I’ve had an early (embargoed) copy of the speech since last Thursday, so the only suspense will be in looking for any last minute changes. Maybe we’ll see some more about infrastructure spending now that another bridge has collapsed in Speaker Boehner’s backyard.
In any case, here’s a thread to discuss your reactions to the speech and the congressional reaction.
Any ideas/recommendations?
Let’s begin on a good note:
The State of the Union Is Dumb Hacks Writing Garbage Speeches
LOL
I wonder which drunken hack wrote the Gettysburg Address?
I am not watching for the first time since about 1980.
I refuse to watch it until it is broadcast from the Smolny Institute.
Anything less is just an act of complicity with the capitalist octopus.
Someone actually wrote a biography of W?
Probably in crayon.
Helluva fine speech. I am proud of my President.
And not a single mention of the public option.
Not one…
Still not addressing the fundamental challenges in foreign policy and national security, one of which has to do with how NSA has compromised the cybersecurity of US citizens in their total information awareness quest. Closing Guantanamo and ending torture require some looking back and holding accountability so that it does not become precedent.
But strong on continuing negotiations with Iran and normalizing relations with Cuba.
We learned that Republicans are lukewarm about fighting Ebola, don’t like healthcare, reluctantly support veterans benefits, and pretty much sit on their hands at SOTU addresses (when they are not shouting, “You lie.”)
The President should have started trolling Republicans much earlier (like when Joe Lieberman was functionally one).
“I won both times.” ranks up there with “Please proceed, Governor.” When there is a Obama monument in Washington, I have no doubt that those lines will be among those memorialized in the sunny glow of history.
Basically, the GOP thought they’d be cute by applauding when he said that, so then he laid down that completely ad-libbed BOOM.
I of course expect alot of butthurt from GOP over it.
That’s something I think about every time I hear a right-winger say “The people have spoken.” The people spoke in 2008 and 2012 too, but apparently they only mean what they say when they vote for Republicans.
That’s because only Republicans are real Americans. The Democrats are just a bunch of treasonous welfare-sucking rabble.
I’ve also noticed that some conservatives seem to sincerely believe that they’re the only ones who pay taxes. If you don’t vote Republican then you’re a “taker” by definition, regardless of what tax bracket you’re in.
Yikes.
I keep dipping into what’s-her-name’s reply speech and fleeing after a minute or two — she’s GODAWFUL! Even if she were a Democrat I agreed with, I couldn’t stand to watch and listen to her. That fixed rictus of a “smile”, alternating with her Serious Face; the slow sing-song delivery, obviously so carefully coached till all the life was bled out of it — this is charismatic?
She’d be awful on her own (lack of) merits, but following that helluva speech by Obama? It’s sending a tetherball player up to bat after Babe Ruth.
Mario Rubio tried to keep the suspense with a very long drink of water.
I think this is an audition for their shining stars to see if they can nab a weekly spin cycle on the Sunday talkers. Rubio sorta failed to catch on.
And at least for me, Joni bombed as bad as Jindal. This is their rising star?
Well, according to some of the bobbleheads on CNN, she was just peachy-keen. Tells you just how desperate they are for some fresh new GOP stars to slobber over.
Excuse my French, but she causes Lil’ Luke to pop a tent like Palin did to Rich Lowry.
I’ve noticed that.
She does lack natural charisma. But Jindal has negative charisma. Have yet to figure out how he was elected Gov of LA. Ernst lacks public speaking skills, but without all that training for this speech, her delivery would have been much worse.
The real turnoff for me is that she used this forum to say, “Look at me! Aren’t I just peachy keen and what you’ve been waiting for?” (Some intrepid investigator might want to check out her and her family’s garbage cans to confirm her claim that she doesn’t waste anything.)
The rest of the speech was laughable if the viewer knows that practically everything she complained about was the doing of the GOP over the past thirty-five years.
I really wonder what hair spray Republicans use because they all seem to possess hair helmets.
My impression from the few times I’ve seen Ernst is that she wears a wig.
Another memorable line:
Of course, that frames what’s actually going to happen.
I was out with the Drinking Liberally crowd, and someone pointed out that that line came from “West Wing”.
Michael Steele trolling the GOP:
Just about sums it up after six years of Obama and a Republican majority in the House and Senate …
“… he [Obama] is superior to a Mitt Romney, who actually ran on a
more aggressive, Neoconservative foreign and military policy.”
[Source: Juan Cole’s Informed Comment]
My favorite part was Boner’s scowl. He never once cracked a smile, he just sat there lookin’ all mad.
I wasn’t sure, by the end, whether the scowl indicated disagreement with the president or whether he was drunk and had to pee really badly.
I’d go with #2, that being #1, well, you know what i mean…
Struck me several times during his speech. I’m going to miss this President.
Wait until he crams the TPP down our throats. That’s going to be his defining moment.
That’s top of my list of things that would wipe my appreciation slate clean.