The US State of the Union message for 2011: Thoughts and Commentary

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Here is a link to the full text. HERE


Opening thought:

While lacking some of the compelling rhetorical style of Reagan, I thought the speech one of the easiest to listen to and draw a good theme from in quite a while. I also thought President Obama charted a useful course of action for legislation and government improvement. It will be interesting to see how much depth lies behind these ideas.

Thoughts from others?

[ICantSpellDawg]

Very Good speech. I also really liked Ryan's response. I hated the last state of the union and the response

[a completely inoffensive name]

Very Good speech. I also really liked Ryan's response. I hated the last state of the union and the response

Who could not like Bobby Jindal?

[Major Robert Dump]

The Tea Party response from Michelle "The founding fathers abolished slavery" Bachman was epic. She compared tea party founders to the marines of Iwo Jima.

This may be the very first SOTU I have ever watched in its entirity, but to be honest it was merely because I was bored and there was a tv in the room. It really means a whole lot of nothing, but I certainly got a kick that he mentioned dependance on foreign oil like every president in every SOTU since Ike. Gotta keep the tradition going afterall.

[Xiahou]

Investing in clean energy, education, and infrastructure.... where did I hear that before.... Oh, now I remember.


Edit: This was pretty good too.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the president "has enough power already" and that Obama's reported embrace Tuesday night of an earmark ban promoted by Republicans is just a "lot of pretty talk."

[Strike For The South]

Gutless
Dog and Pony show
The final death kneel to the American middle class
A carte blanche to coropartism
Gutless

[Centurion1]

yawn catering to across the aisle. hes trying to get a little heat off of himself. if he means the message? awesome for some of it, but probably not.

[Strike For The South]

yawn catering to across the aisle. hes trying to get a little heat off of himself. if he means the message? awesome for some of it, but probably not.

Are you kidding he spent half the time sucking of the republicans. Then when he mentions that experation of the Bush tax cuts and DADT he looks like a scared little boy. He needs to sack up and stand on principle for once

[PanzerJaeger]

It was lackluster in delivery and full of nonsensical talking points.

[Centurion1]

Are you kidding he spent half the time sucking of the republicans. Then when he mentions that experation of the Bush tax cuts and DADT he looks like a scared little boy. He needs to sack up and stand on principle for once

im a conservative i like when he doesnt stand for his principles......

or maybe he realizes the flaws in his principles.

[Louis VI the Fat]

* something pro-Obama here *


Sorry. I just can't be bothered to watch that entire speech. You rightwing Giffords-murderers shall just have to pretend there's some insightful probama comment above, okay?

Come on, you know you can. We Obama supporters too know how to pretend that somewhere there's some actual content.

[a completely inoffensive name]

I guess I am the only one who just enjoys listening to presidential speeches. I liked it.

[Lemur]

Missed it. If anybody has a link for watching it on the internet tubes ... I might. Then again, I might not. These SOTU speeches rarely amount to much, no matter who is Prez.

[Xiahou]

Missed it. If anybody has a link for watching it on the internet tubes ... I might. Then again, I might not. These SOTU speeches rarely amount to much, no matter who is Prez.

I say we go back to submitting them in writing to Congress. The SOTU is too much like a pep rally or sporting event to achieve anything meaningful as it stands.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I wouldn't mind listening or reading the entire speech. But that would still only be five percent of the workload. Then I shall have to read commentaries to discover how much of it is based on actual or proposed legislation, then I shall have to read up on their effects, and then try to make a critical assesment drawing from what else assorted information I can find about it.



Still, lest we not see the forest for the trees, what kind of SotU adress is preferable:

- We need teh guns to shoot the terrorists, I need a trillion dollars in government handouts for defense contracts for befriended firms.
- And if you're not with us you're against us.

or

- We need to renew our efforts in innovention, need to invest in America, in our education, in our technology, and then we can do it again, startle the world yet again. We can, we really can.
- We're in this together, so let's do it together.

[drone]

I missed it, but if he said anything other than, "We are royally ", he's a liar.

[ICantSpellDawg]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ .....

[Hosakawa Tito]

Big guvment is here to stay and all y'all will have to pay for it. So

[Louis VI the Fat]

I missed it, but if he said anything other than, "We are royally ", he's a liar.

Well Obama being the most honest politician of any major country, this indeed was exactly what he said.


Daisied indeed. The past few years, America has seen too many Sputniks reach space first. Moments that made America realise that it was not winning. Realise it was not living up to its potential.

Fortunately, next to being refreshingly honest, Obama is also a winner. He wants to succeed, to prevail. He is going to put up a fight. Going to invest in education, in innovation. He's going to create incentives to make American enterprise competitive again.

On top of all that, Obama even managed to overcome partisanship yet again and reach out across the aisle.


Obama has forced me to eat my words. My predictions about him being were wrong. Instead Obama has turned into a fantastic president. A major statesman.

[a completely inoffensive name]

I missed it, but if he said anything other than, "We are royally ", he's a liar.

I think this kind of attitude is counter productive. A decline doesn't mean we are the Western Roman Empire here. It just means we have been doing things the wrong way for a while and we need to change it up and improve to ourselves. This is why I don't understand why people bash Obama for doing exactly this, if these changes he is making are really so terrible, their impacts will be evident and the public has shown itself more than willing to throw out a party when they feel dissatisfied.

[Major Robert Dump]

Sarah Palin on Greta's show today was LOLZ. She said America doesn't need a sputnik moment because sputnik collapsed the USSR. I have a palm print on my forehead.

[drone]

I think this kind of attitude is counter productive. A decline doesn't mean we are the Western Roman Empire here. It just means we have been doing things the wrong way for a while and we need to change it up and improve to ourselves. This is why I don't understand why people bash Obama for doing exactly this, if these changes he is making are really so terrible, their impacts will be evident and the public has shown itself more than willing to throw out a party when they feel dissatisfied.

As the so-called leader of the country, he can't very well get up there and spout doom and malaise. But this = , and I don't see anyone with the influence and political courage necessary to reverse it. No one is going to crank up taxes or cut the Worst Generation's handouts, it's political suicide.

[Hosakawa Tito]

High speed rail and solar shingles? Just what we need, a bigger Amtrak. We can put the solar shingles on top of the train, build windmills along the track. Then we'd have the ultimate perpetual motion machine and our energy needs would be solved. Brilliant!

[Xiahou]

and I don't see anyone with the influence and political courage necessary to reverse it. No one is going to crank up taxes or cut the Worst Generation's handouts, it's political suicide.

Chris Christie?

[Lemur]

Chris Christie?

The link, she is broken! May we have another?

[a completely inoffensive name]

As the so-called leader of the country, he can't very well get up there and spout doom and malaise. But this = , and I don't see anyone with the influence and political courage necessary to reverse it. No one is going to crank up taxes or cut the Worst Generation's handouts, it's political suicide.

We are hemorrhaging money because people are not willing to make the necessary sacrifices, not because of any inherent flaw in the system that is causing our downfall. Our deficit for 2011 is looking at 1.5 trillion, but guess what it would have only been 800 billion if people actually followed through in supporting Obama and the Democrats in revoking the Bush Tax Cuts for the top 1%. This idea that we are downhill is not inevitable. The situation will only guess worse and worse up to the point where people's standard of living is completely challenged. Then things will start to get fixed. But as I said before, your attitude seems to be that we will find ourselves on the same level as 1992 USSR, which isn't really the case.

[Megas Methuselah]

Sarah Palin on Greta's show today was LOLZ. She said America doesn't need a sputnik moment because sputnik collapsed the USSR. I have a palm print on my forehead.

LOL. I need to see this, hahaha...

[Hosakawa Tito]

Marc Faber checks in. Guess we put him in the nay column.

[Xiahou]

The link, she is broken! May we have another?

Argh! Here's the same video from a different source.

[drone]

We are hemorrhaging money because people are not willing to make the necessary sacrifices, not because of any inherent flaw in the system that is causing our downfall. Our deficit for 2011 is looking at 1.5 trillion, but guess what it would have only been 800 billion if people actually followed through in supporting Obama and the Democrats in revoking the Bush Tax Cuts for the top 1%. This idea that we are downhill is not inevitable. The situation will only guess worse and worse up to the point where people's standard of living is completely challenged. Then things will start to get fixed. But as I said before, your attitude seems to be that we will find ourselves on the same level as 1992 USSR, which isn't really the case.

When you say "people", you really mean "members of Congress". Hence my comment on political courage. Nobody (at least in a leadership position) is willing to stand up and say "we need to raise taxes, my political career be damned". Not since 41 anyway.