President Obama sounded like the leader that he is. (All is well, Riverwoman. Thanks. LOL)
The most gut-wrenching moment was seeing that family from Tucson–minus their little girl.
Rep. Grijalva looked truly anguished sitting next to Gifford’s empty seat.
The Biden/Boehner duo sure provided some entertaining moments. Biden thoroughly in his element.
Boehner trying hard to keep from eye-rolling, but not really succeeding, and occasionally even showing some interest–like maybe President Obama might have said a thing or two of value.
I was curled up in bed with a book to read. My hearing is so bad at the end of the day,I can’t hear what people on telly say even with my hearing aid. I have to see a transcript of these things. I normally get distracted about two seconds after a pol starts yapping. They all sound similar and the comments on the news afterwards is pretty much verbatim from speech to speech. About half of the people agree and the other half doesn’t. Some politicians sitting there last night looked like they were waiting for corporal punishment for stealing cigs. Some good people thought QP would end up on QVC so now it has to have new meaning for QVC. Any ideas?
I appreciate all the hard work President Obama and some of our elected representatives have accomplished in these past few years. I hope this SOTU speech will not just become another “great speech” from Obama but a renewed desire to right the wrongs inflicted on America and the world by the last 30 or so years.
I won’t be holding my breath but will remain cautiously optimistic.
As a retiree I shall watch more closely. As an employee I watched very carefully. Look what big business did for us. I have a concept.
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
Maybe you get the idea.
I am not sure that our President will do for us what we need. You know “we are the powers that be”. This is a clarion call to my generation.
See, I think we failed with BClinton. I think that his personnal problems left us with all the compromises with big business. I believe that Clinton’s deal: no impeachment, all the deregulation you can pass while I’m still President.
I am always so proud of our President. He strikes just the right tone. He talked about the difficulties without sugar coating or glossing over them, and he brought us back to the vision that makes us who we are. He brought up some of the more divisive topics without turning them into fighting points. He is incredibly tactful, but he was also very clear on things he won’t do.
Three things that really stuck out for me (well, actually four but I mentioned Boehner’s constipation above!):
1. When the President first entered the room, I was again awed by the tremendous power and responsibility of that position. I cannot imagine ever wanting that job and I know of very few people who are up to the challenge.
2. When I saw McCain sitting there and awkwardly clapping for something the President said, I was overwhelmingly grateful that they were not in the opposite positions. I don’t even want to think about Captain Crankypants making a State of the Union speech!
3. I was a bit apprehensive about reactions from the right after last year’s outburst from Joe Wilson and Alito’s muttering, but it seemed as though the mixed seating and the acknowledgement of Congresswoman Giffords reduced the usual partisan tension in the room by a great degree.
I was very impressed and moved by the positive spirit and enthusiasm of this year’s SOTU and I am so very glad that Barack Obama is our President!
I loved the pre-empting of the Repub/Tea ‘talking points’. You go, POTUS! I’m also pleased as all get out that the WH did *not* give out copies of the speech ahead of time — I grew so weary of having the entire SOTU dissected and totally analyzed hours before the POTUS even entered the chamber! Year after year after year… beth.
Bogus, bogus. In terms of the performance. Most of the ‘speech’ has to have been made available way before this evening. Therefore, perhaps this presentation is OBE, (Overcome By Events). I agree with some of the talking heads that this performance has become anachronism. I was able to watch the performance thru Mudflats and the White House feed. And I hope that that was true. nem
Whoa. I just went over to CNN.com and caught the end of Michelle Bachman’s speech. I’d never really heard her speak at length, and it was absolutely chillingly strange.
She was stumbling over simple words, using oddly over-exaggerated inflection and exuberance, and was purposely saying very “Presidential” things like “God Bless YOU. And God Bless the United States of America” at the end.
Another jarring thing was that (at least on the online version) she was watching and delivering her speech to a camera that was off to her right the whole time. That probably wasn’t the version was broadcast on TV, but it lent an especially extra-creepy feel to it, making it appear even more artificially scripted, if that was possible. She reminded me of Sarah Palin but with an even more evil and disingenuous manner. Who knew that was possible?
I really think we have to keep an eye on that woman because she raised more funds than Sarah and is getting huge backing from rather mysterious sources. Her views are even more extreme than Palin’s and I didn’t think that was possible. Considering she is already in Congress, that is chilling.
That she could pull a Justice of the Supreme Court to come talk to her little gathering today should signal to us that she is gaining in momentum even as she sounds more crazed.
She and Palin can do a lot of damage to our country, but as Palin’s star is waning at present, Bachmann’s seems to steadily rising against all reason.
I agree that she’s taken frighteningly seriously for someone whose elevator doesn’t go to the penthouse and we should watch her closely. However…
As I mentioned in the other thread, Bachman got her usual Tea Party backers in a fuss by taking it upon herself to ‘speechify’ tonight, essentially declaring herself their representative. At the same time, the slightly less crazy branch of the Republican party is annoyed because she decided to take some steam away from Ryan’s official response. She did herself no favors today and alienated many of her former backers.
Apparently she was looking at the camera that was putting it on the tea party web site and all the other cameras were off center. She’s just odd, no way around it. I think Chris Matthews is right – she looks like she’s hypnotized or a zombie. Creepy.
She did say she wanted people to join her and slit their wrists in an act of solidarity. Maybe she has suffered a blood drain and needs to get a drink before sunrise.
Bachmann is so much more dangerous than Palin i think. i think we need to look more closely at her. does anyone have any personal knowledge of her. i know she graduated from Oral Roberts University. i don’t know much about that institution of higher learning but if it was founded by Oral Roberts the televangelist then they should change the name to Oral Roberts University and Booby Hatch.
My president – our president…finally something I can believe in and we can all agree on. (By “all”, at least all of us who regularly visit this site.) Gracias a la vida.
I listened to it all…. I didn’t get a real excited feeling about it… maybe I’m getting jaded, but you could have put a Republican president up there for most of it….. Tax Cuts, Education, Military, Smaller goverment, need to be innovative to succeed at the American Dream, simplify tax code… Only a couple of items from a Progressive view point – stop subsidies for Big Oil, fix health care-don’t repeal it, I think we’re in for a lackluster 2 year term…….
President Obama was a centrist candidate in many ways and has always been a consensus builder in character. To be more cutting-edge would be to go against his history. He seems to be a realist even when he builds a Big Vision. One of his major tasks right now seems to me is to pull us together as a nation, to tone down the anger, to stand against fear-mongering and lies in a way that doesn’t inflame the more extreme members of Congress. Until we get the Tea Party folks out, the right-wing GOP out and even the more rigid Blue Dogs, I don’t think we will see the progress most of us would like.
If we could turn out the vote to back him in 2012 and the progressive tide sweep in moderates of all stripes, we might see real, lasting change on many fronts that will enhance everyone’s lives. Until then, he is still up against the rigidity of the Party of No and their stepchildren, the foot-stomping, tongue-sticking-out Tea Partiers. Sorry – I didn’t mean to use emotional language against the opposition but Rep. Ryan’s half-truths and Michelle Bachmann’s outright lies sort of steamed me up more than I realize.
I just want us to get back to where we are all Americans, not red or blue or purple, right-wing religious nuts vs. anyone else. President Obama makes being an American something to be proud of again because he just doesn’t talk about “uniting” us like GW Bush did, he actually tries to make it happen by actually listening to others. Now, if only those “others” will listen to him.
Face it, Ben. You’d have to walk quite a distance to find a place more liberal than where you live! Everything East and North of you (except San Francisco and Berkeley) seem conservative in comparison to Santa Cruz et al.
Ridden the Roaring Camp train lately? Please do. I own stock (from parent in laws). Owners were family friends way back. Pays great dividends–free train rides. 🙂
I hear ya benlomond2. The president has not “wowed” me more than he’s disappointed me. He’s lockstep with the corporatists as far as I’m concerned. He’s done a few great things but the capitalist in him far outweighs his leadership towards the suffering middleclass. I mean DALEY? Come on. Another huge disappointment of a pick and CLEAR indicator of where his heart really lies.
i hear you Ben. the problem is that, for the most part, Progressives have not done their job in supporting and backing the President to the same degree the opposition has supported the Republican agenda. on the contrary many people have just forgotten that they ever promised Barack Obama that they would help him. that they would be proactive in government. he never said ‘he’ could do it alone. he said “Yes We Can”.
we have not lived up to our word. imho. the Democrats, the Progressives let this man swing in the breeze. we stood by and allowed the media to run wild. we let the haters distract us. we need to get behind this man and push!!
bubbles I certainly have to agree at least in part with you.I have often wondered why the dems did not do like the republicans do and walk in lock step.The first two years would have been a good thing instead of the bombastic rhetoric we have hear even from our own side and I say that as an independent who voted democratic this year. It seemed like when he needed backing the dems backed off unlike the repubs do.We could have accomplished so much more if not for that.
What Michelle doesn’t seem to understand when she talks about increasing domestic energy production is that the oil we pump here gets pumped overseas and we buy it back!! Why won’t these people be honest with us?
Then, also…corn is a big producer, even in Minnesota. Etanol has turned out to be a failed solution. I drove thru the upper Midwest in the late fall of ’07. Huge investments had been made to process the midwest into something that few could even use. This was an extremely failed concept promoted by W for Agrebusiness. Now we either maintain it, with continued subsidies, or we just stop it!!! Let’s see if cancelling, immediately, all those farm subsidies doesn’t bring the deficit closer to something we can control.
Then don’t forget how much money we give corporations to advertise their productts around the world.
I’m all for “repealling” those puffed-up farm subsidies. Seems like alot of rich repubs got into “farming” when W promoted Farm-business, aka “another welfare handout to the rich on the middleclass’ backs”.
Oh, boy! Now we get to watch this year’s hand-picked Republican “Spokesliar” in his attempt to brainwash all the sheeple who prefer their political opinions pre-determined and pre-digested.
Rep. Ryan gave a very vague, very cliche response, preferring to ignore the Bush-Cheney years that really got us into this financial mess. Instead, he chose to lie and blame President Obama for our debt. He also was heavy into fear-mongering. So sad. Plus, he had to inject his Christian creds right up front. I do not appreciate that at all. If you are a spiritual or religious person, be it, but don’t try to prove it by spouting things – live it; you don’t have to talk about your faith, you simply need to live it. Rep. Ryan is part of the right-wing religious dingbats and he just hinted at it.
I am not surprised that Rep. Ryan stayed away from discussing his Roadmap for America ideas. If people really knew what he was proposing, he’d be marginalized for being being an extremist. He wants to give more money to the wealthy while raising taxes on people who earn from $20 grand to $100 grand (check that upper number, it may not be that high but I do know he wants to raise taxes on the $20K bracket — outrageous!!!).
Rep. Ryan also did not mention his plan to privatize Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and cut Children’s health care (aside from repealing the health care reform act). He absolutely is callous towards those less privileged than himself and his backers. I truly despise this man’s plans.
I have not listened to or read Michelle Bachmann’s response yet. I am still boiling made that Justice Scalia decided it was more important to walk over to her Tea Party Constitutional seminar and speak there rather than attend the State of the Union speech.
BTW – I liked seeing McCain sitting next to Kerry. I would love if this becomes the model for future State of the Union speeches. So much more civilized and civil.
I thought Ryan spoke in a very condescending manner (not as bad as Jindal but still….). I also got tired of hearing him make the same points over and over again.
Bachmann seemed to try to channel Ross Perot. Charts!! If one watched the White House feed there were some compelling “visual aids”. Thanx Mudflats for making that feed available.
I noticed that she put the blame for the “bailout” in Obamas corner. Isn’t it strange how they can have speeches of rebuttal all ready to roll before they even hear the State of the Union speech?
yes! i knew he was gonna do it. he cried.
I love my President. damned he if didn’t hit another one out of the park. great speech.
i am giddy with love and hope for the future. for our children and their children and on and on. please let’s work with this man. we can do this. yes we can!
He’s the first president I’ve ever called ‘my’ president, bubbles. If it weren’t for the forces of the Dark Side, he could do so much more for this country. He still just might, yes he can!
I think he did a little. I too thought it was nice and I was struck, looking at the three of them coming from such ordinary backgrounds, that we do live in a remarkable country. And I have to admit, it made me a bit teary as well.
The president said he would veto bills with earmarks – I think that’s more complicated than it sounds. Part of the a federal legislator’s job is to bring home the bacon (jobs) – does the president have a cutoff point where x number of dollars is too much?
I did like how he spoke of repealing the m/billionaire tax cuts to balance the budget.
I also liked how he spoke of the need to make government more competent, and to put Congress’ meetings with lobbyists online. Boehner didn’t clap for that last part.
I’d love it if he would repeal the m/billionaire taxcuts. He extended them at this expiration, when do you think he’ll get around to repealing them? Talk is cheap.
My husband and I decided about a year ago that we could afford for me to quit my job. My husband and I, together, were making less than $250,000 a year. There are a lot of people out of work, I wanted to be more of a homebody, and we decided that someone else might possibly need my salary more than I did. So I quit my job and we reduced our income by roughly 50%.
When it came time for the Bush tax cuts to expire, meaning millionaires’ taxes would increase by a mere 3% (of their taxable income, which, as we all know, isn’t even close to being their actual income), Obama agreed that that was just toooooooo much for those poor millionaires to bear.
I made the sacrifices my government requested. When will the millionaires make those sacrifices?
John Boehner looks like he’s not only sucking on a lemon, but has a few stuck up his arse, as well. It must be KILLING him to not be able to roll his eyes and mutter obscenities under his breath like he’s used to doing.
😉
He was such a distraction for me. He was trying real hard not to roll his eyes and at one point it looked to me like he wanted to sit on his hands so he wouldn’t have to clap. What an arse he is. This is mean, but I think he was needing his next drink. Honestly, couldn’t he have mustered up a smile or two? Showed some tiny bit of unity? And what was up with the ribbon on his jacket being all jacked up? It looked like he intentionally messed it up.
I must report that nite Nancy Pelosi sat for the 1st time as Speaker of the House, the cameras were on her a great deal. She blinked incessantly, I guess because of contact lens, and I was distracted, and I am a real fan of Congresswoman Pelosi. Biden looked pretty grim too.
I’m a teacher in PA. The obsession for statewide testing (mandated by NCLB) have turned our kids into ones who have no creativity, no critical thinking skills, no problem solvers.We are literally mandated to teach kids how to pick the best answer out of 4. No wonder our quality of science education has lagged. I’m happy the President has addressed this. However, “Race to the Top” was not the answer for my school, as we already had suggested reforms in place, and buying into “Race to the Top” would have negatively affected our school.
“Reforms” included in NCLB mandates have eliminated arts and related arts in many schools, since shrinking resources need to be allocated to subjects that are “tested.”
Thank you, President Obama, for recognizing the importance of teachers (and for saying we should be as revered as teachers in other countries), but, I can’t – in good conscience – suggest that any young person become a teacher. Regardless of what Pres. Obama says, the future of the teaching profession is as dim as that of auto workers and steel workers. Our society does not value education. Families, communities, and government want the cheapest baby-sitters available – but with high test scores
I have always believed that NCLB and its associated state mandates were an attempt to decimate the USA’s public school system – private schools don’t have to comply with the mandates, and public schools will be dismantled if they don’t. Consequently, those rich Republicans can send their kids to private schools where they learn critical thinking, problem solving, etc. – all those things necessary for innovation and invention. Public school kids will learn to pick the best answer out of 4. When was the last time that came up in real life?
Stepping off soapbox and into PJs now. Five thirty am comes early..which is when I get up for my teaching job…and I’m home at 5:30 pm.
(OK, one more comment: Russell just said, “Could you see Sarah Palin giving this speech?”)
As someone who also works in education, I see that teachers have increasingly large loads of paperwork, increased requirements for (often useless) professional development (usually at their own expense), overwhelming pressure to have their students ‘perform’ on tests, more threats to base all salaries and hirings on arbitrary test scores…but far less authority, time and flexibility to actually T E A C H !
I truly believe that NCLB was one of the most damaging pieces of education legislation to ever come out of Washington, and is in great part responsible for our country falling behind in every measure of education.
I love what I do and I know that I make a difference for my students every day, but it’s just not the same kind of vocation it was 20 years ago.
My husband is a teacher, and I have taught in the past. We both agree with you that NCLB was a disaster. Teaching for a test score is not teaching – it is instructing. What our children need are dedicated teachers who lift our children up, not fit them into cubbyhole scores categories. We need teachers who teach our children how to think, how to recognize lies whether in advertising, politics or society as a whole. Being educated really means knowing how to find reliable facts, analyze and evaluate them, and synthesize complex ideas. I bet you are a fantastic teacher. It shows in your passionate reaction!
I spent this morning at the general membership meeting of the retired teachers association. My job was to beg them to return to their schools as volunteers. These were career teachers, and many, if not all, of them chose to retire earlier than their original intentions because of NCLB and teaching to the test. They were all eager to help, and many had tried to in the past, but with unhappy results. The program I was promoting put them in charge. They picked their days and times and subject. They interviewed the classroom teacher and vice versa. And they could insist on working one on one with a child who was falling behind.
I really thought my mission was hopeless, but instead we engaged in a long discussion. Most were anxious to help and missed teaching. Most were happy to hear that they could return to school as a volunteer and make a difference – without being haunted by the spooky NCLB test hanging over them.
I think Obama is a great President. Maybe not the greatest, and maybe I was just burned out on Bush, but nevertheless…
Anyway, I’m still not impressed with his educational policies. And the economic policies for our schools seem to be sincerely lacking. I’m still trying to get an education, but I can’t afford it. Now I have to put two girls through school, and I REALLY can’t afford it, even with military benefits. Whatever happened to the American dream of everyone being able to get an education!?!?
Molly Ivins covered the NCLB in one of her books on Dubya,as guv of Texas. She had clearly pointed out that students had to pass a Texas test to graduate and all the emphasis was placed on “teaching to the test” Dropouts were counted as graduates and poor performing students could be shuttled off to a different school so they didn’t count against their former school’s performance score.
I would have to agree with you about a lot of what you said.When I was in school,grammar and high school,no middle school where I lived,but we had teachers who seemed to care and parents who also joined in with their kids at school events.My teachers even had some us us over for dinner and stayed after to help those who needed it.Of course that was before all the cuts to education were made and parents showed more respect for teachers than they do today.But if we don’t have teachers the dumbing down of the US continues and do we really want that.We had to use our minds with math science ect now days a computer does it all and the child does not have to think much at all.
Is it just me or is this one of the best POTUS speeches ? I entirely get that it’s crafted based on very good analysis of our current events and put together by way of great writers. But then again, all SOTU speeches are put together exactly that way .
But there’s something here tonight that is different, imo .
Agree. He pointed out the wrong-headedness of a lot of the Right’s policies (tax cuts for the rich, subsidies for oil companies, etc) in a way that was clear and irrefutable. And he did it with respect, and without divisiveness or smarminess, without pointing fingers or ‘blaming the other party’ the whole point. It’s clear his motivations are pure and pragmatic, and he’s not just trying to BS his way into policy support. He is pure class. How can people even put a speech like his and one like G.W. Bush’s in the same realm?
It is a good speech, with targeted solutions for many of our worst problems. I do not have high hopes for any implementation which requires new legislation. My guess is that the Obama administration will have to get as much done as possible by departmental actions using regulatory capability already in existence. If Obama can drive unemployment down, down, down, then he has a good chance in 2012.
If our midwest steel plants can be upgraded to produce the special gas line pipe required for low pressure natural gas transmission, then the worst impacted and unemployed areas of the midwest and the Ohio river valley could be brought back to full employment, just in time for the largest steel pipe order in history. The 2012 battleground will be the Midwest. American steel needs that pipe order.
Great… I’m inviting everyone to add to this post about things they hear in Obama’s speech that are new ideas we’ve never heard before… It’s not what we hear, it’s what we take away from it… I’m expecting a LONG LIST of positive take away’s by tomorrow morning…
I’ll start… We’re falling behind China and Korea and Europe in a lot of ways… Let’s wake up and use our mediocre performance as a challenge, much like we did when the Russians were kicking our booty with Sputnik… Let’s redouble our efforts and beat those foreigners…
We need to cut down government by merging programs that are superfluous… For example he said one agency is responsible for Salmon in salt water and a different agency for salmon in fresh water… It gets more complicated when they are smoked… It’s nice to get some Alaskan humor in the speech with America laughing WITH us and not AT us via our local dingbat Sarah Palin…
President Obama sounded like the leader that he is. (All is well, Riverwoman. Thanks. LOL)
The most gut-wrenching moment was seeing that family from Tucson–minus their little girl.
Rep. Grijalva looked truly anguished sitting next to Gifford’s empty seat.
The Biden/Boehner duo sure provided some entertaining moments. Biden thoroughly in his element.
Boehner trying hard to keep from eye-rolling, but not really succeeding, and occasionally even showing some interest–like maybe President Obama might have said a thing or two of value.
I was curled up in bed with a book to read. My hearing is so bad at the end of the day,I can’t hear what people on telly say even with my hearing aid. I have to see a transcript of these things. I normally get distracted about two seconds after a pol starts yapping. They all sound similar and the comments on the news afterwards is pretty much verbatim from speech to speech. About half of the people agree and the other half doesn’t. Some politicians sitting there last night looked like they were waiting for corporal punishment for stealing cigs. Some good people thought QP would end up on QVC so now it has to have new meaning for QVC. Any ideas?
I appreciate all the hard work President Obama and some of our elected representatives have accomplished in these past few years. I hope this SOTU speech will not just become another “great speech” from Obama but a renewed desire to right the wrongs inflicted on America and the world by the last 30 or so years.
I won’t be holding my breath but will remain cautiously optimistic.
Thank you President Obama!!
Off the thread, thanx:
As a retiree I shall watch more closely. As an employee I watched very carefully. Look what big business did for us. I have a concept.
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
Maybe you get the idea.
I am not sure that our President will do for us what we need. You know “we are the powers that be”. This is a clarion call to my generation.
See, I think we failed with BClinton. I think that his personnal problems left us with all the compromises with big business. I believe that Clinton’s deal: no impeachment, all the deregulation you can pass while I’m still President.
nem
I am always so proud of our President. He strikes just the right tone. He talked about the difficulties without sugar coating or glossing over them, and he brought us back to the vision that makes us who we are. He brought up some of the more divisive topics without turning them into fighting points. He is incredibly tactful, but he was also very clear on things he won’t do.
I totally agree!
Three things that really stuck out for me (well, actually four but I mentioned Boehner’s constipation above!):
1. When the President first entered the room, I was again awed by the tremendous power and responsibility of that position. I cannot imagine ever wanting that job and I know of very few people who are up to the challenge.
2. When I saw McCain sitting there and awkwardly clapping for something the President said, I was overwhelmingly grateful that they were not in the opposite positions. I don’t even want to think about Captain Crankypants making a State of the Union speech!
3. I was a bit apprehensive about reactions from the right after last year’s outburst from Joe Wilson and Alito’s muttering, but it seemed as though the mixed seating and the acknowledgement of Congresswoman Giffords reduced the usual partisan tension in the room by a great degree.
I was very impressed and moved by the positive spirit and enthusiasm of this year’s SOTU and I am so very glad that Barack Obama is our President!
Ditto
-30-
Signing off for the night, but just wanted to reiterate: job well done, President Obama!
I loved the pre-empting of the Repub/Tea ‘talking points’. You go, POTUS! I’m also pleased as all get out that the WH did *not* give out copies of the speech ahead of time — I grew so weary of having the entire SOTU dissected and totally analyzed hours before the POTUS even entered the chamber! Year after year after year… beth.
Bogus, bogus. In terms of the performance. Most of the ‘speech’ has to have been made available way before this evening. Therefore, perhaps this presentation is OBE, (Overcome By Events). I agree with some of the talking heads that this performance has become anachronism. I was able to watch the performance thru Mudflats and the White House feed. And I hope that that was true. nem
Whoa. I just went over to CNN.com and caught the end of Michelle Bachman’s speech. I’d never really heard her speak at length, and it was absolutely chillingly strange.
She was stumbling over simple words, using oddly over-exaggerated inflection and exuberance, and was purposely saying very “Presidential” things like “God Bless YOU. And God Bless the United States of America” at the end.
Another jarring thing was that (at least on the online version) she was watching and delivering her speech to a camera that was off to her right the whole time. That probably wasn’t the version was broadcast on TV, but it lent an especially extra-creepy feel to it, making it appear even more artificially scripted, if that was possible. She reminded me of Sarah Palin but with an even more evil and disingenuous manner. Who knew that was possible?
I really think we have to keep an eye on that woman because she raised more funds than Sarah and is getting huge backing from rather mysterious sources. Her views are even more extreme than Palin’s and I didn’t think that was possible. Considering she is already in Congress, that is chilling.
That she could pull a Justice of the Supreme Court to come talk to her little gathering today should signal to us that she is gaining in momentum even as she sounds more crazed.
She and Palin can do a lot of damage to our country, but as Palin’s star is waning at present, Bachmann’s seems to steadily rising against all reason.
I agree that she’s taken frighteningly seriously for someone whose elevator doesn’t go to the penthouse and we should watch her closely. However…
As I mentioned in the other thread, Bachman got her usual Tea Party backers in a fuss by taking it upon herself to ‘speechify’ tonight, essentially declaring herself their representative. At the same time, the slightly less crazy branch of the Republican party is annoyed because she decided to take some steam away from Ryan’s official response. She did herself no favors today and alienated many of her former backers.
Which one of them is more entertaining? Palin or Bachman? Sorta frightening, huh?
Bachman’s star hit a meteor last night with her widely panned rebuttal. The pundits tried hard not to just laugh.
But yes, she is a palin who didn’t quit.
Apparently she was looking at the camera that was putting it on the tea party web site and all the other cameras were off center. She’s just odd, no way around it. I think Chris Matthews is right – she looks like she’s hypnotized or a zombie. Creepy.
And something about balloons!
He called her a balloon head. mean but funny.
She did say she wanted people to join her and slit their wrists in an act of solidarity. Maybe she has suffered a blood drain and needs to get a drink before sunrise.
Bachmann is so much more dangerous than Palin i think. i think we need to look more closely at her. does anyone have any personal knowledge of her. i know she graduated from Oral Roberts University. i don’t know much about that institution of higher learning but if it was founded by Oral Roberts the televangelist then they should change the name to Oral Roberts University and Booby Hatch.
Mag: I so agree!!
My president – our president…finally something I can believe in and we can all agree on. (By “all”, at least all of us who regularly visit this site.) Gracias a la vida.
I listened to it all…. I didn’t get a real excited feeling about it… maybe I’m getting jaded, but you could have put a Republican president up there for most of it….. Tax Cuts, Education, Military, Smaller goverment, need to be innovative to succeed at the American Dream, simplify tax code… Only a couple of items from a Progressive view point – stop subsidies for Big Oil, fix health care-don’t repeal it, I think we’re in for a lackluster 2 year term…….
President Obama was a centrist candidate in many ways and has always been a consensus builder in character. To be more cutting-edge would be to go against his history. He seems to be a realist even when he builds a Big Vision. One of his major tasks right now seems to me is to pull us together as a nation, to tone down the anger, to stand against fear-mongering and lies in a way that doesn’t inflame the more extreme members of Congress. Until we get the Tea Party folks out, the right-wing GOP out and even the more rigid Blue Dogs, I don’t think we will see the progress most of us would like.
If we could turn out the vote to back him in 2012 and the progressive tide sweep in moderates of all stripes, we might see real, lasting change on many fronts that will enhance everyone’s lives. Until then, he is still up against the rigidity of the Party of No and their stepchildren, the foot-stomping, tongue-sticking-out Tea Partiers. Sorry – I didn’t mean to use emotional language against the opposition but Rep. Ryan’s half-truths and Michelle Bachmann’s outright lies sort of steamed me up more than I realize.
I just want us to get back to where we are all Americans, not red or blue or purple, right-wing religious nuts vs. anyone else. President Obama makes being an American something to be proud of again because he just doesn’t talk about “uniting” us like GW Bush did, he actually tries to make it happen by actually listening to others. Now, if only those “others” will listen to him.
Than we must work on the local. “It Takes a Village”‘.
Face it, Ben. You’d have to walk quite a distance to find a place more liberal than where you live! Everything East and North of you (except San Francisco and Berkeley) seem conservative in comparison to Santa Cruz et al.
Ridden the Roaring Camp train lately? Please do. I own stock (from parent in laws). Owners were family friends way back. Pays great dividends–free train rides. 🙂
Please, don’t tell me that is a troll! It sounds to me that we are not learning anything.
I hear ya benlomond2. The president has not “wowed” me more than he’s disappointed me. He’s lockstep with the corporatists as far as I’m concerned. He’s done a few great things but the capitalist in him far outweighs his leadership towards the suffering middleclass. I mean DALEY? Come on. Another huge disappointment of a pick and CLEAR indicator of where his heart really lies.
i hear you Ben. the problem is that, for the most part, Progressives have not done their job in supporting and backing the President to the same degree the opposition has supported the Republican agenda. on the contrary many people have just forgotten that they ever promised Barack Obama that they would help him. that they would be proactive in government. he never said ‘he’ could do it alone. he said “Yes We Can”.
we have not lived up to our word. imho. the Democrats, the Progressives let this man swing in the breeze. we stood by and allowed the media to run wild. we let the haters distract us. we need to get behind this man and push!!
bubbles I certainly have to agree at least in part with you.I have often wondered why the dems did not do like the republicans do and walk in lock step.The first two years would have been a good thing instead of the bombastic rhetoric we have hear even from our own side and I say that as an independent who voted democratic this year. It seemed like when he needed backing the dems backed off unlike the repubs do.We could have accomplished so much more if not for that.
Here’s a link to excerpts from Michelle Bachmann’s response.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/25/michele-bachmann-state-of_n_813972.html
I wonder if this is simply the mildest of her remarks or the harshest ones? Who knows. I can’t tolerate listening to that woman before bed.
What Michelle doesn’t seem to understand when she talks about increasing domestic energy production is that the oil we pump here gets pumped overseas and we buy it back!! Why won’t these people be honest with us?
Then, also…corn is a big producer, even in Minnesota. Etanol has turned out to be a failed solution. I drove thru the upper Midwest in the late fall of ’07. Huge investments had been made to process the midwest into something that few could even use. This was an extremely failed concept promoted by W for Agrebusiness. Now we either maintain it, with continued subsidies, or we just stop it!!! Let’s see if cancelling, immediately, all those farm subsidies doesn’t bring the deficit closer to something we can control.
Then don’t forget how much money we give corporations to advertise their productts around the world.
Ryan doesn’t have an answer. nem
I’m all for “repealling” those puffed-up farm subsidies. Seems like alot of rich repubs got into “farming” when W promoted Farm-business, aka “another welfare handout to the rich on the middleclass’ backs”.
I’m so proud of my president.
My husband and I agree with you!
5 greatest orators of our time. I haven’t looked yet, but I’m guessing Palin, J. Miller, W, O’Donnell, and Yogi Berra.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0125/On-eve-of-State-of-the-Union-top-five-presidential-orators-of-modern-times/Bill-Clinton
You missed the best one of all.the AFLAC DUCK.
Oh, boy! Now we get to watch this year’s hand-picked Republican “Spokesliar” in his attempt to brainwash all the sheeple who prefer their political opinions pre-determined and pre-digested.
Rep. Ryan gave a very vague, very cliche response, preferring to ignore the Bush-Cheney years that really got us into this financial mess. Instead, he chose to lie and blame President Obama for our debt. He also was heavy into fear-mongering. So sad. Plus, he had to inject his Christian creds right up front. I do not appreciate that at all. If you are a spiritual or religious person, be it, but don’t try to prove it by spouting things – live it; you don’t have to talk about your faith, you simply need to live it. Rep. Ryan is part of the right-wing religious dingbats and he just hinted at it.
I am not surprised that Rep. Ryan stayed away from discussing his Roadmap for America ideas. If people really knew what he was proposing, he’d be marginalized for being being an extremist. He wants to give more money to the wealthy while raising taxes on people who earn from $20 grand to $100 grand (check that upper number, it may not be that high but I do know he wants to raise taxes on the $20K bracket — outrageous!!!).
Rep. Ryan also did not mention his plan to privatize Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and cut Children’s health care (aside from repealing the health care reform act). He absolutely is callous towards those less privileged than himself and his backers. I truly despise this man’s plans.
I have not listened to or read Michelle Bachmann’s response yet. I am still boiling made that Justice Scalia decided it was more important to walk over to her Tea Party Constitutional seminar and speak there rather than attend the State of the Union speech.
BTW – I liked seeing McCain sitting next to Kerry. I would love if this becomes the model for future State of the Union speeches. So much more civilized and civil.
I thought Ryan spoke in a very condescending manner (not as bad as Jindal but still….). I also got tired of hearing him make the same points over and over again.
Me, too!
I wasn’t looking at the TV, but did listen to a bit of Ryan and he sounded so much like Jindal that it was eerie.
… and over and over and o v e r. What a lush.
Bachmann seemed to try to channel Ross Perot. Charts!! If one watched the White House feed there were some compelling “visual aids”. Thanx Mudflats for making that feed available.
I noticed that she put the blame for the “bailout” in Obamas corner. Isn’t it strange how they can have speeches of rebuttal all ready to roll before they even hear the State of the Union speech?
yes! i knew he was gonna do it. he cried.
I love my President. damned he if didn’t hit another one out of the park. great speech.
i am giddy with love and hope for the future. for our children and their children and on and on. please let’s work with this man. we can do this. yes we can!
He’s the first president I’ve ever called ‘my’ president, bubbles. If it weren’t for the forces of the Dark Side, he could do so much more for this country. He still just might, yes he can!
Yes, yes, yes. Since Irish has gone to bed, I’ll say it for her, Feckin’ fantastic!
When did I ever use language like that, Forty? 🙂
You all seemed to have enjoyed the speech. I’m just catching up with it this morning.
It was nice what he said about Biden and Boehner- did Boehner cry? lol
I think he did a little. I too thought it was nice and I was struck, looking at the three of them coming from such ordinary backgrounds, that we do live in a remarkable country. And I have to admit, it made me a bit teary as well.
It’s Kal Pen from House, MD!!!!! I knew he was working for the White House, and there he is!!!!!
WooHoo! Berlin, PA, close to where I live. Chilean mine rescue drillers are “neighbors.”
Is it just me, or does Boehner’s skin tone look darker than President Obama’s?
He does!
He’s got subconscious “Brother Envy”
Ha ha haha. The subconscious don’t lie!
Sarafina: I so agree!!!
Just as long as Boehner does not start blubbering!!!
The president said he would veto bills with earmarks – I think that’s more complicated than it sounds. Part of the a federal legislator’s job is to bring home the bacon (jobs) – does the president have a cutoff point where x number of dollars is too much?
I did like how he spoke of repealing the m/billionaire tax cuts to balance the budget.
I also liked how he spoke of the need to make government more competent, and to put Congress’ meetings with lobbyists online. Boehner didn’t clap for that last part.
I’d love it if he would repeal the m/billionaire taxcuts. He extended them at this expiration, when do you think he’ll get around to repealing them? Talk is cheap.
My husband and I decided about a year ago that we could afford for me to quit my job. My husband and I, together, were making less than $250,000 a year. There are a lot of people out of work, I wanted to be more of a homebody, and we decided that someone else might possibly need my salary more than I did. So I quit my job and we reduced our income by roughly 50%.
When it came time for the Bush tax cuts to expire, meaning millionaires’ taxes would increase by a mere 3% (of their taxable income, which, as we all know, isn’t even close to being their actual income), Obama agreed that that was just toooooooo much for those poor millionaires to bear.
I made the sacrifices my government requested. When will the millionaires make those sacrifices?
I really noticed that part too.
Psminidiva: No!!!
John Boehner looks like he’s not only sucking on a lemon, but has a few stuck up his arse, as well. It must be KILLING him to not be able to roll his eyes and mutter obscenities under his breath like he’s used to doing.
😉
I thought the same thing. Knowing that he was on camera the whole time meant he really had to behave himself. 😉
He did, however, slouch alot. And this wasn’t even a ‘long’ speech. I notice he has moderated his tan, not quite so orange.
LOL. he looks like he needs a drink. if he sucks down any more water there’s going to be a puddle on the carpet.
I couldn’t decide if he was constipated or had a really bad case of acid reflux.
He was such a distraction for me. He was trying real hard not to roll his eyes and at one point it looked to me like he wanted to sit on his hands so he wouldn’t have to clap. What an arse he is. This is mean, but I think he was needing his next drink. Honestly, couldn’t he have mustered up a smile or two? Showed some tiny bit of unity? And what was up with the ribbon on his jacket being all jacked up? It looked like he intentionally messed it up.
I must report that nite Nancy Pelosi sat for the 1st time as Speaker of the House, the cameras were on her a great deal. She blinked incessantly, I guess because of contact lens, and I was distracted, and I am a real fan of Congresswoman Pelosi. Biden looked pretty grim too.
I’m a teacher in PA. The obsession for statewide testing (mandated by NCLB) have turned our kids into ones who have no creativity, no critical thinking skills, no problem solvers.We are literally mandated to teach kids how to pick the best answer out of 4. No wonder our quality of science education has lagged. I’m happy the President has addressed this. However, “Race to the Top” was not the answer for my school, as we already had suggested reforms in place, and buying into “Race to the Top” would have negatively affected our school.
“Reforms” included in NCLB mandates have eliminated arts and related arts in many schools, since shrinking resources need to be allocated to subjects that are “tested.”
Thank you, President Obama, for recognizing the importance of teachers (and for saying we should be as revered as teachers in other countries), but, I can’t – in good conscience – suggest that any young person become a teacher. Regardless of what Pres. Obama says, the future of the teaching profession is as dim as that of auto workers and steel workers. Our society does not value education. Families, communities, and government want the cheapest baby-sitters available – but with high test scores
I have always believed that NCLB and its associated state mandates were an attempt to decimate the USA’s public school system – private schools don’t have to comply with the mandates, and public schools will be dismantled if they don’t. Consequently, those rich Republicans can send their kids to private schools where they learn critical thinking, problem solving, etc. – all those things necessary for innovation and invention. Public school kids will learn to pick the best answer out of 4. When was the last time that came up in real life?
Stepping off soapbox and into PJs now. Five thirty am comes early..which is when I get up for my teaching job…and I’m home at 5:30 pm.
(OK, one more comment: Russell just said, “Could you see Sarah Palin giving this speech?”)
As someone who also works in education, I see that teachers have increasingly large loads of paperwork, increased requirements for (often useless) professional development (usually at their own expense), overwhelming pressure to have their students ‘perform’ on tests, more threats to base all salaries and hirings on arbitrary test scores…but far less authority, time and flexibility to actually T E A C H !
I truly believe that NCLB was one of the most damaging pieces of education legislation to ever come out of Washington, and is in great part responsible for our country falling behind in every measure of education.
I love what I do and I know that I make a difference for my students every day, but it’s just not the same kind of vocation it was 20 years ago.
And that’s a loss for all of us.
My husband is a teacher, and I have taught in the past. We both agree with you that NCLB was a disaster. Teaching for a test score is not teaching – it is instructing. What our children need are dedicated teachers who lift our children up, not fit them into cubbyhole scores categories. We need teachers who teach our children how to think, how to recognize lies whether in advertising, politics or society as a whole. Being educated really means knowing how to find reliable facts, analyze and evaluate them, and synthesize complex ideas. I bet you are a fantastic teacher. It shows in your passionate reaction!
I spent this morning at the general membership meeting of the retired teachers association. My job was to beg them to return to their schools as volunteers. These were career teachers, and many, if not all, of them chose to retire earlier than their original intentions because of NCLB and teaching to the test. They were all eager to help, and many had tried to in the past, but with unhappy results. The program I was promoting put them in charge. They picked their days and times and subject. They interviewed the classroom teacher and vice versa. And they could insist on working one on one with a child who was falling behind.
I really thought my mission was hopeless, but instead we engaged in a long discussion. Most were anxious to help and missed teaching. Most were happy to hear that they could return to school as a volunteer and make a difference – without being haunted by the spooky NCLB test hanging over them.
This testimony brings tears to my eyes. A shudder down my back. Thank you ‘psminidivapa’.
I think Obama is a great President. Maybe not the greatest, and maybe I was just burned out on Bush, but nevertheless…
Anyway, I’m still not impressed with his educational policies. And the economic policies for our schools seem to be sincerely lacking. I’m still trying to get an education, but I can’t afford it. Now I have to put two girls through school, and I REALLY can’t afford it, even with military benefits. Whatever happened to the American dream of everyone being able to get an education!?!?
Molly Ivins covered the NCLB in one of her books on Dubya,as guv of Texas. She had clearly pointed out that students had to pass a Texas test to graduate and all the emphasis was placed on “teaching to the test” Dropouts were counted as graduates and poor performing students could be shuttled off to a different school so they didn’t count against their former school’s performance score.
I would have to agree with you about a lot of what you said.When I was in school,grammar and high school,no middle school where I lived,but we had teachers who seemed to care and parents who also joined in with their kids at school events.My teachers even had some us us over for dinner and stayed after to help those who needed it.Of course that was before all the cuts to education were made and parents showed more respect for teachers than they do today.But if we don’t have teachers the dumbing down of the US continues and do we really want that.We had to use our minds with math science ect now days a computer does it all and the child does not have to think much at all.
Is it just me or is this one of the best POTUS speeches ? I entirely get that it’s crafted based on very good analysis of our current events and put together by way of great writers. But then again, all SOTU speeches are put together exactly that way .
But there’s something here tonight that is different, imo .
more energy than lately?
yes. and presented that energy more directly and without backing down while at the same time integrating points from the right ?
I’m not sure what to make of it but there is certainly a vibe and content in this speech that stands out.
Nicely done!
Agree. He pointed out the wrong-headedness of a lot of the Right’s policies (tax cuts for the rich, subsidies for oil companies, etc) in a way that was clear and irrefutable. And he did it with respect, and without divisiveness or smarminess, without pointing fingers or ‘blaming the other party’ the whole point. It’s clear his motivations are pure and pragmatic, and he’s not just trying to BS his way into policy support. He is pure class. How can people even put a speech like his and one like G.W. Bush’s in the same realm?
It is a good speech, with targeted solutions for many of our worst problems. I do not have high hopes for any implementation which requires new legislation. My guess is that the Obama administration will have to get as much done as possible by departmental actions using regulatory capability already in existence. If Obama can drive unemployment down, down, down, then he has a good chance in 2012.
If our midwest steel plants can be upgraded to produce the special gas line pipe required for low pressure natural gas transmission, then the worst impacted and unemployed areas of the midwest and the Ohio river valley could be brought back to full employment, just in time for the largest steel pipe order in history. The 2012 battleground will be the Midwest. American steel needs that pipe order.
Hear, Hear !!!!!
Great… I’m inviting everyone to add to this post about things they hear in Obama’s speech that are new ideas we’ve never heard before… It’s not what we hear, it’s what we take away from it… I’m expecting a LONG LIST of positive take away’s by tomorrow morning…
I’ll start… We’re falling behind China and Korea and Europe in a lot of ways… Let’s wake up and use our mediocre performance as a challenge, much like we did when the Russians were kicking our booty with Sputnik… Let’s redouble our efforts and beat those foreigners…
We need to cut down government by merging programs that are superfluous… For example he said one agency is responsible for Salmon in salt water and a different agency for salmon in fresh water… It gets more complicated when they are smoked… It’s nice to get some Alaskan humor in the speech with America laughing WITH us and not AT us via our local dingbat Sarah Palin…
Does this mean no one heard anything new or promises made that were never previously made before ?
Well, there’s our President!!!
So do I!! Goodnight Irishgirl!!!
I’m here with my snacks and beverages!!
I must go to bed..it is late here. I hope your president hits it out of the park.
Night, Irish. 🙂
Sleep well. He did.