State of the Union Roundup
Here’s a little roundup of State of the Union tidbits to add to your party supply list:
Adult beverage? Check…. Popcorn? Check… Padded helmet? Check… Bipartisan date? … I won’t make you do it. We’ll leave that optional depending on your circumstances.
SOTU quote of the day from Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski:
“Maybe we do need to get out of our conventional skins every now and again and come out and do something that indicates to the rest of the country that we are not afraid to sit next to each other, that there are no cooties to be had, Republican between Democrats that together we can join together in this very important speech that the president will deliver to us tonight,” Murkowski said.
Sen. Mark Udall’s suggestion for Members to break tradition and sit in bipartisan pairs during President Barack Obama’s speech has caught on with some colleagues, but the majority of lawmakers remain uncommitted. The Colorado Democrat has gotten only 59 Members, or 11 percent of the Congressional population, to commit to sitting with someone from the opposing party. The rest are either noncommittal or dateless.
“A certain amount of this is people asking like a date to the prom, but other people are just winging it,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who plans to use the latter approach. “It will work itself out in a more informal way.”
If I were a member of the Senate, I would pick Senator Bernie Sanders as my date if he’d have me. And as an Independent, I wouldn’t even have to change my party registration to be his “opposite date.” Of course I would totally do that if I had to. Senator Sanders weighed in on the choice of Rep. Paul Ryan to deliver the official rebuttal to the speech:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today that Republicans showed their hand by tapping Rep. Paul Ryan, the architect of a plan to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it, to deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union address on Tuesday.
“The Republican leadership has been vague about what federal programs they want to cut, but Paul Ryan has been very clear,” Sanders said. “Congressman Ryan introduced a budget plan that would privatize Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Plan; raise the retirement age to 70; and increase taxes on 90 percent of American taxpayers.”
If one rebuttal isn’t enough to satisfy, fear not. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann will deliver the sure-to-be mockable Tea Party rebuttal. But who would actually give such nonsense airtime? Surely nobody in the ‘lamestream’ media right? >>>hockey buzzer<<< Turns out that CNN will be airing it, and has gotten a ration of grief from both actual parties. Here’s their statement:
The Tea Party has become a major force in American politics and within the Republican Party. Hearing the Tea Party’s perspective on the State of the Union is something we believe CNN’s viewers will be interested in hearing and we are happy to include this perspective as one of many in tonight’s coverage.
Yeah, right, whatever… Dave Weigel points out the cozy relationship between CNN and the Tea Party Express.
Later this year, the network and the PAC (and potentially other Tea Party groups) are co-sponsoring a presidential debate between Republican candidates. So, not shocking at all for the network to promote this and then claim a higher purpose.
Enjoy the show folks! Use this thread to blog it!
Sorry think the palins put for got to check before posting as I sometimes hit wrong keys
I thoink the palins piut things out themselves I saw something on TMZ they I would assume put out.Maybe trying to distract kind of like so ya don’t see what the other hand is doing.
Has anyone noticed that Pay-lin has been absent all week in the media? Not a mention on TV news or any news blogs — not even on Fox after Obama’s speech!
Can this mean Pay-lin is finally fading from interest? That media are tired of her cowardice and vitriol as she hides behind Facebook/flaks/ghostwriters?? That they are aware she is a phony, incompetent, incoherent liar??
One can only hope ….
Did I miss something…didn’t FOX use their constitutional-presidential-all-things-political expert Sarah Palin to dissect the President’s speech?
By the way, I don’t watch CNN any more…I found it to be garbage.
OMG, The repub response to the SOTU speech was so….YAWN…
Now they’re announcing that michelle bachman is coming on–I need another wine–
be right back. She’ll be like Saturday Night Live…she’s one sick biotch. I love watching
her, lol.
By the way, the SOTU was lovely. I scheduled it into my day, had my snacks and riesling,
and was totally satisfied with my president’s speech…..so there!
She’s taking a long time–guess she’s conferring with her guru–you know–herself…for rill!
You betcha!
This is hilarious, really!
OOPs! There is a livestream on a new thread here at Mudflats and chat!!
There is a livestream of the State of the Union speech and a chat!
First, I do not agree with most of Don Young’s politics. One of Tom Clancy’s novels (I think it was Clancy) had an incident where the Pres, VP, cabinet, SC, etc were taken out by an airline that crashed into them as they were all in the same place. Clancy’s hero Jack Ryan was the VP and survived the carnage. Don’t recall the title of that book. So Don has a point. Others have thought the same thing. I don’t think he believes he will be the sole survivor, but if I wanted to keep out of potential dangerous situations, I might consider watching it on the TV.
I haave though thew same thing only in reality,They took down the twin towers with little effort
OT, but Chris Matthews rips Sal Russo a new one.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/michelle-bachmann-tea-party-express-try-to-change-history-on-slavery
There s a new thread open to watch the President and to chat!!
Moose Pucky’s going to wander across the slough and watch the pageant with neighboring critters inclined to support Joe Miller and Tea Party rhetoric. And they’re even going to serve up supper.
Doing our part to participate in civility in the sloughs of rural Alaska. And planning to have a good time as well. 🙂
P.S. Tom Udall rocks! Next up on his agenda–the Senate rules.
Moose Pucky – If you are not back in three days, we’ll send out a search party!
Popcorn is ready and waiting. An easy dinner is ready as well, since it starts at 6pm here. I plan to spend the evening watching the speech then watching people tell me what President Obama said in his speech. The thing is, I don’t feel like I really need an interpreter when he speaks, unlike the times I actually made myself listen to W.
I’ve been enjoying Chris Mattews and his outrage at Michele Bachmann’s latest confirmation that she skipped American history classes. Turns out, according to her, that the Founding Fathers were the ones who ended slavery in the United States. Who knew? Certainly not my mother who started telling me about American history before I was even in school.
Lol at your ‘watching people tell me what President Obama said in his speech’. I’m going to stay in my ignorance after watching the President so that my blood pressure doesn’t go up. Have a good time!
In case you missed it, when Sen. Udall proposed this, several blow hards on the Right said this is why he wants to do it: It’s familiar practice that when the members of the same Party as the President want to show their approval for what he just said, they often stand up and clap. And the cameras show it. So the reasoning by Limbaugh and others was this: Because we lost a whole bunch of seats in November we would be embarressed by the number of Democrats jumping to their feet in approval so we concocted a crazy idea to intersperse Dems. and Rep. so it wouldn’t look so lopsided when they stood to applaud.
Do you think alcohol, dementia, illness, injury or Republican conspiracy theories destroy more brain cells on any given day?
lol Cooties? Borowitz cracks me up. I’m off to get my popcorn, see ya all later.
For a slightly different perspective,I watch CNN early mornings to see how short a skirt Kiran Chetry is wearing. Then I check out Robin Meade on HNN for the same reason. I am not really interested in the news,per se. I miss Soledad Obrien until she does her special reports for CNN. I like Katie Couric and Paula Zahn and I’m such a s^^t. Iowa’s legislature is making it easier for gun fanatics to use deadly force and not be held crimanally or civilly liable. Bernie Sanders is the only Politician worthy of the title. I had to drive about 70 miles(one way) to Sioux City to get meds and when I got there they told me my pain medication(Lyrica) has to have a financial approval from the clinic before they renew it and I have to bring papers telling them I receive disability. I wish they would have bothered to tell me before I drove down there. Fortunately I am covered by state med. insurance so most of the expense is taken care of. Bachman had some interesting non-sense to say in Des Moines last week.
BTW, AKM – a great overview of the context of the SOTU tonight. Thanks!
Here’s hoping things go well. I was listening to reports on NPT while running errands this afternoon. Seems as if the GOP has already made up its mind, as usual. Sure would appreciate them actually listening to the speech before tearing it apart.
Also, too, here’s hoping the entire SCOTUS shows up. Justice Alito probably won’t.
Scalia walked over to a Tea Party seminar to speak to all the little tea heads. Was exhorting the Federalist papers as if they were the Constitution itself. Sigh.
Okay – here’s the deal: Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito will not attend the State of the Union address, having better things to do. Thomas said it has become “too partisan” (as did Justice Roberts, but he will probably attend).
What is with these guys? This is just basic courtesy; a nod to the Constitutional division of power between the three branches. Since when did a Justice get so big-headed that he feels he doesn’t have to bother with common courtesy? Gees.
That is shocking. They seem determined not to show President Obama any respect. Is it normal for SC justices to not attend?
Some do, some don’t. I think people are watching more to see which ones attend; if they are regular attendees and decide not to show, it says a lot. They can make quite a statement just by either showing up or not.
‘Thomas said it was ‘too partisan” while his wife is a very vocal, publicly partisan activist. Wonder if he ever told her she was too partisan?
Yeah, and she gets paid BIG $$$ to be that partisan!
(none of which he declared on his financial disclosure forms, but we all know the rules don’t apply to certain members of the SCOTUS)
Since it was reported that Thomas’s wife made a lot of money that was never declared and maybe didn’t even pay taxes on.
Why this fella got to be a justice is still way beyond me. “Since when did a Justice get so big-headed that he feels he doesn’t have to bother with common courtesy? Gees”
They are the law and the law wins even when it is wrong. So we can forget common courtesy.
Sorry.
Fiendishly clever gambit by CNN;
It’s not often that they have “exclusive” news
It’s a reminder that they’re still on the air
They’ll have to forgo the endless, mind-numbing commercials, but it’s all good!
hey Big Pete! good old CNN. whatever happened to them? they used to be the go to station when Ted Turner owned it. how did things go so bad for them. i do like Anderson Cooper though.
I’m with you bubbles on Anderson Cooper. He is worth watching (or reading about later). I wonder how much longer he can stay on CNN.
I wish CNN had not gone downhill. It was the reason we finally got cable years ago – then, soon after Ted was kicked to the curb and it’s never been the same. I really hate the “entertainment” model they use for news reporting these days. Nothing I can trust and nothing I relate to enough to watch.
I got to watch him live when he was in New Orleans for the Oil Spill. It was great. I never worked up the nerve to go talk to him, since I’m a bit shy in person, but he was really cool to see him at work.
Rand Paul, talk about polar opposites. I hope he verbalizes the need to cut all elder funding and assure that our kids are uninsured while we get to work until we die as those should be very popular ideas (with the filthy rich). And our dear Michelle, well we know she is sure to please, whatever insanity she spews. Sarah must be on the floor flailing that they didn’t pick her. Bwaaaaa!
Paul Ryan, not Rand Paul. I know why you confused them — they’re both asshats.
Like oh my God, she would be like so way totally cool on like a radio show programmy thing! Like, she has the superest best speakin’ voice. For rill.
Cooties !! Haven’t heard that in a while but MAYBE after this, they’ll start going around again..
To change the subject a bit (the thing that DOES tie these together is cooties) there is a story today in the Phoenix Sun that the Swag-O’s under-aged, abstinence-pushing mini-me is now pursuing a radio career in Phoenix !! So buying the house DID mean something… Only if it were a place for Jr. to hang her hat with her new son AND NEW BOYFRIEND to see if she had any talent at all.
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/celeb/articles/2011/01/25/20110125bristol-palin-pursues-phoenix-radio-job-has-new-boyfriend.html
Har… Har… Har… speaking of cooties !!