The following riff is part of an American Conservative forum on Obama’s speech.
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The State of the Union address has long since become “hip boot” time. Shortly after the speech finished, the CNN webpage showed a large photo of Obama giving the speech along with a brief outtake: “CNN BREAKING NEWS: ‘What Comes of This Moment is Up to Us.’” I prefer the motto of the 1960s-era druggies: “Wherever you go, there you are.” At least the potheads didn’t think their maxim was profound or breaking news.
Obama made some reasonable comments about the need to cut spending – at the same time he repeated his hokum about “investing in education,” green energy, magical infrastructure spending, etc. He recited the usual laundry list – Iran, North Korea, et. al. – of locations waiting for a pretext for the next American war. I remember when Bill Clinton used a State of the Union address to announce that “the era of Big Government is over.” The bootlicking TV pundits loved that line – and they also cheered Clinton’s continual championing of new government interventions.
Obama talked about this as America’s “Sputnik moment.” But the real “Sputnik moment” country needs is an awakening to the perils of Weasel Central. Watching Obama walk down the aisle last night with so many the members of Congress desperate to be seen on television touching Obama’s sleeve or catching his eyes: what reasonable, sober person would trust such a pathetic bunch of grovelers?
My own favorite part is when the Democrats made a courageous and spirited run at reducing Senator Tanning Booth to a blubbering fit of tears over the applause surrounding the President’s homage to said sentymental Speaker’s boyhood sweeping in pappy’s Cincinnati Tavern. He was on the very verges of a freshet but focused on the President’s suggestion of cutting Oil company subsidies to gird his wistful loins.
Excellent point. I assume Obama will master that guy’s tear ducts the same way that Clinton played Gingrich….
You have a strong stomach, Jim. I think I grew tired of his choppy voice even faster than Dubya’s.
Lawrence, it was for times like this that God gave us hops.
I need a double-hopped IPA to listen in on the SOTUS. But I do think Obama will be nominated for an Oscar this year — for his role as a Nobel Peace Prize Recipient. Best supporting actor will go to Krugman for his role as a Nobel Prize in economics. How was the acting last night?
Not as good as the standard set in the early Three Stooges films, but better than the post-Curly Three Stooges.
I just read the text, that way I can learn nothing in much less time. I love the media reports: “5-year Freeze On Domestic Spending!”
Except that “domestic spending” only refers to 12% of the ON-budget spending… and even if we “froze”
ALL spending… we’re still printing 43% of the freaking budget! Make sure none of your relatives have their savings in US bonds…
I thought Obama’s speech was the best 2012 presidential campaign speech I’ve heard yet. Just the right blend of platitudes and fallacies.
If only Michelle Bachmann had looked at the right TV camera during her rebuttal last night – the entire national political landscape would be different.
Bill, your #s sound dead-on. Ya, it’s amazing that more folks are raising holy hell over that 43%…
what reasonable, sober person would trust such a pathetic bunch of grovelers?
Or respect them in any way? And yet we’re considered weird because we don’t worship them.
If you look real carefully at this SOTU photo, it looks like Obama has “Sputnik Moment” written on the palm of his hand.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/project2000/5393875959/
If only the post-speech commentators on NPR and PBS and CNN and Fox News had ‘fessed up on this!