I had intended to live blog the President’s State of the Union Address.
Unfortunately I was stuck in a meeting that went long and I couldn’t get out of.
Then I was stuck in traffic – which at least gave me an (almost) uninterrupted hour to listen to the speech live.
And I got to listen to the Republican TEA Party rebuttal, and really, what a treat that was.
So I don’t, as yet, have a blog post for you on this subject, but I will. Be patient.
In the mean time, you may consider this an open thread to discuss the SOTU address.
I’ll get the ball rolling with a brief exchange I was part of a couple days ago:
Him: This guy [Obama] just needs to shut the fuck up. What’s the point of this stupid speech? It’s just another opportunity for Dear Leader to grandstand and he already did that once this month [via his inaugural speech apparently]. He sure loves the camera, hope his teleprompter doesn’t crap out. Maybe they should put the Constitution on it and he can read that.
Me: You do know that Constitution requires the President to report the state of the union to Congress on a regular basis, right? This isn’t optional, I’m just saying.
Him: You’re just saying. You’re just saying. No it doesn’t. It’s just something presidents do. God, you liberals really need to try reading the actual Constitution sometime!
Me: Are you kidding m… ah, to hell with it. I guess you’re right. Maybe I’ll take your advice and reread the Constitution. Where’s a good place to start? Article Two, Section Three maybe?
Him: Try reading it from the beginning instead of cherry picking!
Me: Whatever you say.
Also, Dear NPR, it is not, repeat not, goddamned necessary to interrupt the speech to tell us we’re listening to the speech. Your idiotic broadcast format sucks giant hairy donkey balls, please stop it.
Also, was I the only one waiting for Ted Nugent to rush the podium? I would have paid money to see the Secret Service taze him into a drooling cucumber.
It’s been just one of those weeks, you know?
So anyway, feel free to discuss the Address, the rebuttals, the prebuttals, the head buttals. Also, if anybody knows exactly what speech Marco Rubio was talking about, do tell, because it sure as hell wasn’t the same State of the Union Address I listened to.
Try to stay on topic, please.
A detailed analysis of the speech and it’s various responses will follow, likely tomorrow.
I taped it, because my meeting was scheduled to run late. Was there a mention of Nazis?
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard or seen it yet myself, but I heard that Germany was mentioned, so close 'nuff, I'm sure.
DeleteI don't know - I had to stop listening to I got mine now f*ck you Rubio after the lie about Medicare. I'll read Stone Kettle and Rude Pundits mocking tomorrow...
DeleteThe president DARED the Republicans to vote against sensible gun laws, a living wage for 40-hour weeks and education for the future. He also called those SOBs out on vote suppression. Not great oration, but solid substance.
ReplyDeleteEllen in Indy
It was good stuff, wasn't it? If the haters would actually listen instead of objecting just to object; they would realize the President has common sense and a great vision for the future.
Delete9.00 an hour, thats a good start. I have a child just now entering the workforce, and that would provide a good beginner living for her.
DeleteI hope and pray that if the Min. Wage goes up, my Disability will as well.
Funny how Congress never has a problem with their pay raise, but fret frightfully over giving those at the bottom jsut a wee bit more.
It's as if Rubicon was expecting the internet-meme President Obama to show up and was caught flat footed, sweaty browed, and cottonmouthed by Reality.
ReplyDeleteRubio, not Rubicon.
DeleteFWIW, I totally thought "Rubicon" was on purpose. If the shoe fits....
DeleteYeah, I hear Caesar doesn't dare cross HIM.
DeleteIt seems to me that since the TP people get a televised rebuttal, the hard Left should get equal time. Occupy Rebuttal?
ReplyDeleteI'm still trying to figure out why the Teabaggers get a response at ALL.
DeleteAside from the freak show aspect, that is.
Occupy rebuttal would take 5 days+ thanks to the people's mic but it might not be a bad idea...
DeleteI had the same feeling about Rubio's rebuttal. hahahahaha. I actually asked my husband if it was me, or was that really hard to listen to? He said that Conservatives have a similarly hard time listening to Obama. I can't imagine that. I just love him.
ReplyDeleteAs I have to keep reminding folk, the President proposes, and Congress either does something or not. Congress is the side that makes the laws and spends the money - the President just signs 'em into law, or vetoes 'em. I can't seem to get that message through, though.
ReplyDeleteYou can't fight the willfully deaf/dumb/blind loudmouths with actual truth and knowledge. It makes them break out in crazy.
DeleteI just couldn't take it today. Not so much the speech, but the rebuttal that begins the process of crafting a reality the Republicans can use to get their guy elected.
ReplyDeleteAl Gore as the guy who invented the internet. John Kerry swift boated.
Obama the socialist.
The conspiracy of Newtown, CT and the 2nd amendment hysteria.
Also, Nazis.
Great idea though, Jim. Thanks for the forum. Beth
There was solid substance but asking Republicans to vote for sensible anything is just a waste of time. I have come to the conclusion that there is absolutely no one even remotely involved with that party, that actually has any common sense!!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you need a little time to slow down...and enjoy some calm music and go to the wood shop and start creatin' and stuff...that is what I have to do after trying to reason with "morans"...these folks give morons a bad name...these wingers are sooo...frustrating...
ReplyDeleteHe did get in a few quiet zingers, too, which I found amusing. I could have sworn I heard Biden chuckling to himself a couple of times while the rest of the audience took the time to catch up. I do have a complaint, however. Praising Burma for its 'progress' was a bit outrageous in my personal opinion. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteJust a quick question, Jim, why did you stop putting photos of your wood working on the site...I really enjoy looking at and appreciating another artist's work...
ReplyDeletean old Japanese saying "a man who works with his hands, is a laborer.
a man who works with his hands and his mind is a craftsman, a man who works with his hands and his heart is an artist...". Somehow this seems to fit...
I changed photo sharing sites.
DeleteNowadays I put most of my stuff up on Facebook.
I'm still wondering where the pictures of cats are?
DeleteYou as much as told Mr. Conservative "I am laying you a trap with this mention of a specific article and session. Would you care to step into this trap, which I have for you, right here?"
ReplyDeleteThen, of course, he has to do it, while thinking it's the other way around. Obviously, a liberal can't have read the Constitution because if they had, magical Reagan Rays would have conservativized them. (Maybe my copy doesn't do that because it was printed by the ACLU.)
There's no point. You can't reason with unreasonable people, it's really just that simple.
DeleteAnd I'm pretty sure that's what Obama said to Congress when he said in essence "with or without you..."
My mind went to an earlier post of yours - - same subject.
Deleteah, simple truths .........
"Go ahead, Governor."
DeleteStay on topic, dammit!
ReplyDelete"Article and *section*" rather. The one time I don't preview...
ReplyDeleteYou know what struck me about the State of the Union Address tonight? President Obama's Secret Service detail was being really obvious about being around him.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they were worried about some of the people who were there.
I don't mean that moron Nugent but some of the people there kept the phrase if looks could kill popping into my head.
Was I dreaming or did Rubeo attack big government Democrats and then play the regular Joe card by saying he is thankful that his parents had Medicare to use and that he had just recently paid off the student loans that provided him the opportunity to get his education?
I love a paradox. Still have to check out Rand Paul's fantasies.
I would have love it if the President had called Ted out when he was asking if they deserved a vote. Not really appropriate, but still.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a good speech but not inspiring. I did like that President Obama called on them to vote yes or no on reasonable measures related to gun violence. Boehner's facial expressions were amusing.
ReplyDeleteI tried to watch Rubio, but it was the same old GOP rhetoric. They might have called it a rebuttal but it was clear they had written the speech long before the SOTU was delivered by the President. I didn't bother with the Tea Party "rebuttal". Figured that also would be same-old, same-old. Insanity....doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Most of what he was asking for will stall somewhere.
ReplyDeleteEven some of the supposedly well informed commentators were making mistakes too. One that stood out to me was Gloria Borger asking how the government was going to pay for raising the minimum wage to $9. Um, it's not?
The one thing that I really didn't like in the speech was the President's proposal for private/public partnerships to build infrastructure like highways and schools. That is what government is for, building things that private businesses will not.
Perhaps it was jab at the 'job creating' businesses that haven't managed to trickle down anything other than a mess by the urinal?
Delete"Hey, we gave you a chance, you were predictably useless, so why not put your money where your mouths are and help fund the damn country if you can't create the jobs you promised?"
This is the second and third paragraph in Rand Paul's response from the text on Politico.
ReplyDelete"People say America is exceptional. I agree, but it’s not the complexion of our skin or the twists in our DNA that make us unique. America is exceptional because we were founded upon the notion that everyone should be free to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.
For the first time in history, men and women were guaranteed a chance to succeed based NOT on who your parents were but on your own initiative and desire to work."
I haven't been able to get past this. I'm just not ready to jump down this rabbit hole yet.
Coming from a schmuck who got where he is on his Daddy's looney toon name, and who can't make it past the the medical boards already established but had to create his own, I can't take Paul seriously.
DeleteHe's a scummy little Misogynist.
Just read Rubio's comments-they were clearly written from existing GOP talking points ahead of Obama's speech. The sudden pause mid-speech for a glass of water must of meant that even the GOP's up and rising star couldn't swallow all of the bs he was shovelling either.
ReplyDeleteSenator Rubio obviously did not listen to the SOTU. Wow. I kinda feel sorry for him being the one chosen to give that bullshit speech.
ReplyDeleteWatching the speech and listening to the lack of applause for common sense decency was appalling. Half of the room was silent for pre-school education, equal pay for women, which gop female members of congress DID NOT applaud, and the 102 year old woman who waited 6 hours to vote here in Florida. I mean come on, how does anyone who calls themselves an American not applaud these issues?
ReplyDeleteArticle 2 Section 3 of the Constitution:
ReplyDeleteSECTION 3.
He (the President) shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.
George Washington gave the first State of the Union Speech. Thomas Jefferson decided that there was too much pomp involved, so he wrote his state of the union speeches and that tradition continued for about a century, before it reverted back to speeches. The first rebuttals to the SOTU were during the Johnson administration (1966) and were given by Gerald Ford and another person. (with thanks to Rachel Maddow for this information).
"... and anotehr person."
DeleteEdward Everett Horton... er ... sorry, sorry - Everett Dirkson.
JC
I'm Irish, and live in Ireland. We don't get State of the Nation addresses, nor is the American one of much interest. However, if we did then there would definitely be a fourth category to add to Jim's list
ReplyDelete> So anyway, feel free to discuss the Address,
> the rebuttals, the prebuttals, the head buttals
… and the "their head's up their buttals".
Why do "the opposition" feel it is their bounden duty to oppose everything elected politicians say or do, or - when they can't do that - to criticise them for saying/doing it too late/too soon?
Andy Borowitz of the Borowitz Report posted a funny piece about how Fox News ran the Rubio rebuttal 12 hours ahead of the SOTU because the Republicans had already made up their minds.
ReplyDeleteBorowitz - http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/02/tea-party-issues-scathing-rebuttal-to-state-of-union-twelve-hours-before-speech.html?mbid=nl_Borowitz%20%2880%29
ReplyDeleteI was going to start screaming yesterday, after I heard the State of the Onion speech from the Tea Party Senator Marquito Rubio. But sanity prevailed: I will do a comment this coming Saturday... what came to my mind while listening to the Cuban, was that We have the right not to be lied to. For starters!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had the brains to have started this kind of thread myself, though... Good job, Jim...
"I would have paid money to see the Secret Service taze him into a drooling cucumber. "
ReplyDeleteHow would you tell the difference?
He'd only be frothing at the mouth silently in that situation?
DeleteI don't that cucumbers can crap their pants.
DeleteRob from Philly
I find it interesting that the so called "Librul" media is avoiding the runaway Frankenstein's monster that is the Teabaggers, and their response to the Rethugs response. The media is avoiding it like a rabid, Ebola spewing monkey in their midst.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I expected, but didn't see, any shots of the Nuge, that unrepetant pants crapper and admitted Pedophile, in the audience. For all his shit talking, he was silent. And didn't his host claim that Nugent would have a lot to say after the SOTU address? Not even Faux gave him air time that I could find.
Personally, I liked Obama holding the Reich wings feet to the fire, but really wish he could just bitch slap the lot of them.
And Rubio looked like a member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time" player, without, y'know, comedic talent. Or timing.
Here http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/us/politics/gop-aims-for-a-calmer-face-except-maybe-for-ted-nugent.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig
DeleteI was Driving4$$, so listened to traffic reports instead. Besides, politics is a subject that can really cut into tip money.
ReplyDeleteTurned on the teevee when I got home and heard the cuban say he was "blessed." I haven't the faintest idea who performed the blessing, but I turned it off. Bullshit in your ears can screw up your ability to hear and reason.
Our taxi driver was so thrilled to find out he could actually TALK TO US about politics without fear of losing his tip or getting distracted in this wonderful city town our ours. He didn't bring it up, but overheard us talking.
DeleteYeah, my now infrequent exchanges with conservatives are of a similar grain. The thing that gets me is that I will ask someone who says, for example; "I worry about what he's doing to the youth, what he's doing to overthrow our constitution, what he's doing to subvert our rights"... and I simply ask them for details. What IS he doing to our youth, our constitution, our rights... and they get all angry and defensive, but cannot or will not give examples. The badmouthing that so many of the people they listen to, GOP/TEA party leaders, news/radio commentators, even their "pastors" who use non-specific, emotional attacks makes them crazy, but they have no idea what they're angry about. This has been going on since November 7, 2008. I have NEVER seen such an overwhelming outpouring of hate (often racially motivated) and of misinformation and disrespect aimed at a man, and especially the President by so many people that has no solid foundation.
ReplyDeleteI get the same response when I ask for specifics. It is irritating, bluff and bullying rule the day with people who only listen to emotional arguments that in some weird self-serving and negative way reinforce fearful and ignorant points of view.
DeleteMe, too, Anon at 12:27. Glen has hit the nail on the head with "they have no idea what they're angry about." Somebody told them they should be mad, and so they are. Independent thought takes effort, and too many of our fellow Americans aren't willing or able to fulfill their responsibilities as engaged citizens, despite claiming to be what passes for "patriots" these days.
DeleteHoly Crap, Batman! I just read this quote from Roger Ailes, defending the decision to air a "rebuttal" half a day before the speech:
ReplyDelete“Our viewers are very unlikely to sit through Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. Airing the rebuttal beforehand gives them a sense of what they would have thought was reprehensible about it.”
In other words: "we are reinforcing the unfounded beliefs of people too stupid or lazy to actually know what they are talking about".
That, in a nutshell (pun intended) seems to be Fox's business plan though, doesn't it? It is just so seldom you hear them come right out & say it.
Bruce
Yep, that is the faux news business model. A nutshell.
DeleteThat quote was from the made-up Borowitz Report, which is h-u-m-o-r. The hint is that the GOP rebuttal really didn't go out until after the President's State of the Union speech. Don't get me wrong, I think Faux Noise is reprehensible agitprop and Ailes is a modern-day disciple of Goebbels, but it wasn't a real quote.
DeleteI read the Borowitz Report and found it to be such credible satire, I had to check its veracity. As a result, I chuckled through the Rubio delivery of the prebuttal as I compared it to the Report. Very funny.
DeleteDamn. How do you do it? I played nearly the same exchange of why there is a SOTU in my head with an imaginary person- at least 2 days before I read this. Do you read my mind? That's okay, you write better than I do. Many of those who demand "read the Constitution" haven't or at least haven't in a good long while. Which is why my copy is right here on my desk.
ReplyDeleteI'm missing something in the Right wing's opposition to a minimum wage increase. If a business is properly operated there are no "superfluous" employees. A businessman can't let needed help go. Seems to me that the only consequences of minimum wage increases is that the cost of a hamburger or whatever might rise a bit. Que no?
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteRegarding the conversation you reported above:
"Him: Try reading it from the beginning instead of cherry picking!"
I refer you to your own previous post on the new, improved Constitution:
"The Middle Part
(That Nobody Reads Anyway Except for Stupid Liberal Judges who hate AMERICA)"
See?
Cherrypicking = refering to the parts that come after I've fallen asleep trying to read from the beginning.
Bruce
The same businessmen to threatened to layoff employees over Obamacare will probably made more noise.
ReplyDeleteIf $9+/ hr means a livable wage for workers, it also means the same workers can provide for their families without needing various government assistance programs. This is exactly what the far right has been clamoring for -people making it on their own with no support from the government.
Actually, a rise in costs can be a windfall for some companies because profit & loss budgets are written as percentages of revenue instead of actual dollar amounts.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, instead of saying "I want to make $1 on each widget I sell. It costs me $4 to make, so the price is $5", today's companies express each expense as a percentage of revenue.
So, if employee salaries and related expenses are budgeted to be 20% of revenue, then a rise of 15 cents cost per widget (to use Papa John's approximate figure)would result in the widget now costing $5.75, not $5.15. If your company is not losing appreciable sales due to the price increase, you just snagged a 60% rise in profit.
Of course, the numbers I chose really amplify the effect, and most companies would probably adjust their budgets to try to preserve a price point. But if you think this doesn't happen in real life, think back a few years to when crude oil prices rose about 10-15%, gas prices rose about 25% to well over $4/gallon, and oil companies posted record-breaking profits.
Bruce
The thing I find particular astonishing about all this is that there have been several actions taken by the President's administration that deserve criticism (allowing the indefinite detention clause in the 2012 NDAA to pass, for example), and despite this, the Republican Party insists on attacking him and his administration for things that are merely products of their own fantasies, or for things that are actually their own doing.
ReplyDeleteThey have legitimate criticisms they can make about the President, and yet they don't take advantage of that fact. It's almost as if they *want* to self-destruct.
They don't criticize the President for this because they wanted this clause in the NDAA. It passed both Houses easily. Can't do that without full Republican support.
DeleteMy personal favorite quote from the rebuttal. Marco Rubio saying "So Mr. President, I don’t oppose your plans because I want to protect the rich. I oppose your plans because I want to protect my neighbors.". I'm wondering if anyone has pointed out to Mr. Rubio that his neighbors in West Miami are rich people.
ReplyDelete"...just another opportunity for Dear Leader to grandstand ..."
ReplyDeleteThis fellow needs about 6 - 8 months of living in North Korea ... maybe then he'll understand and appreciate (and maybe even -- with understanding this time -- read) your Constitution.
Rubio: "This opportunity – to make it to the middle class or beyond no matter where you start out in life – it isn’t bestowed on us from Washington. It comes from a vibrant free economy where people can risk their own money to open a business. And when they succeed, they hire more people, who in turn invest or spend the money they make, helping others start a business and create jobs."
ReplyDeleteA certain company for which I work: For full-year 2012, XXX’s revenues totaled $115.8 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent, or $5.0 billion, compared with 2011. In fourth-quarter 2012, XXX saw year-over-year revenue increases across all strategic growth areas: 8.5 percent for XXXw service revenues, 15.7 percent for Major Product revenues and 5.3 percent for strategic Other services.
Early this year: XXX lays off thousands of employees [specific numbers nearly impossible to locate as the reduction takes effect this coming weekend]
JackC, my former company, YYY, demonstrated a similar trajectory. I was with them for 4.5 years, during which growth was reported and we were congratulated for being the growth leader for the organization (based in India, but with two NA offices. The NA office where I worked was cited as the greatest contributor to organizational growth overall). As of this past November, the organization laid off essentially half of the workforce, and I was included in the half let go with thanks for our contributions. So Mr. Rubio's narrative, nice as it sounds, ain't necessarily so any more.
DeleteTo this day, I have a coffee cup that at one time (16 years ago) read "Employee Appreciation Day" for a very well known company I worked for (quite similar in fact to XXX above). The cup was one of the things handed out at said day where all employees were congratulated on their "good work" - the very next day, over 10% of the company was "reduced". I don't recall if that was the day I received my notice, or if it was one shortly after.
DeleteThis month, I am required to complete a course referred to as "Building Shareholder Value". It's almost like we are being required to fall on our swords for some Greater Good of the stockholder.
I don't know how much longer we will let this kind of thing go on.
JC
When was the last time you heard a company president say that they existed for their customers???
DeleteNow companies exist only for the stockholders
Publicly held ones yes. Lately, I have been reading a bit about such companies as Costo and "In-n-Out" (what posses them?) Burgers. Sometimes, you can still be a little bit impressed.
DeleteThe downside? Neither of those companies would be able to support the salary to which I have become accustomed....
JC
Some years ago, I worked for the project-oriented networking division of $bigcompany. They wanted more networking revenue, so purchased a very monthly-sales oriented networking company and merged us into said organisation. In the first year of joint operation, we were targeted to do £27 million but made £54 million and won a prestigious award. As a reward, the sales force got a week in the Bahamas. The rest of us, including people like me who designed the networks the salesmen sold - we got a coffee mug saying thank you. I didn't stay very long after that.
DeleteYeah. It was so much easier back inthe good ole days, when they'd just literally work you to death on the Great Wall or the Pyramid, then toss your body into the foundation.
ReplyDeleteAre you quoting a Chamber of Commerce speech or an ALEC proposal?
Delete(The American Legislative Exchange Council buys politicians and writes their pro-business legislation for them.)
Uncertain, Jerry A., if you are responding to CyberYenta (where the reply is) or me (one above) but since I don't see a quote in CyperYenta's post, but I have one, I will assume it is mine.
DeleteI suppose I should ask, which would you prefer? However, since it has been so very long since I have been able to do this, particularly in this specific venue:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Rubio+response+text
JC
JackC- I was replying to CyberYenta with a joke. Humor. Harr harr.
DeleteJerry A - Please accept my apologies for snarkiness... I blame working third shift for above said XXX company and fighting like mad to keep my job these days. People like Rubio make life miserable.
DeleteMy humour sensitivity is nearly depleted after 10 hours over night.
JC
http://despair.com/achievement.html
DeleteI, too, was deeply disappointed in Ted Nugent's failure to launch himself at Mr. Obama. It would have been hugely amusing to see him fulfill his promise to be dead or in jail by next year. Either option works for me.
ReplyDeleteIt felt odd to not have Hillary Clinton there. I would bet SHE enjoyed not being there! She must be exhausted. I am hoping she was at home in her p.j.s watching it on t.v.. And I am hoping she runs in 2016.
ReplyDeleteHaving watched both President Obama's Speech and Rubio's response, I had to ask the same question "What the hell speech was Rubio refering to?". The Tea Party response given by Rand Paul was complete nonsense (not surprising) and a transcript of his speech is not available on any national news site. I guess the national news has decided that the Tea Party is "old news". It is too bad, really. Paul's speech was pure satire gold - rich with oppurtunities to redicule the idiots that still cling to the Tea party.
ReplyDeleteA plague on both their houses.
ReplyDeleteObama and his left are full of great talk but there is little action.
The right is full of half-assed responses and their only action is to oppose something.
Just like a pair of 2 year olds fighting over the broken toy.
Wine Guy