Well, what did you think of President Obama’s non-State of the Union speech tonight?
With a few exceptions, I thought it was a pretty mediocre effort overall, but perhaps that’s not surprising under the circumstances given the delicate balancing act involved. Specifics (the way Clinton used to do) were lacking and he’s bound to be heavily criticized for that. Amongst other things… Right-wing bloggers were hard at work demolishing the speech before, during and after.
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Looks like Lieberman had a tasty lozenge.
The Republican’s are already lining Obama up as a 1 term President. What a system!
Not to mention those on the fanatical end of the spectrum who want to impeach him! Many of the comments to that “Tea Party” nonsense mentioned on a previous post were pretty far out there on the fringe. And angry… oh so very angry. Lots of ALL-CAPS “shouting” if you know what I mean.
Why would they do this? It’s utterly irrational. He is being baited and then when he grabs the bait he finds it has been poisoned.
He is going to have to start kicking chairs and taking names. It may be the only way he has to stop the political game playing.
Or, he could just adopt a bunch of kittens.
JSPS,
That would work. Obama behaving like Harper. The steely blue eyes, the ads using the words from one Republican to smear a different one.
Hard ball as it is played in the Great White North. Maybe even bringing splotchy the oil spot out of retirement.
I like it.
If he can hold his public acceptance numbers for another month or two the Repugs will see little to be had in heel-dragging. By the way R/T, I just watched the speech again. Mediocre? Who was the last Canadian politician of this calibre?
the democratic party needs to get together and haul lieberman’s smarmy arse out behind the shed for a thrashing.
the thing that seems most unfair about all of this stimulus (ooh baby) is that the taxpayers are being put on the hook, giving over billions to corrupt and inept banks and all of the poor bastards who lost and are losing their homes are left high and dry. presuming that all of the handouts actually work and the economy rights itself, the banks will have been bailed out and will still hold title to all of those homes whose value we can assume will begin to increase once more. cake and eat it too.
Lieberman’s only there because they need his votes. If they get more in the senate – he’ll be gone.
Actually, this was not a State of Union address. Presidents only do that after their first year. It’s more of setting up of his agenda.
If nothing else, it was worth it to watch the Republican faces – John McCain is so angry he lost you can see him scheming to get Obama back.
actually, i think lieberman is still there because there are far more dems that see eye to eye with him than we’d like to think. the republicans will obstruct obama at every turn but they will be joined by a goodly number of his own party. don’t expect any deep investigations or trials for the war criminals that just left office for the same reason that there was no impeachment during their reign. i’ll be looking for significant movement on issues like the rights of detainees/prisoners of war, habeas corpus and we’ve already seen obama roll over on domestic, warrantless surveillance. i’ve looked at some of the big yankee left sites and they’re all rolling on the floor cooing and making squee over what amounts to a minimal content, maximum platitude address by obama and a truly dismal and pathetic response from jindal.
MoS — Who was the last Canadian politician of this calibre?
None that I can think of in my life. It goes without saying that he’s a truly gifted politician and a wonderful orator. By comparison, our “leaders” are an uninspiring bunch of third-rate hacks.
When I said “mediocre” that was compared to others that he’s made. I’m not rating him compared to others because he’s on a whole different level.
PSA — I think you’re being overly harsh. Geez, the guy’s only been in office for little over a month! I think that after the long, dark years of Bush, there’s a lot of pent up demand for change and impatience things aren’t moving faster or dealing with the issues you’ve raised. I’d certainly like to see more details on this administration’s plans and more of a desire to right the wrongs of the past 8 years. I’d love nothing more than to see Bush, Cheney and their senior officials hauled into court on a whole range of criminal charges. But… not likely to happen.
well perhaps i am too harsh but the not likely to happen part of things is a big problem. the stimulus idea is something i don’t trust as far as i can throw a fat pig like limbaugh. seems to me that the governments of the world are rewarding the grotesque failures that created the damn problems. the people that got screwed by the greedy swine are now going to be footing the bailout bill into the hazy mists of the far future and their plight remains unaddressed.
obama’s administration has declined to move away from the bush policy on prisoners in afghanistan, pooped on fisa thus ensuring that the bush surveillance society continues and i await reassuring news as regards human rights, torture etc. in all honesty i would love nothing more than to have my doubts and suspicions trounced though i fear i must return to your phrase… not likely to happen. the villains that looted the coffers, committed mass murder and crimes upon crime will walk free.
thank gawd barry can deliver an eloquent speech. if it is too too early to cut a harsh critique, maybe it is too early for breathless and lauditory praise as well. i don’t know, at this point in history i don’t trust any american politician, no matter how well they say so little.
People are right to be skeptical. But it’s early days yet.
Who was the last Canadian politician of this calibre?
Brian Mulroney. Seriously. If “calibre” is meant as a measure of real, tangible achievement.
I liked the speech, mostly because he promised every single thing that Jed Bartlett and The West Wing always wanted to in 7 years of TV.
And in only one speech! And apparently he’s going to do it ALL right away!
Like I tweeted, he really is like a president + unicorns! And puppies! And sunshine!
Then again, I’m a little concussed, so what the hell do I know?
I think Obama’s oratory is on the mediocre side too.
Other than his excellent annunciation, when he’s speaking casually his speech is quite halting when he’s searching for the words. No acerbic or humorous quips. Maybe he’ll get “folksy” on occasion for humour.
The best orators were the ones that could shoot from the hip and give quotes that wouldn’t be forgotten. Churchill, he’s not.