State of the Union Address

[open_sketchbook]

Obama just started speaking. He's opened up with some serious military pandering I'm not digging so much, but it segwayed into economy stuff pretty well. Bringing up the post-WW2 economy is a good move, I'm interested to see where he goes with it.

[Crossroads Inc.]

I'm not.

While I support Obama, SOTU addresses have lost virtually all meaning.
They are a great deal of pandering and empty promises. It is close to the election and he shall not risk doing something stupid so more then likely he will play it safe. If he lays out some grand ambitious vision I will of course support it, but I will doubt much will come from it.

[Block]

I think this is actually his best State of the Union so far. Much more confident and authoritative with his statements on his plans. It could be empty words, but we'll see what happens. He also just took a shot across the bow of the Republicans by mentioning Cordray and the Consumer protection agency.

[CaptainChewbacca]

'College should be an imperative'. There goes the utility of degrees in American society.

[Block]

'College should be an imperative'. There goes the utility of degrees in American society.

Meh. He's talking about community college since vocational schools pretty much don't exist anymore.

[Xisiqomelir]

He also just took a shot across the bow of the Republicans by mentioning Cordray and the Consumer protection agency.

Elizabeth Warren should be head of CFPB (and we could all short WRLD) if there were any testicles at all in this administration.

[Count Chocula]

This was quite possibly the best speech I've heard Franklin Delano Roosevelt give. We have a War President with A Plan for The People! I can sleep soundly at night now. Hmm, I wonder how all the 2012 taxes GE will pay now will hit their stock price...mebbe I should go short now and avoid the rush.

[SAMAS]

Anyone else get the impression that the Republican "response" was prepared well before the Address was given?

[SirNitram]

Why was that man tapped for the response? I could feel consciousness being sapped away by his dullness. Or maybe it's because I've heard every single bit of it before. Dozens of times.

[Pelranius]

Anyone else get the impression that the Republican "response" was prepared well before the Address was given?

Though Mitch Daniels seemed pretty convinced about what he was talking about, from what I could see. Still rather boring, both in substance and delivery.

[Surlethe]

Daniels was probably tapped because he is one of the few substantive, moderate Republicans who's prominent in the party. Remember the "truce on social issues" he proposed that got him in trouble with the religious right?

Anyway, I immensely enjoyed the first paragraph of the response speech:

The status of ‘loyal opposition’ imposes on those out of power some serious responsibilities: to show respect for the Presidency and its occupant, to express agreement where it exists. Republicans tonight salute our President, for instance, for his aggressive pursuit of the murderers of 9/11, and for bravely backing long overdue changes in public education. I personally would add to that list admiration for the strong family commitment that he and the First Lady have displayed to a nation sorely needing such examples.

Translation: Fuck Tea Party anti-Obama showboating and fuck Gingrich.

[Slacker]

He also just took a shot across the bow of the Republicans by mentioning Cordray and the Consumer protection agency.

Elizabeth Warren should be head of CFPB (and we could all short WRLD) if there were any testicles at all in this administration.

Honestly, I'm sort of giddy at the possibility of her winning the race for the Senate against Brown and absolutely destroying the Republicans on a daily basis.

[Thanas]

Yeah. Unless, of course, Obama throws her under the bus (again) by not spending enough on the race.

[Rahvin]

For those of us who couldn't watch it live, the transcript for the SOTU address can be found here.

[Thanas]

A few choice passages highlighting what a great idiot he is:

These achievements are a testament to the courage, selflessness, and teamwork of America's armed forces. At a time when too many of our institutions have let us down, they exceed all expectations. They're not consumed with personal ambition. They don't obsess over their differences. They focus on the mission at hand. They work together.

Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example.

"Excuse me while I go down on the military"

My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth.

Dresden says: Fuck you. As do I. Celebating the targeted mass slaughter of civilians?

The two of them shared the optimism of a nation that had triumphed over a depression and fascism.

"While I am proud to preside over the largest rollback of civil liberties since McCarthy."

From now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax. And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay here and hire here in America.

(APPLAUSE)

Third, if you're an American manufacturer, you should get a bigger tax cut. If you're a high-tech manufacturer, we should double the tax deduction you get for making your products here..

"While I oppose any attempt to createe a financial transaction tax, if you are a foreign company, feel free to get shafted by me."

... and to replace teachers who just aren't helping kids learn. That's a bargain worth making.

"I want to end teacher tenure."

And if you're a mortgage lender or a payday lender or a credit card company, the days of signing people up for products they can't afford with confusing forms and deceptive practices, those days are over. Today, American consumers finally have a watchdog in Richard Cordray, with one job: to look out for them.

"I of course made sure Elizabeth Warren was shafted and that this thing is quite toothless."

One of the young men involved in the raid later told me that he didn't deserve credit for the mission. It only succeeded, he said, because every single member of that unit did their job: the pilot who landed the helicopter that spun out of control; the translator who kept others from entering the compound; the troops who separated the women and children from the fight; the SEALs who charged up the stairs. More than that, the mission only succeeded because every member of that unit trusted each other, because you can't charge up those stairs into darkness and danger unless you know that there's somebody behind you watching your back.

"I am going to actually pretend an assassination mission contrary to international law is something heroic to be celebrated"

[Serafina]

Dresden says: Fuck you. As do I. Celebating the targeted mass slaughter of civilians?

And for anyone who doesn't get any outrage about that:
Celebrating the bombing of Dresden (and other german cities) is similar to celebrating the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Celebrating the building of american bombers is similar to celebrating the building of atomic bombs - they served no purpose beyond those bombings.

You can argue that those things were justified and necessary, but they are certainly not worthy of celebration. The deaths of civilians never are.

[Block]

Pardon, but where in there did he say anything about yay dead Germans? He said that he was proud that his grandmother was part of the war effort that helped defeat the Nazis, which he should be. Bombers didn't simply attack civilian targets, they were going after factories where war material was made, air bases, etc. and if you're outraged about that, too bad, your country shouldn't have started the war and slaughtered civilians by the millions in camps. You don't really deserve to feel outraged.

Second, Obama has nothing to do with spending on senate campaigns, he doesn't run the DNC, so this "screwing Warren" would have nothing to do with him. The CFPB also isn't toothless, but whatever.

[Thanas]

Pardon, but where in there did he say anything about yay dead Germans? He said that he was proud that his grandmother was part of the war effort that helped defeat the Nazis, which he should be.

He did not say that. He said "My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth". Best products on earth. He was not only lauding the defeat of fascism (which I have no problem of), he was openly saying bombers were the best products on earth.

Bombers didn't simply attack civilian targets, they were going after factories where war material was made, air bases, etc. and if you're outraged about that, too bad, your country shouldn't have started the war and slaughtered civilians by the millions in camps. You don't really deserve to feel outraged.

You do know that it was the stated aim of the bomber campaign to specifically destroy civilian targets to break the morale of the German population? And I'll bloody be outraged about that.

[Bakustra]

I'm not sure why anybody doesn't deserve to feel outraged about the glorification of the military-industrial complex and its products, let alone the people who actually got slaughtered deliberately by those products to terrorize populations into surrender. If a Guernican/Euskaran/Spaniard were offended by you praising the products of Dornier, Heinkel, and Junkers for their quality (please don't take this as an invitation for an idiotic argument about the actual quality of their products), would you then be so sanctimonious?

[Block]

You do know that it was the stated aim of the bomber campaign to specifically destroy civilian targets to break the morale of the German population? And I'll bloody be outraged about that.

That was one of the objectives, another was to destroy the ability of the German people to make war by destroying all facilities capable of being used for manufacturing war material. That's also not the only thing that bombers were used for there was a lot of bombing of troops on the front lines, defensive facilities, etc. and they were the best bombers in the world at the time, which is what he actually said he was proud of.

[Block]

I'm not sure why anybody doesn't deserve to feel outraged about the glorification of the military-industrial complex and its products, let alone the people who actually got slaughtered deliberately by those products to terrorize populations into surrender. If a Guernican/Euskaran/Spaniard were offended by you praising the products of Dornier, Heinkel, and Junkers for their quality (please don't take this as an invitation for an idiotic argument about the actual quality of their products), would you then be so sanctimonious?

Remind me when Spain or its allies attacked Germany?

[TheHammer]

Pardon, but where in there did he say anything about yay dead Germans? He said that he was proud that his grandmother was part of the war effort that helped defeat the Nazis, which he should be.

He did not say that. He said "My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth". Best products on earth. He was not only lauding the defeat of fascism (which I have no problem of), he was openly saying bombers were the best products on earth.

He wasn't specifically saying that bombers were the "best products on earth". He was saying that the American Workforce turned out the best products on Earth. Harkening to a time when "Made in America" stood for quality. His grandmother's job happened to be on a bomber assembly line. If she worked in an Autoplant, or made light bulbs the same comment would have applied. It was far less a glorification of the war industrial complex, and more about his goal of making "Made in America" mean something again.

[Nephtys]

How could anyone REALLY think that line suggests that he thinks Bombers are the best products on Earth?

"My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth"

This is the equivalent of 'My Mother was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth". He is saying the workforce of the nation turned out the best products on Earth. She just happened to work at a factory that built bombers.

[Kryten]

Remind me when Spain or its allies attacked Germany?

He's talking when the Germans attacked Spain, you idiot.

[Thanas]

I'm not sure why anybody doesn't deserve to feel outraged about the glorification of the military-industrial complex and its products, let alone the people who actually got slaughtered deliberately by those products to terrorize populations into surrender. If a Guernican/Euskaran/Spaniard were offended by you praising the products of Dornier, Heinkel, and Junkers for their quality (please don't take this as an invitation for an idiotic argument about the actual quality of their products), would you then be so sanctimonious?

Remind me when Spain or its allies attacked Germany?

Point flying over your head.

He wasn't specifically saying that bombers were the "best products on earth". He was saying that the American Workforce turned out the best products on Earth. Harkening to a time when "Made in America" stood for quality. His grandmother's job happened to be on a bomber assembly line. If she worked in an Autoplant, or made light bulbs the same comment would have applied. It was far less a glorification of the war industrial complex, and more about his goal of making "Made in America" mean something again.

No, that line is firmly in the context of his speech regarding the role placed in the defeat of fascism.