21 Comments

1. biggerbox  •  Feb 24, 2009 @9:15 pm
   

   It’s pretty cool that, when the Sergeant-at-Arms announces “The President of the United States!” that he’s talking about that black man behind him.

   I don’t think the Republicans have really realized that it’s a different world, now.

   Nice to see Justice Ginsburg.

2. biggerbox  •  Feb 24, 2009 @9:44 pm
   

   I like it when I can listen to the President speak and I say “Yes! That’s right! Good idea!” instead of “That’s BULLshit!”

   Liked the part of the energy section where he cataloged how all the other countries of the world are leading in key technologies, some of which we developed.

   Healthcare. Yes.
   Republicans seem to be sitting down for the applause lines here. Hmm.

3. maha  •  Feb 24, 2009 @10:11 pm
   

   I caught the very end. Punchy end, at least.

4. bill bush  •  Feb 24, 2009 @10:11 pm
   

   Refreshing, realistic, responsible, rigorous and right! I may put my yard sign back up!

5. c u n d gulag  •  Feb 24, 2009 @10:22 pm
   

   Well said and done, Mr. President.
   I’m with you Biggerbox. It was nice to feel inspired.
   No mission to mars, half-man half beasts, or mushroom clouds. I felt it was another spoonful of hope at a time where we sorely need it.
   But, for all of the details, the three stories at the end were the true inspiration of what America what once was, an once more can be.

6. biggerbox  •  Feb 24, 2009 @10:24 pm
   

   I thought Mitch McConnell was going to toss his cookies when Obama took credit for the largest tax cut in history… way to co-opt the GOP’s central theme, Mr. President!

   Now I have to see if I can stomach Bobby Jindal.

7. joanr16  •  Feb 24, 2009 @10:36 pm
   

   Nice to see Justice Ginsburg.

   I thought so too. And then I thought: Good lord, she is a teeny, bird-frail little woman. But I hear her prognosis is very good.

   The overarching word I have for the speech is: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. This president respected our intellects. He respected the facts. He respected the accomplishments of innovators, the unexpected generosity of the haves toward the have-nots, the outspokenness of youth who are hungry to learn and become accomplished and generous themselves.

   Every so often during Obama’s speech, I’d remember the smug sneering of his predecessor, the approbation Bush gave to demagogues and phonies, the bald-faced lies Bush told from the podium, and I’d shudder. Sometimes I still feel stuck in that nightmare, and have to shake myself awake.

   Now, let’s get that sh*t done!

8. biggerbox  •  Feb 24, 2009 @10:39 pm
   

   Instead of monitoring volcanoes, we should be monitoring the eruption of bullshit from Bobby Jindal. Yes, the maglev from Vegas to Disneyland is fictional – the bill doesn’t call for specific routes, and Vegas-LA isn’t on the Federal Railroad Administration map of most likely routes.

   I’m still trying to figure out how having a sheriff and a Congressman tell a bureaucrat to shove it is a sign that government doesn’t work. Not that I actually believe there was such a phone call such as he described walking in on, where someone was telling emergency crews not to got out without insurance.

   I really hope his 2012 dreams don’t go far. I find his speaking style incredibly annoying, with EM pha SIS! on very ODD sylLAbles.

   Rachel Maddow is speechless. The idea of invoking government failure during Katrina as an anti-government argument was too much for her. I sympathize. Luckily, I was too busy listening to the odd speech pattern to focus too hard there.

9. joanr16  •  Feb 24, 2009 @10:40 pm
   

   No… half-man half beasts….

   I’d forgotten about that. Bush really did use the phrase “human-animal hybrid” in one of his SOTU addresses, didn’t he? Good grief, what a lunatic. History will be most unkind.

   I have to see if I can stomach Bobby Jindal.

   I bailed on Mardi Gras Bobby. Did he say anything worthwhile? Did he come off as a sorry wannabe? Did he toss beads out to the crowd?

10. Sachem  •  Feb 24, 2009 @10:51 pm
    

    Here’s the Wordle link

    http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/582444/Presidential_Address_To_Congress

11. bill bush  •  Feb 24, 2009 @10:52 pm
    

    Jindal — great hope of the Republicans, HA! Same old recycled Republican distortions, no new ideas. Seemed about as deep as the “Deep Thoughts” guy from SNL of years past — Stuart Smalley, I think.

12. biggerbox  •  Feb 24, 2009 @11:02 pm
    

    Josh Marshall called Bobby J “cringeworthy.” True. And he reminded me of that “pre-existing condition” line. eeew. And what was that bit about his father “lucky for me” made all his payments to the doctor on the installment plan? Like the doc would have put Bobby back in if his dad has missed a payment? Josh says that David Brooks ripped Jindal on PBS – I’m eager to see video – When Cabbages Attack!

13. zeus  •  Feb 24, 2009 @11:03 pm
    

    Knowing that confidence is more than a small part of the problem affecting the economy, Obama has more than done his part.

14. c u n d gulag  •  Feb 24, 2009 @11:09 pm
    

    Joan,
    Right you are! “Human-animal hybrid”…” I was to lazy to google it. Sorry…
    Isn’t it amazing how, after years of idiocy, you get a person with some brains talking to you… And, NOT talking down to you – talking TO you!

15. Amanda  •  Feb 24, 2009 @11:14 pm
    

    I love how Jindal was talking about how we don’t need government intervention because we’re America, and then uses Emancipation as an example. Like every decided one day that the slaves should be free with no influence at all from the government. And if one more Republican acts like the Depression just got better on it’s own, I think I’ll scream.

16. Swami  •  Feb 24, 2009 @11:15 pm
    

    I bailed on Bobby J when he mentioned something about a sheriff. I wasn’t able to comprehend a single word he said… I was thrown off track right from the start where he popped out from around a corner and just started talking. By the time I understood the setting that he was speaking from he had already launched into his speech.

    His teleprompter operator had dialed up the speed of his speech to a rate equivalent to an infomercial, and his gesticulations were out of sync with his speech. All that my brain could process was the thought…Ronco dice-o-matic, Dan Akryod, and curry.

    I admit his age to be a governor is impressive..but aside from that, I was totally unimpressed by him.

17. joanr16  •  Feb 24, 2009 @11:27 pm
    

    I admit [Jindal's] age to be a governor is impressive…

    Yeah, but… Louisiana.

18. Swami  •  Feb 24, 2009 @11:31 pm
    

    Off topic, but note worthy.. Sarah Palin reimbursed the State of Alaska for the cost of travel expenses for her children. Gee, why the change of heart? Did she do what Jesus would have done? I think so!

19. zeus  •  Feb 24, 2009 @11:54 pm
    

    If Jindal is Republican’s best choice for next President, I’d say we have nothing to worry about. Hey, he’ll be lucky to be re-elected governor once he officially turns down $ for extended unemployment benefits – let’s see if he doesn’t have to beef up security after that one.

20. Swami  •  Feb 25, 2009 @1:46 am
    

    Jindal acknowledged that to some degree, Republicans deserved the drubbing they took in the last two national elections.

    “Our party got away from its principles,” he said. “You elected Republicans to champion limited government, fiscal discipline, and personal responsibility. Instead, Republicans went along with earmarks and big government spending in Washington.” But that is changing, he said.

    Oh my,the poor little dears were lead astray.

21. Jeany  •  Feb 25, 2009 @3:17 am
    

    Joe Klein blogged earlier today (too lazy/knackered to look it up) that he used to drop in on Jindal when he was in the Congress, he thought Jindal was smart, and while very conservative, he was intellectually honest. I think Klein was referring to his Sunday bobblehead appearance, that he could no longer consider Jindal to be intellectually honest.

    In a former life, I taught public speaking; the delivery of that speech was awful. I could get particular, but don’t think it would improve on what Josh Marshall said. Sheeeeesh.