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State of The Union Blah Blah
Jan 24th, 2012 | 14 responses
This is a repost of my commentary from last year on the State of The Union speech. this year of course we will have a slightly different take because of the campaign aspects to the address. Both President Obama and Governor Daniels are likely to add more rhetoric and a bit more of a partisan tilt to their speeches. But overall I think the commentary stands
As we move closer to the time for the State of The Union speech I am starting to wonder about whether it is really worth debating to discussing. Don’t get me wrong I understand that is something of a state occasion for us and that the President will propose an agenda while the loyal opposition will respond with their own ideas
But at the same time we all already know pretty much what the agenda will be. I don’t mean any disrespect but it seems to me these speeches are sort of like those cartoons where they show what your dog or cat hears when you talk to them
Blah Blah Blah *America* blah blah blah *unity* blah blah blah *coming together* blah blah blah *shared sacrifice* blah blah blah *comments to stoke the base* blah blah blah *proposals we already know about that won’t go very far* blah blah *ignoring important issues because they make waves* blah blah blah
And this year blah blah blah *political red meat for the campaign* blah blah blah *slanted attacks on the other side* blah blah blah.
And so on.
We’ll spend time tonight debating about how well or badly the President did, with your reaction probably a reflection of whether you support them or not. Hard core Democrats/liberals will find it the greatest speech in human history while hard core conservatives/Republicans will speculate how he avoided drooling all over himself. The reverse will be true of the response (or responses if you give the Tea Party status, which I really don’t)
We will also debate the issues, with the same people taking the same sides and nobody getting very far in changing minds. Indeed when looking at debates on issues like the SOTU I am reminded of a comment about the New York Legislature (whether in reference to our own debates or what will happen with the proposals in Congress itself).
They speak very fast and very loud, and nobody listens to anybody else, with the result that nothing ever gets done
Don’t misunderstand me, I do recognize the importance of political debate and that this is a chance to set the agenda. But when we all already know what is going to be said and when there are many other important issues that don’t get addressed, it kind of makes you wonder what the point is.
If nothing else this will provide us with a slightly different form of debate, as I am sure my colleagues will provide plenty of standard SOTU threads (and indeed it is likely that despite this post I will do so as well).
14 Responses to “State of The Union Blah Blah”
Well I’m pretty sure we can write the reviews for the speech now. The GOP will hate it, the left will love it, the far left will whine about something stupid and/or totally impractical they didn’t get out of it, and all the GOP nominees will trash it even if Obama comes up with a solid plan to lower taxes, show a budget surplus, fix the economy and give every kid in America a potty trained puppy.
Man I wish the election was next week so we could get this over with. I don’t think I can take another 10 months of this.
Ban the State Of The Campaign (oops Union) live audience, just as the debates (see other posts) should do.
You want to tell me the SOTU, feel free without yahoos in the audience screwing up my attention span.
So Warren Buffet’s secretary will be sitting next to the First Lady, need I say more.
BTW: if you can reread Walter B’s funny/great post on the SOTC address.
Isn’t the audience Congress?
Oh Contraire……
This is a VERY important, annual and required, State of the Union address.
What will be most interesting is the looming question: Will the Republiconian do nothing congress sit with their parochial little mouths shut, or will they again blurt out obscene remarks and make loud, but low class boorish comments against this great President, in their glowing jealousy of the black man whom has clearly out classed them hand over Fist?!
I can’t wait to see the ornery little worms squirming in their ill-gotten seats!
HA!
I’m right there with ya duck! Get congress out of there, all they do is contribute to the brats in a sandbox atmosphere.
Agree dduck, get rid of the live audience and have the president sit behind his desk. It’ll be done in half the time with no BS cheering, booing or shouts of “you lie!!”.
slamfu, yes Congress is the intended audience and I’m pretty sure they have TV sets.
A revolution against revulsion. Next we cut the campaign season to 4 months and publicly funded runoffs.
Whoa!
President Obama is bringing back mandatory high school and pinching colleges to cut tuition costs!
YES!
I like the idea of lower tuition but how do they cut costs without cutting any salaries or benefits ?
The unions will never allow any cuts, we know that.
I have a suggestion to cut the costs on SOTU. Do what President Jefferson did. Send a letter, and stop making speeches.
The only reason Americans tune in is to see the drama. Stick the Pres behind a desk and know one watches. We need a SOTU reality show…then maybe people will really care.
Survivor SOTU!
It is the ultimate “reality” show, a bunch of people that don’t want to be there, the berated ones, and the ones that enjoy being there to watch the roasting of the other side.
Let everyone with access to a TV watch it without the soccer mentality, and sometimes disrespectful outbursts, of the in-house, live, audience. Me,I’d rather watch Seinfeld reruns.
Private-College Presidents Getting Higher Salaries
As soon as these guys get there salaries capped at 250K plus expenses, we’ll talk about cutting the teachers and administrative staffs salaries…
I am tired of the little guy getting a haircut while the bigwigs get pay hikes whether or not they succeed and golden parachutes when they fail.
An let’s not forget these guys: Football Coach salary, an even more useless bunch than the presidents…
BTW here is a chart with average salaries for College Professor:
Average Faculty Salaries by Field and Rank at 4-Year Colleges and Universities, 2010-11, not exactly rolling in the dough, now are they?