-
The Man With the Plan: April 2010
August 11, 2012 | 0 comments
-
A Wonk in Sheep’s Clothing
March 25, 2011 | 293 comments
-
Scapegoating Mitch Daniels
March 17, 2011 | 150 comments
-
Money Train
March 1, 2011 | 109 comments
-
The Race for Comparative Advantage
February 14, 2011 | 87 comments
The Obama Watch
Obama Builds Bridge to Clinton
The State of the Union is 1996.
(Page 2 of 2)
Obama may be the beneficiary of a weak GOP field in 2012 no matter what strategy he employs, but there are several reasons why Obama is in a tougher position than Clinton.
Ironically, Clinton benefitted from the fact that his legislative priorities were largely stymied during his first two years in office, allowing him to later distance himself from a transformational liberal social agenda. By contrast, Obama was very successful legislatively, and the implementation of his policies — most notably, the national health care law — will continue to remind voters that he’s a big government liberal.
Also, it was easier to postpone action on entitlements back in the 1990s, but now our debt is much steeper, the economy is much weaker, and the day of reckoning is quickly approaching with Baby Boomers retiring. As Rep. Paul Ryan put it in his response to Obama’s speech, “What was a fiscal challenge is now a fiscal crisis.”
Back in 1996, Clinton observed, “(W)e do not need to build a bridge to the past. We need to build a bridge to the future.”
Last night, Obama explained that, “We can’t win the future with a government of the past.”
The question facing Obama is whether he can win reelection with a campaign from the past.
About the Author
Philip Klein is The American Spectator’s Washington correspondent. You can follow him on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Philipaklein
Letter to the Editor View all comments (78) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Philip Klein
More Articles From The Obama Watch
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/01/26/obama-builds-bridge-to-clinton
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
H/T to National Review Online
ADVERTISEMENT
Appleby| 1.26.11 @ 6:33AM
Second verse, same as the first. Glad I watched yet another National Geographic special on a massive extinction event 250 million years ago that a woman in a baseball cap blamed on Americans driving SUVs, instead.
Melvin| 1.26.11 @ 7:02AM
I was in the Philippines a couple of years ago, just outside a City called Naga City, and one of the local tourist spots I just happened upon a group of twenty somethings with National Geographic stickers all over the pile of equipment.
I struck up a conversation even though my wife knew my true intentions and she said I was looking for trouble as usual.
But anyway, I asked, "Watcha guys doing?" "Oh we're doing a story on the volacano Mount Isarog.
They were drinking those tropical drinks with umbrellas sticking out of them happily pecking away on their laptops.
I continued the conversation with one kid and told him, "Mount Isarog is a beautiful mountain, lush tropical vegitation, and such," and he replied, "I wouldn't know I haven't been up there."
By the time I was getting ready to do my investigative reporting my wife yanked me and gave me the wifey look of, "I can't leave him alone for five minutes without trying to start something."
I look upon this more as a civic duty of mine than actually causing trouble with left wing rags.
Alan Brooks| 1.26.11 @ 7:18PM
"Second verse, same as the first. Glad I watched yet another National Geographic special"
What does a Canadian know about America?
canuckistani| 1.26.11 @ 7:58PM
From my time there, Canadians know more about the US than probably 95% of Americans. They teach it unfettered in school, aren't afraid of the word democrat or the FF's owning slaves and going to war with England twice over money.
They are the keenest observers of American greatness and excessiveness, and stay well below the radar avoiding the idiot fringe that populate blogs like this.
My friends in Canada know the hysterical opposition to BHO is based mainly on the fear of an exotic in the WH, and a flailing projected self-loathing for the misdeeds of conservative messiahs that have stolen their birthrights from under their god and gun lovin' noses.
I take my screen name from Buchanan calling Canada "Soviet Canuckistan" when they chose wisely to avoid Iraq like the plague.
The dollar is at par with Canada, they are healthier, live longer, have a miniscule crime rate, a robust housing market, a bailout free banking system, and have a near-zero teabagging fringe to be amused and horrified by like we are.
They are sitting on vast oil, gas and other resources, with the US snorting it up like nervous coke addicts looking for a fix.
The citizens are keenly aware of us, and are astonished we have become child-like in our daily discourse.
Instead of building a great nation, we have Utah voting on a state gun and Wyoming or Idaho (who cares) voting on banning Sharia law - when not one case has ever even hit the docket!
That's the sideshow America has become.
Alan Brooks| 1.26.11 @ 9:18PM
Tell it to the dumb Canadian bunnyrabbit Appleby.
She listens to GOP propaganda-- I do not. And one of the hotheads here accused me of stalking her!
You're right, they are wild rightwingers fearing, I guess black guys having sex with white women-- or something else that is eating them up to such an extent they would go ballistic. It is far beyond opposition; again, you are correct, they must fear an exotic in the WH.
Funny thing is: if BO caved in on everything, they would accuse Obama of co-opting them!
Clint| 1.26.11 @ 11:06PM
"Twenty years ago William Gairdner sparked a conservative renewal and inspired a generation with his bestselling manifesto The Trouble With Canada.
Now, in his revised and updated book The Trouble with Canada ... Still!, he rejoins the battle. showing that Canada suffered a disturbing regime-change in the last quarter of the twentieth century, and is now caught between two irreconcilable styles of government: a top-down collectivism and a bottom-up individualism. The country has been corrupted by a dangerous love affair with the former, and has betrayed our founding principles by confusing liberty with equality. The result? A nation of takers, not makers. A regime besotted with high taxation and big government. A welfare culture that rewards laziness; a hug-a-thug mentality that betrays justice; radicalized minorities that cheerfully circumvent our democracy; and foreign aid diverted by recipients for bombs and airplanes. What William Gairdner has to say is not for the meek or faint of heart. His ideas amount to a two-fisted body-blow to the fatted mid-section of a complacent Canada. Readers and audiences may agree, or disagree. But they are obligated to come to grips with the arguments and the facts: Our future depends on it."
http://www.fcpp.org/event.php/300
Alan Brooks| 1.26.11 @ 11:55PM
Canada is no worse a country to live than America, and is less violent.
What you CAN say is that Canada is under America's nuclear umbrella- but that is it; nothing more.
Besides, the GOP is not going to reduce statism substantially. No one is going to fall for that anymore.
Alan Brooks| 1.27.11 @ 12:06AM
PS,
Let's try an experiment, Canuckistani: let's ask them to sign a sworn deposition stating that they honesty think that Canada, Western Europe, and Oceania, are worse than America. they wont do it. They know that what we do is protect them with our WMDs and conventional forces.
Why don't these jingoists say "we protect you with our defense establishment"?
Because it doesn't sound too good, does it? it sounds as if it is a protection racket.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 1.26.11 @ 7:13AM
And it's a bridge to nowhere.
Appleby| 1.26.11 @ 7:24AM
Or a bridge to Been There.
Ned| 1.26.11 @ 12:09PM
How about a bridge to don't go there...?
TommyS| 1.26.11 @ 7:31AM
I hope the American people will see that there is nothing new or original about Obama. He wakes up in a different world every morning and puts on his rose colored glassses to see the world through his ideology.
His speech last night was expected: more spending and more taxes-nothing new or changing the present to effect a better future.
IT'S THE SPENDING STUPID is something he should recognize and stop what he wants to cram down our throats.
grant1863| 1.26.11 @ 9:40AM
It's the government spending not free citizens spending their own money that's the problem. For Obama its the other way around.
alice moore| 1.26.11 @ 7:52AM
Without a significant improvement in the economy and increased employment. It will be tough to duplicate Clinton's success.
The speech was underwhelming.
emo| 1.26.11 @ 8:13AM
can we stop using the word "pivot" That is a new MSM talking point that is as annoying as "game change" or "perfect tide"
emo| 1.26.11 @ 8:15AM
i mean "storm"
emo| 1.26.11 @ 8:15AM
""Just as Clinton took credit for welfare reform that was largely forced upon him by the new GOP majority, Obama declared early in his speech that, “Thanks to the tax cuts we passed, Americans’ paychecks are a little bigger today.”""
Yes, well he wont be able to say that in the next SOTU address as taxes are going to increase on Jan 1, 2012 when the payroll tax cut expires.
JFGlat| 1.26.11 @ 8:28AM
Bill Clinton sure has gotten darker and skinnier.
335blues| 1.26.11 @ 10:36AM
You mean jimmy carter sure has gotten darker and skinnier.
Yes we can| 1.26.11 @ 11:36AM
Did you notice that the one with the actual darkest skin was the Speaker? I thought it was kind of funny. Order of skin color from lightest to darkest, Joe, Obama, John.....
That's just an indication of how uninspiring and boring the speach was for me to notice this. The mixed seating was interesting as well. I think they did it because it would look rediculous for a small section of the chamber to stand and clap, while a huge section just sat there. Spreading the Dems around made it look like there was more participation in the celebatory clapping. There also didn't seem to be any periods of thunderous applause and cheering like there normally is at these events.
I dudded it: Obama's Nationally televised 2012 Election speach No. 2. The first one being the Tuson rally, I mean, memorial.
wodiej| 1.26.11 @ 8:29AM
As one public official said "how can you give a rebate to someone who has paid no bate?" Millions of people get tax refunds every year who haven't paid any taxes. Perhaps if those 50% paid something, we would not have to keep stealing from the wealthy and middle class.
I am tired of Obama's words-we need action to reduce debt and get the private sector going for job creation.
Mimi| 1.26.11 @ 8:59AM
The "O" has a problem getting elected for a 2nd term. They started out SPENDING us in to oblivian, on to monetary "easing" causing us more trouble....Lost the 2010 election with a defeat with a sting!!! All the while looking like adolecents " PLAYING" grown-ups....and now the JIG is UP.... Now what is needed is HARD, HURTFUL, DRASTIC tightening....The New BOYs in TOWN are playing BIG-BOYS (ie RYAN'S speech) and are setting to do iot up RIGHT....Curtains for the DEM'S!!!
Redstateboy| 1.26.11 @ 9:05AM
the General seating ploy was such a disappointment but then I guess it cut both ways. The Democrats who stood for something they liked were lost in the masses.. so I think everyone as a whole was disappointed.
Clint| 1.26.11 @ 9:06AM
Start vetting Conservative Candidates Now.
This Peter Principle Poster Boy can be beaten in The 2012 Presidential Election.
canuckistani| 1.26.11 @ 4:11PM
Too late, you should have been vetting them before the 2000 primaries when Junior was getting the nom.....
Surplus, gone.
Two wars - unfunded
Tax cuts - unfunded
MC Part D - unfunded
Spending and overall size of government? The highest on record at that time, on the GOP's watch.
Scholastic achievement - declined
World reputation - declined
Stock market - crashed
Housing market - crashed
Focus on conservative social engineering fantasies to gain votes - extreme
The current cabal putting their names up for nom in these straw polls will be decimated in the polls against BHO.
If someone is waiting in the wings to steal the nom from this band of nothings, then they better emerge right quick....otherwise '16 is looking more attractive.
All it will take is a few bagger reps to spill the beans that cuts to MC and SS are needed without associated cuts to the DOD to solve the deficit issue will completely lose the centrist vote.
Be wary.
Groad | 1.26.11 @ 9:09AM
If this SOTU comedy rally had been recorded on video it would have to be on Betamax format.
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 9:47AM
Well the verdict is in, and my brothers and sisters at TAS have called "just words" Obozo's SOTU a failure.
I wouldn't know, but this outcome was never in doubt. How could it be otherwise, he & the Ds live in lala land? I did watch Ryan's response however, he's pretty articulate and bright, he just needs to think faster on his feet when talking to the LSM and develop some intestional fortitude, like Sister Sarah.
So besides plagiarizing Gingrich and paying homage to America's first black president, looks like Obozo's levee has run dry.
If the White House cranks up the intern program and Obozo starts to get deliveries direct from Castro, lock up the women, or perhaps the guys as well.
Maybe Obozo should become the next Haney Project and work on his golf game, thinking about his pals the Russians, just like Ike did when Sputnik went up.
Oh wait, Obozo has dismantled NASA and that lefty freak Hansen is too busy solving Anthropogenic Global Warming.
Better stick with golf and the interns.
JP| 1.26.11 @ 9:49AM
The President wishes to build a bridge to the future because the present looks so lousy. If Bush was still President, the MSM would rightly make the 9.5% unemployment and delfating home prices a nightly news event. But not a peep out of them when a Dem holds the office.
But who knows, Obama may be the first President re-elected who governed 4 years with unemployment above 9%.
Clint| 1.26.11 @ 9:50AM
Tea Party Senator Dr.Rand Paul's " Cut Federal Spending Act of 2011" trumps Obama's "Let's Fool The Suckers Again" SOTU Bloviation.
http://bluegrasspolitics.blogi.....dget-plan/
Dustoff| 1.26.11 @ 9:52AM
Oh wait, Obozo has dismantled NASA
_______________________
That's true, but remember. He wants trains.... fast trains too.
OMG....
Steve A| 1.26.11 @ 10:18AM
I swear. These liberals & their choo choo trains are simply amazing. The choo choo is simply not efficient as a mass means of transport in the USA & it never will be, yet they just love to keep stammering on about them.
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 10:41AM
Easy Steve, Didn't you hear what tingly legs Matthews said? Why, even those EYEtalians have a better train system than us. He outta know, tingly legs was there, visiting those peasants.
Steve A| 1.26.11 @ 11:20AM
I went on a trip to Italy & Sicily a few years ago & noticed the following: #1: The place is crawling with those little smart cars & scooters. #2: I had a Sicilian Pizza at an expensive restaurant in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean & it sucked, big time. When I returned home I got in my F-350 & picked up a Primos Pizza & life was good again.
Ned| 1.26.11 @ 12:17PM
Similar experiences: took a trip to Paris... walking down the street and a lovely young lady was walking the other way... as she got closer, I noticed that she was NOT wearing fashionable patterned black stocking, she just had hairy legs under plain stockings... and as she passed she smelled bad through the perfume...
I'm going with Steve, for pizza... can we get you something? How are we fixed for beer?
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 12:55PM
Steve, I can't speak for the Sicilians, but the food in Italy is squisito. And I have had pizzas in dozens of small town sports bars that would make a grown man cry in delight, not to mention the food in any restaurant I've eaten at, all over Italy, save for one dive in Rome.
That said, Pepe's of New Haven has the finest pizza in America that rivals any in Italy. It used to have 2 great pizza places, Pepe's and Sally's.
Anyway, count me in with Ned, I'm a Stella Artois man.
Steve A| 1.26.11 @ 1:30PM
Sauce was lame & they put bacon that was virtually raw on it. The wine was good though so I soon forgot about the pizza.
I say we get Ned & plan a road trip to Pepe's. Ned & I will spring for the pie & you take care of the Stella & we will sit there & solve the country's problems.
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 2:28PM
Pancetta, my dear Steve, it's called pancetta, and it's delicious.
The road trip is on dude, we need Grzmlyk as well. Time and date???
335blues| 1.26.11 @ 10:27AM
Clinton didn't saddle our children with 14 trillion dollars in debt, clinton didn't have 17.5% unemployment, clinton didn't ram through a government takeover of healthcare on a strict partyline vote, clinton didn't steal car companies and give them as a gift to the unions, clinton didn't promise a marxist fundamental transformation of America. No, Mr. obama, you're no clinton. And you're no fdr either. It is pretty obvious what you are though- the second coming of jimmy carter.
Nunya| 1.26.11 @ 12:23PM
That's an insult to Carter. While I think Carter's an inept dolt that's been losing his mind, I've never seen anything to make me think he's a Marxist as our current Idiot-in-Chief is.
Ken (Old Texican)| 1.26.11 @ 10:28AM
Same ole' ! Same ole'!
Reading here today, I'm glad I skipped the speech, though I did watch Ryan's rebuttal on video this morning.
Please, never underestimate Mr. Ryan because he is not a fire-breather. His plan is a fire-breather, and Mr. Ryan himself must reflect his district.
Heh!
The folks up there try very hard to be soft spoken.
canuckistani| 1.26.11 @ 8:07PM
Go Packers!
Louis Jenkins| 1.26.11 @ 11:35AM
Folks, I'm surprised someone hasn't mentioned Obama's rise in polling numbers. 54% approval rating now I believe before his address, probably bigger now after the speech. The man sure lives a charmed life. Make sure Bush's taxes stay in effect, and ram through every forsaken leftover piece of legislation in a lameduck congress, and the world begins to love him again. He re-hashed the Clinton administration's policies, so remember folks, go to the tried and true play book when all else fails. The world will love you for it. I knew it, he knew it, and most of you probably knew it too.
Louis Jenkins| 1.26.11 @ 11:37AM
PS. And remember, its not what you do, its what you appear to do. This person is not through with the USA yet!
SpiralArchitect| 1.26.11 @ 4:32PM
B.O. will never be through with the USA as long as there is any USA reamining. Granted he is doing his best with the elimi-Nation.
RCV| 1.26.11 @ 7:12PM
The numbers will only continue to go up as the economy improves in the coming two years. And the President will be decisively reelected. None of the GOP candidates on the horizon is positioned to beat him. Paul Ryan's response last night was well presented and well argued, but it was only because he failed in his first address to a national audience to actually lay out the kind of budget cutting he has in mind. Once the public fully understands the specifics of his proposals on social security, medicate and other matters, the reaction politically will be devastating. Michelle Bachman, in contrast to Ryan, was edgy, hostile in tone, and would be unable to capture anyone but the fervant right true believers.
Clint| 1.26.11 @ 11:53AM
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 31% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -6.
These results are based upon nightly telephone surveys and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. As a result, the overwhelming majority of interviews conducted for today’s update were completed prior to last night’s State-of-the-Union Address. "
canuckistani| 1.26.11 @ 8:10PM
...and in every head-to-head in hypothetical 2012 polls, he beats them all by double-digits. Not one even comes close.
The GOP better get their act together quick, or '16 and Jeb is looking more apparent.
Clint| 1.26.11 @ 9:26PM
"Here's the breakdown among hypothetical Republican presidential candidates, according to Zogby's poll, conducted from Dec. 30-Jan. 3: Obama 40%, Christie 43%; Obama 41% Romney 41%; Obama 42% Huckabee 39%; Obama 41% Pawlenty 38%; Obama 40% Daniels 36%; Obama 45% Palin 38%; and Obama 42% and Thune 33%. "
martin j smith| 1.26.11 @ 12:49PM
It will boil down to this: where the economy will be in 2012 and a referendum: What do the American People really want: Free Market versus Socialism.
All other talk is a bunch of fluff.
canuckistani| 1.26.11 @ 8:18PM
Free market means no bailouts, no stimulus, no subsidies on the prairies....if that what you mean, then identify what essential services you want your muni to cut - cops or fire, pick.
Free market means a floating dollar - and steep inflation curve and an erosion of purchasing power for consumers that make up 66% of the economy.
Is that the free market you are looking for, or just when the meds start to wear off?
Bush 41 initiated the China Most-favored status at the behest of Sam Walton and his ilk. Our trade deficit is huge and our debt to the reds is now in the trillions. Is that the free market you want Americans to live under?
Wake up, what you ask for is possible, but at what cost?
The people will choose as they always with self-interest first.
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 1:13PM
Restore DADT.
During the lame duck session, Obama effectively raped the US military, forcing open sodomy on them. Last night, like a psychopath, he congratulated himself about it.
Congress needs to restore DADT.
And it would also be a good idea to make lame duck sessions of congress illegal.
RCV| 1.26.11 @ 7:07PM
Will never happen. Better get used to it because the country has moved on.
Retched Contemptible Viewpoint| 1.28.11 @ 11:09AM
I don't worry about the silly defense of the nation on abominable sexually perverse matters.
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 1:20PM
Obama said: "Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may make you feel like you’re flying high at first, but it won’t take long before you feel the impact."
So he thinks that government spending is fuel for the economy? What an idiot. Precisely the reverse is true.
But I'd like to point out his favorite figure of speech: the physical metaphor. He uses it constantly (car in the ditch, jet plane, etc) and it is usually worthless. GK Chesterton talks about the problem with physical metaphors in "Orthodoxy". He points out for example the tendency in his time for atheist authors to come up with titles like "Beyond Good and Evil", and notes the stupidity of it because what the author means by "beyond" in that title is "More Good", rendering it "More Good than Good and Evil".
Every time Obama uses one of these physical metaphors, he needs to be called out on it.
canuckistani| 1.26.11 @ 8:22PM
What economics course did you take?
Even the dark lord Milton F. proposed using government investment to jumpstart the economy. Whether it's grants, subsidies or welfare, it's all the same - and it works.
The US at all levels has used government dollars to stimulate commerce for 235 years - there is not a period you can compare it to to test your theory.
Clint| 1.26.11 @ 8:59PM
"While Austrian economists do not necessarily promote economic growth, it is recognized that true growth can only come through an increase in savings and investment by individuals in the free market, determined by how much they want to consume in the future compared to the present. On the other hand, government "investment" leads to either malinvestment or does not turn out to be an investment at all. An increase in government spending leads to an increase in (government) consumption and a decrease in (private) saving and investment. Thus we see Obama's jobs program will distort the market by shifting workers and resources from the private sector to the public sector, toward government ends rather than consumers'."
Mr ED| 1.26.11 @ 2:03PM
Obamesiah may have been channeling Clinton but this speech was a textbook example of the Leftists Standard Operating Procedure - How do I sell the people what they have already said they do not want? The Leftists in political office and media strive mightily to come up with a formulation that will "Sell" those things that are now anathema to the majority of the public. Spending non existent public money like a drunken sailor is now packaged as "investment". Continuing to spend those unsustainable amounts of non existent public money is framed as "freezing" spending. Spewing out even more "stimulus" money - non existent public money that drains investment money from the withering private sector - is packaged as "keeping the economy afloat". Is there anything a Liberal will not lie about in the pursuit of power?
I keep thinking about some of the carefully packaged lies oozing from the professional Left in very the recent past - Taking away the right to a secret ballot in union elections packaged as the "Employee Free Choice Act" comes to mind. Want a moldy oldie? How about the "Fairness Doctrine"? I mean it's only fair that the government determine what the people are allowed to hear on the radio and not the marketplace. After all, government can be trusted to know whats best for us all, right? I'm sure the American founding fathers would agree that the government - whatever government it may be - should always merit our uncritical trust and affection. Right. And the Second Amendment was only about a citizen milita.
Albert| 1.26.11 @ 3:17PM
"In the Clinton-Obama framework, government needs to be cut, yes, but only in a humane way that doesn’t inhibit progress." That otherwise adult humans can believe such garbage is astonishing. It is in fact, government spending that inhibits progress! Reagan was right, government is not the solution, government is the problem. And as long as we elect Bozos like Carter, Clinton, and Obama, who sell this pablum of government spending to "stimulate the economy" to a, frankly, stupid public, we will continue to suffer economically and debt will increase, and there will continue to be nothing to show for all that massive spending. Cut spending. Cut taxes. Cut regulations. Get government out of micromanaging the economy. It doesn't work, it never has worked, and it never will work.
JP| 1.26.11 @ 3:44PM
Obama just won reelection; you heard it here first. The templete is easy. Ryan and co. will be this term's Gingrich. Obama will take the rhetorical "high road" (can anyone say school uniforms and the V-chip?), while his party operatives mass mail to retirees and near retirees that the GOP wishes to strip thier retirement benefits and force them on Gravy Train dogfood (it does make its own gravy, though). Those retirees will be the difference in 2012. All Obama has to do is, well nothing. He will give cliched, meaningless speeches while his goons do the rest.
Dixie Pixie| 1.26.11 @ 3:49PM
One of the Constitutionally required duties a President is required to do is to give a Report to Congress on the State of the Union.
As per Obama's habits, he openly shirked his duties in favor of spewing a fog of platitudes, lusterless pabulum and emotional manipulation.
Obama then invoked the "Innovation Fairy" and the "Green Genie" to cure the economic woes caused by his economic policies.
To complete his avoidance of his duties he then pushed for a continuation of his spending policies rebranded under another name.
At that point I quit watching as I saw no point in being lied to so transparently.
At no point during the speech I saw, did he give a accurate and realistic appraisal of the state of the nation.
In fact Obama did his best to cover up the damage the democrats has caused the nation by proclaiming digressions are actuality advancements and his policies are fixing the economic problems instead of causing them.
I was personally irritated at the invocation of the "Innovation Fairy" spraying magical fairy dust over the economy in the form of targeted "Investments" to politically favored party’s. Has Obama forgotten that he shut down any new off-shore oil production and any new conventional energy production at all. How does Obama think innovation magical fairy dust was going to work without energy.
That is where the "Green Genie" comes in to save the "Innovation Fairy".
Yes Obama has assured us that the "Green Genie"will soon be able to convert sunlight and water in to green energy to power all those battery powered cars.
By 2035 the "Green Genie" will supply all the energy we will need.
Unfortunately Obama has never delivered on any of his promises and never will.
It was the throwing more money at the public sector unions as a support of the "Green Genie" and "Innovation Fairy" where I lost my suspension of disbelief.
There is a reason there is a inverse correlation on the amount of money spent on education and math / science scores.
For generations, the liberals were convinced technology was going to run amok and enslave humanity "Terminator" style.
Therefor technology must be suppressed at all cost as mankind was going to lose its humanity to a machine existence.
Of course the real reason was any dollar spent on technology development was a dollar not spent on the liberal arts.
So for generations the "Green Genie" has been trying to kill the "Innovation Fairy".
Obama must be deliberating lying about his new policies or will not attempt them and claim the Republicans thwarted him.
If he is not, the his Green base will revolt and that is not going to happen.
It is obvious Obama is avoiding his Constitutionally required duties.
Like a squid in trouble, Obama spews a remarkably transparent malicious fog of lies to cover the damage the Democrats are doing to the nation.
This is not what the Constitution mandates.
Mimi| 1.26.11 @ 4:58PM
Heh Dixie... I loved and enjoyed your " TAKE" on the SOTU speech I sat down at 9 pm to watch the fanfare....but fell asleep!!!! Watched ..Paul Ryan's retort this am on tape. Glad I didn't miss much last night!!!
Dixie Pixie| 1.26.11 @ 6:24PM
Greetings Mimi
It is always a pleasure to hear from you.
I am glad you enjoyed my little post.
If I may be so bold , what part did you like the most.
Bill Clinton was considered a excellent liar because one had trouble telling where the truth ended and the lie started.
Obama on the other hand does not care to take that much trouble in the construction of his lies.
Obama acts if history has never existed.
For Obama, history has never existed unless the history is to Obama's fancy.
Obama talks is if he is the fountain of all "Truth" even though he contradicts himself with every paragraph and speech to speech.
Obama acts if being caught in a obvious lie is without consistences.
For Obama, other people have to live with the consistences, not Obama.
As a result Obama lies without thought to the consistency of lies to lies and lies to truth.
Obama's lies are so transparent and so devoid of reality as to compose a alternate reality.
I wondered when he was going to get to the part of the speech where he finances Federal spending with Leprechaun gold.
I fully expect Obama to state he will solve the transportation problems by unicorn powered light rail.
What are your thoughts Mimi.
I await your reply.
PurpleLips| 1.26.11 @ 4:02PM
Perhaps, the President's Kenyan birth certificate will be found. Lord knows it isn't in Hawaii. There's a Pulitzer waiting for the person who finds it. Of course, he will have to go into hiding.
SpiralArchitect| 1.26.11 @ 4:39PM
Yes, two things to be awarded to the 'lucky' sob - both posthemously of course:
Pulitzer & a shallow grave.
Last Nights Misdubbed SOTUS Should Have Been The STFU Speech.
C.K. Amos| 1.26.11 @ 10:29PM
Not sure exactly what bridge he was building and to whom, but it sure wasn't the American citizenry.
But, then, given that he didn't present an SOTU address but his first formal campaign speech of his reelection effort, how could he?
Oh, wait: He's supposed to show that he's a man for all reasons.
Mike Rogers| 1.26.11 @ 11:46PM
Well, Clinton built his bridge, and from the distance, it looks like a shiny trailer home on the river bank! What is more fun is that as you approach along the river bank, the Clinton Library and massage parlor lines up nicely with a 100 year old rusted bridge - you can get a sense of it here:
http://www.travelpod.com/trave...../tpod.html
Furthermore, last time I visited Little Rock, the locals showed that they got the joke - the usual map of downtown shopping and eating places labelled the rusted bridge as "bridge to the 21st century"!!
Yosemeti Sam| 1.27.11 @ 12:18AM
BHO SOTU spiel:
" ... But let’s make sure that we’re not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens...."
As in , say, BHOcares' 500 Billion cut in Medicare " ... on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens ... ?
This LIAR in the Peoples' White House can find himself alluded to by Mark Twain in Pudd'nhead Wilson:
"One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has 9 lives!"
BHOs' lies live on in perpetuity in PEN1 - our Leftoid media.
WAKE UP| 1.27.11 @ 1:34AM
What a sad, dangerous little man Obama is.
Leah| 1.27.11 @ 8:05AM
"a weak GOP field"??? Are you feeling alright? Have you been paying attention to the great GOP personalities on the scene today? There has never been such a strong one in my lifetime and I'm no spring chicken.
RCV| 1.27.11 @ 12:14PM
Please name one who can both get the GOP nomination and beat Obama -- and please provide some evidence. Thanks
Responses Considered Venal| 1.28.11 @ 11:10AM
I don't consider silly 2010 election results on 2012 election matters.
Adidas | 8.11.11 @ 4:41AM
is good
OfficeCarpetCleaning | 12.4.11 @ 11:21PM
Hi! I found your post nice and interesting. Although, it takes time for me to read this article but its worth the read. Thanks.
CarpetCleaningSydney | 12.5.11 @ 3:47AM
Great post!
CarpetCleanerSydney | 12.5.11 @ 3:49AM
This is a very interesting post! I had fun reading it.
العاب | 4.11.12 @ 3:28PM
Not sure exactly what bridge he was building and to whom, but it sure wasn't the American citizenry