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Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

The State of the Union Address – Updated with Sarah’s reponse :)

I volunteered to do a live blog ’cause our aged member across the pond claims it’ll be past his bedtime.  I’m posting it a bit early to give folks a chance to settle in and discuss what they want the president to say or not say.

The president steps up to the podium sometime after 9:00pm ~ after the entrances by the cabinet and whatnot.  And after he’s gladhanded members of Congress who reach out their hands like teenaged groupies (I hollered like a 12-year-old when I saw him during the primaries so I can say that). Just, please, no Bachmann/Bush-style kissing allowed.  Blech!

Then the president will stand at the podium for five minutes saying, “Thank you!  Thank you!” while members of the Democratic Caucus cheer and Republicans … don’t.  Then all with settle down and the president will begin his address.

Oh, wait…nope.  Then the president gets formally announced again and we start the whole “Thank you!  Thank you!,” cheering and ignoring part all over again.  So, at about 9:30ish the president might begin his address.

Things to think about:

1) Will Michelle Obama freak everyone out by daring to go bare (arms, that is)?

2  Will Joe Wilson dare to “speak up” during the president’s address?

(Apparently, he’s promised to behave because he’s a “gentleman.”)

3) If #2 above happens will the president say what he’s really thinking?

4)  Will Kanye show up to vindicate himself?

Seriously, though, this is an extremely important speech the president is about to give.  I’m sure it will be parsed word for word in the hours afterward.  We’ll argue over what certain parts meant; we’ll be ticked that he didn’t use certain words (public option) or used words we never want to hear again (bi-partisanship).  There’s no doubt there are high expectations for this speech…will President Obama be able to meet them?  We’ll find out.

If you’re looking to watch online here are a couple of options:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/live

http://www.cnn.com/video/flash…

Anyone check FNC last night?

She even made up a new word.  See if you hear it.


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 150 Comments

150 comments

  2. Peter Jukes

    Got my slippers on, cocoa warm, zimmer frame edging towards the bed… I might miss this thanks to my dementia and dribbling, but I’ve got to say.

    Great start to this live thread, Elisabeth. I’m hooked already with the graphics, videos and prelude.

    Whether I can survive another post 2 a.m. bedtime is another matter entirely though.  

  3. HappyinVT

    Good afternoon,

    At 9 p.m. EST tonight, President Obama will deliver his first State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. Here’s what you can expect:

    The President will clearly articulate the steps we need to take to continue to rebuild our economy and jumpstart private sector job creation. He’ll talk directly to you about restoring security for middle class families after a lost decade of declining household income, eroding retirement security and escalating health and tuition costs. And he’ll detail his efforts not only to better protect you and the American people at large, but also to restore America’s alliances and standing in the world.

    Right after the President’s address, we’ll be open for questions on WhiteHouse.gov. So watch the President live at WhiteHouse.gov and stay tuned for a live chat immediately following with some of the President’s top policy officials.

    As you know, when the President took office a year ago, he faced an array of historic challenges: an economy in freefall; job losses averaging almost 700,000 a month; a middle class under assault; two wars and badly frayed global alliances; and a staggering $1.3 trillion budget deficit.

    Tonight, the President will address the progress we’ve made to rescue the economy, rebuild the middle class, and restore our standing and leadership around the world. In addition, he’ll outline what’s needed to create a new foundation for prosperity and deliver on the change you and all Americans expect and deserve.

    Tune in to WhiteHouse.gov tonight at 9 p.m. EST to watch the President’s State of the Union address, then stick around to chat with some of his top policy officials.

    Thank you,

    David Axelrod

    Senior Advisor to the President

  6. sricki

    Thank you.

    I know some of what I want him to say, though I kinda doubt it will be said. Ah well. I will know what I like/dislike when I hear it.

  8. HappyinVT

    Rahm holding up progress.  Lisa Jackson looked like she wanted to give him a shove.  Peter Orszag is nerdy hawt.

  9. DTOzone

    he says Roosevelt was able to be very partisan and divisive because by the time he took office, the Great Depression was four years old and Republicans had been forced to take full responsbility for it and Democrats were clean.

    Not the case this time as the bulk of the recession occured under Obama’s watch and all of it under a Democratic Congress, so whether true or not, conservatives were able to push some of the blame on him.

    He also said when Democrats were trying to pass the New Deal, the country had no middle class, the Democrats were creating it. We were still in a position where the country was getting powerful. Now there is a middle class and we’ve all been raised to believe we are the best country in the world, #1 on everything (thanks to the Democrats of the past) and because of it, it’s hard for the Democrats now to convince Americans we need substaintial change.  

  12. sricki

    when people actually say “yayyyyyyyyyyy” about something — even if it’s a pretty “yay” thing, like, “Here’s the president!”

  13. sricki

    that he needs to do… is remind everyone of how bad things WERE.

    Right now, a lot of people are letting Obama own Bush’s failures. Don’t think we have fought back against that perception hard enough.

  16. HappyinVT

    was at the last “SOTU” because she needed a new school.  Despite Sanford’s best efforts she’s getting a new school (although she’s in high school now, but you get the point).

  22. Peter Jukes

    Not punishing banks, protecting the economy… guarding against the same recklessness that almost brought down our economy.

    Great stuff…

    The lobbyists are trying to kill it…

    We can’t lose this fight.

    I should be asleep by now. But I’m gripped.  

  28. Peter Jukes

    I’m almost in tears. I’ve spent the last few months defending this guy and his policies from Liberals, yes, liberals…

    It’s incredible. This is the best President I’ve heard speak in my nearly 50 years. And his own party are constantly denigrating him and his policies.

    I don’t fucking understand

  31. Shaun Appleby

    That he addresses himself to Repulican obstructionism with three syllable words and very simple sentances?  He understands their constituency, apparently.

  38. sricki

    And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that sixty votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well.  Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership.

  47. DTOzone

    because Obama called out the Supreme Court, apparently it wasn’t “appropriate”

    Cause, you know, Presidents shouldn’t bash SCOTUS decisions…except, of course, Roe v. Wade.  

  48. GrassrootsOrganizer

    I felt like I heard most of it before, many many times, and nothing has come of it.  In other words,  while I might have been bamboozled in the past by it, this was nothing but 90 minutes of well crafted hot air.

    I’m sick and bone tired of partisan calls for an end to partisanship.  And how many times am I supposed to applaud the end of DADT and um, it’s still there?

    I feel like I’m the kid and the emperor has no f-ing clothes.  Really.  

    The economy around me in Michigan is in ruins and I still see no tangible evidence of anyone giving a damn.  I can’t get a coherent explanation of a healthcare bill I’m supposed to want so damn bad even if it’s nothing like what I was promised 18 months ago.  

    And that whole war thingee?  Gee, that’s a bummer.  Why when there were doors to be knocked was the war at least in Iraq endable in a couple months?  How is this war business any different under Obama exactly?  Cause I ain’t seeing it.  Are we still spending trillions on it?  Are kids still dying over there and families being stressed to their limits over here?  Are Blackwater and the rest still cashing in?

    and how about the evil doers on Wall Street.  I was counting on more than a slap on the wrist and a stern look from the president.  

    Here’s what I heard tonight — blah blah blah applause line blah blah blah applause line blah blah blah what the polls tell me you want to hear, Amen

  49. creamer

    thats really all I can take. Hannity has never been anchored in reality and Miss Sarah just repeats the lines they taught her in 08. And whats with her eyes, they looked strange.

    How long ago was her last botox injection, her face didn’t move.

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