Post: #1

Open thread to discuss Tuesdays state of the union address. We know its all talk by the President. His goals blah blah blah. I hope he addresses immigration. After four years of no progress or even an attempt to address the problem, hooefully he has some type of plan.

Other than that, social security, defict reduction, resolution to the budget, gun control, etc is all hot air. Congress will not come together on any major issues for a while. No real hope for change. All you can do is try to hide your asshole from the govt as much ass possible.

Post: #2

i wouldnt be surprised if he tries to sell us on climate change.

Post: #3

Every State of the Union is a ramble of hot hair.

Remember his "This is America's Sputnik moment" speech?
When was that 2009?

Post: #4

He didn't touch the economy in his inauguration address so I expect him to at least drop some hot verbal bricks on the forthcoming cuts he will drop with his next budget. Congress - on both sides - have been stalling on the inevitable, that both sides have to figure out how they are going to sell out the American people on entitlements and services. I expect Obama to drop tough rhetoric on this because he really has no other choice. he has a clear sail to bring in some "fiscal reform" so its best to set that tone now. I also expect Obama to drop strong rhetoric on Africa, the strongest we have heard since the fairly tales of Bush on Niger yellow cake way back in 2002.

The State of the Union address IMO is the only time when the President loosely tells the truth, reading between the lines of what is said its once of the few times you can link somewhat the hot hair to the policy they are trying to implement. Grand promises - both empty and kept, are always made, but it is as much as a legacy stump as anything else and the POTUS can't resist trying to drop a steaming gem that will forever be immortalized - for better or for worse.

Post: #5

Interesting Kosko, is the potential Africa rhetoric to fight the growing influence of China on the continent?

Post: #6

I'm not gonna let some silly speech ruin my Mardi Gras. I need to work my way through my whiskey stash before Wednesday when I quit drinking until Easter.

Post: #7

(02-10-2013 11:17 PM)EisenBarde Wrote:  I'm not gonna let some silly speech ruin my Mardi Gras. I need to work my way through my whiskey stash before Wednesday when I quit drinking until Easter.

That reminds me, lots of Catholic fish fry events will be held soon. Can't wait to get some decent fish 'n chips on this side of the pond!

...

Random, but if I remember correctly, George Washington once gave a two minute State of the Union address because of some problems with his teeth.

Post: #8

Post: #9

It will have a bunch of rhetoric about gun control, the environment and gay rights. Immigration will be focused on as well (DREAM Act again unless they revamp that). Legacy-building indeed.

@Kosko: This guy has the momentum and the ball. I think he will keep pushing for what he wants....HARD. What does he have to lose? He is running circles around the Beta-like opposition and has a complicent/favorable news media. He will have tough words for the opposition and will push his agenda as far as he can. The sequester situation is looming large, so he will take the opportunity to kick the House in the nuts on that.

I am not sure on Africa. There is some action there in Mali and Yemen, but it is still too hot with Benghazi. Unless he is dedicating more assets to Mali to help the French, I am not sure he will touch it.

He will talk about Afghanistan and remind everyone that the troops are coming home in 2014, which is a good thing really. The Afghanistan operation has been treading water for some time with no end in sight. It is time for Afghanistan to stand on their own and for Pakistan to stop getting paid.

Post: #10

I expect him to push drone strikes on Americans.

Post: #11

Regarding State of the Union addresses, apparently they've been dumbed down over the course of U.S. history.

Here's a cool graphic showing the decline in the vocabulary and level of writing in State of the Union speeches since the founding.

They use the Flesch-Kincaid grade scale, according to which Obama's speeches are at a 9th grade level. George W. Bush's and Clinton's come out just a little ahead at the 10th grade level.

By contrast, early presidents from the late 18th and early 19th century were speaking with vocabularies indicative of a post-graduate education.

It's kind of a stupid measure since it's just quantifying how many words and how many big multisyllabic words are used in a given number of sentences. You could argue it shows a shift to a simpler, more plain-spoken, and less ornate form of English. Fine. But it seems to me to still show American politicians have gotten dumber over time.

Post: #12

It is true, Therapsid. I have been in charge of and written a number of reports for DOTs and other agencies, especially early in my career. We needed to keep our reports on an 8th grade level to make sure the folks who had the money and made the decisions could understand the report. Yes, we would produce a technical memorandum, shove it in the Appendix, and write a report and executive summary for the "less tech saavy."

@Big: Ha ha ha! Duck, baby, duck! I am not that far from the Canadian border; maybe I should make a run for it.

Post: #13

That's a lot of very powerful men and women in that room, but they're all oh-so-dirty.

I suppose I would take an active interest in it if I felt it my voice would be heard or I had a job affected by the political landscape, but I don't feel that way.

Post: #14

We don't need bigger or smaller government, we need smarter government!" -Barack Obama, every State of the Union Speech he made

Post: #15

Post: #16

Ha ha! I saw that. Would have been awesome if he burped after taking the swig! He also wiped the sweat from the right side of his face twice (at least). Welcome to the big time, Marco!

Post: #17

(02-12-2013 10:04 PM)Major Tom Wrote:  We don't need bigger or smaller government, we need smarter government!" -Barack Obama, every State of the Union Speech he made

This is the thing that has always bothered me about Obama. Politics is about making difficult choices and accepting trade offs. You can raise taxes to lower the deficit or you can lower taxes to let people keep more of their money. You can expand entitlement spending to allow the government to do more or you can cut entitlement spending and live with the government doing less.

Yes, there are a few common-sense reforms that can make government "smarter," but they won't even get us close to where we need to be. We have to start making concrete choices about whether we want a small, competent government that takes care of the basics and leaves everything else to the states and to private markets or we want to be a full-fledged social democracy. The idea that we can magically have it both ways is foolish and Obama is one of the chief enablers of that fantasy.

Post: #18

(02-12-2013 02:30 PM)Therapsid Wrote:  But it seems to me to still show American politicians have gotten dumber over time.

obama may speak like a 9th grader in this context (live on tv, watched by average americans) but remember that he was president of the harvard law review and taught constitutional law at the university of chicago law school.

regardless of political affiliations, anyone who has studied law will recognise that this man is a genius. when i studied law, every law professor could comfortably speak for 3 hours without notes, could recall and analyse for the class hundreds of complex cases, and could obliterate even the most intelligent and well prepared of uppity law students. you only reach the position of professor by dominating law school as a student - taking out prizes, publishing original essays, winning prestigious competitions.

all of these law professors were extremely erudite, articulate and sophisticated in their use of the english language. obama would be no different.

Post: #19

On the immigration issue, I recommend vdare.com in order for a more thorough understanding of the pros and cons of immigration. Immigration is breaking the back of many state budgets, and creating a whole new underclass who will soon be voting for increasing amounts of extortion.

As for green initiatives, they're stupid, don't work, expensive and anything we do will be nullified by Chinese and Indian pollution anyways. A better way is to tax imports from countries that pollute a lot (like China). It would work even better if the EU joined in on such a tariff.

And of course, no talk about the devastating effect the current monetary and fiscal policy is having on the economy. While the narrative will be controlled by the progessives and will paint Obama to be a success, he will end up being far worse than Bush.

To be fair, I applaud his idea to lower corporate taxes but I can't stress how bad an idea a minimum wage is.

Obama doesn't seem to do too well if he doesn't have a teleprompter. He sounds like any other well-read high-IQ individual. Very good. But exceptional?? Nah. Still better than Bush though.

Post: #20

(02-13-2013 07:59 AM)babababalot Wrote:  all of these law professors were extremely erudite, articulate and sophisticated in their use of the english language. obama would be no different.

Or he was an affirmative action candidate.

Show me these original essays, competition victories, and instances of him talking shop for hours on end and more people like me might actually find him to be the bright individual so many people think he is as opposed to George Soros' erudite enough black enough white liberal whisperer.

Post: #21

(02-13-2013 10:04 AM)EisenBarde Wrote:  

(02-13-2013 07:59 AM)babababalot Wrote:  all of these law professors were extremely erudite, articulate and sophisticated in their use of the english language. obama would be no different.

Or he was an affirmative action candidate.

Show me these original essays, competition victories, and instances of him talking shop for hours on end and more people like me might actually find him to be the bright individual so many people think he is as opposed to George Soros' erudite enough black enough white liberal whisperer.

Is there some reason that you question Obama's credentials, but not every other politician's?

Post: #22

(02-13-2013 07:59 AM)babababalot Wrote:  

(02-12-2013 02:30 PM)Therapsid Wrote:  But it seems to me to still show American politicians have gotten dumber over time.

obama may speak like a 9th grader in this context (live on tv, watched by average americans) but remember that he was president of the harvard law review and taught constitutional law at the university of chicago law school.

regardless of political affiliations, anyone who has studied law will recognise that this man is a genius. when i studied law, every law professor could comfortably speak for 3 hours without notes, could recall and analyse for the class hundreds of complex cases, and could obliterate even the most intelligent and well prepared of uppity law students. you only reach the position of professor by dominating law school as a student - taking out prizes, publishing original essays, winning prestigious competitions.

all of these law professors were extremely erudite, articulate and sophisticated in their use of the english language. obama would be no different.

What constitutional law did he teach ?

I may not be american but I don't recall the constitution ever giving the president the power to drone strike americans. Or to go to war without congressional approval ie. Libya. Where in the constitution does it say Obama can force you to BUY healthcare ?

Point being he is not what everything thinks he is. A constitutional scholar is probably the furthest thing besides maybe a nobel peace prize winner.

So it is not surprising to me that he doesn't speak higher than an 8th grade level.

Post: #23

(02-13-2013 07:59 AM)babababalot Wrote:  

(02-12-2013 02:30 PM)Therapsid Wrote:  But it seems to me to still show American politicians have gotten dumber over time.

obama may speak like a 9th grader in this context (live on tv, watched by average americans) but remember that he was president of the harvard law review and taught constitutional law at the university of chicago law school.

regardless of political affiliations, anyone who has studied law will recognise that this man is a genius. when i studied law, every law professor could comfortably speak for 3 hours without notes, could recall and analyse for the class hundreds of complex cases, and could obliterate even the most intelligent and well prepared of uppity law students. you only reach the position of professor by dominating law school as a student - taking out prizes, publishing original essays, winning prestigious competitions.

all of these law professors were extremely erudite, articulate and sophisticated in their use of the english language. obama would be no different.

I give Obama props on this as well he is smarter then he acts. He does not wrote shit he says his frame and approach, how be sells it is always top notch.

Obama and Reagan probably the best two at selling bullshit to Americans. FDR was the best a speaking to the common man, he spent a lot of time breaking this down over radio each week so regular Americans could understand better, I believe this is where the "weekly address" was morphed out of.

Post: #24

(02-13-2013 10:30 AM)j r Wrote:  Is there some reason that you question Obama's credentials, but not every other politician's?

Who says I don't? I never said Bush is smarter than Obama, I never said Clinton is smarter than Obama. I said that for someone that half the country seems to think is so damn clever, there is a clear dearth of evidence to prove it.

I have to show copies of every professional credential and college transcript I have in order to get any above minimum wage job, why shouldn't the President?

The burden of proof lies with those who make the claims.

Post: #25

(02-13-2013 12:54 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  

Don't understand the big deal with that at all