Oliver watched a different SOTU address last night:
That speech last night said “Even though I am the commander in chief, I have to keep defending my positions and decisions from this group of Democrats. Maybe they have a point. Several, even. That raises the question: what the hell am I doing up here?”
I don;t know what Oliver is smoking on this one, but if anything, the speech was too strident, not too defensive. He called the Democrats out on every single issue.
Sean
yeah, those damn democrats and their weakness on the athletic supplements wedge issue….hah, that’ll show em :)
Slartibartfast
Athletic supporter wedgies? WTF?
Patrick
Oliver is often a few clicks off plumb. That’s OK, we still love him.
James Joyner
He is, after all, like Red Kryptonite to stupid.
And, of course, Bush wasn’t defending himself to the Democrats. He was explaining himself to the American people. Seems like a good idea to me.
Dixie Flatline
That statement doesn’t make any sense. The notion that Bush, as commander-in-chief, should somehow be free from (or not allowed to) defend his positions against the attacks of his opponents is nonsensical.
So is the notion that the mere fact that Bush, as the target of criticism (some valid, some not), should no longer be president.
Of course, I could be interpreting Oliver’s argument (such as it is) incorrectly.
shark
Yeah, he was so defensive….like when he mentioned that the US would never need permission to act in it’s self defense…or when he noted that not making the tax cut permanent would make them responsible for raising taxes…he was so defensive, the Dems booed.
Ksec
His rating was 45%. Thats as low as Ive ever seen a SOTU address. You may have thought it was Gods gift to the country but the regular common people of America thought it was nothing but political. He tried to spin things like they were great and we all know things arent great. Jobs are non existent, poverty is at all time highs, Bankruptcy is at all time highs,Banks are reposessing peoples homes at a record pace,wages are dropping etc etc etc. The people read. They know a con job when they see one. I would think most of you would put the welfare of the country above your ideologys but I guess not. Thats distressing. You dont give a shit about the country-as long as a repub is in office. Sad fellas, really sad.
Dean
This is the problem w/ ranters, you can rebut them, but it takes time, and meanwhile they’re frothing away.
Ksec:
The Federal Reserve Bank of NY, in its Spring 2003 edition, had a write-up on the issue of foreclosures. They noted several things:
1. Home ownership is at an all-time high (68%)
2. That, despite the recession, the housing market remains strong, indicating people are still buying new (for them) homes.
3. That the rise in foreclosures is a TWENTY year phenomena. Moreover, they note that it is limited to a small portion of the home-owning market, and that the biggest reason for it is the extension of housing loans that is “high relative to the value of the property.”
Which is pretty much what you would expect in a bubble economy. Which is what a goodly portion (but not all) of the 1990s expansion was.
Now, what Dubya has to do w/ this, especially as this is a two-decade old trend, you’ll have to enlighten us. Or are you too busy coming up w/ “amusing” email “addresses”?