Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

T R E 4 5 O N

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

This blog will pay for itself.

Fight them, without becoming them!

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

No one could have predicted…

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Win the future

Win the future

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The catchphrase of tonight’s speech is supposed to be “win the future”. We’ve also got “poised for progress”.

What’s weird is that these are both direct quotations from Mao’s Little Red Book. You think they’d be more careful than that.

Please use this thread only to talk about crazy stuff the wingers are saying about the speech. Use ABL’s thread for your usual Obama worshipping.

Reader Interactions

267Comments

  2. 2.

    Ailuridae

    I wonder how long it took the President to teach Tom Coburn the shake/bro-hug/back slap routine.

  5. 5.

    General Stuck

    Use ABL’s thread for your usual Obama worshipping.

    All praise Obama!! King of the Realm. Lord of the Rift. The Razzuli of Cool!!

  12. 12.

    srv

    WTF? Mao? And I’m to trust these rocket scientists could do the math on the Public Option?

    I can get my crazy on w/o any help from the wingers.

  14. 14.

    Surly Duff

    Awesome, first comment from Blitzer? “The President is not wearing a red tie; its not a blue tie; is it purple? I don’t know?”

    Excellent commentary from CNN.

  15. 15.

    Ailuridae

    @Lolis:

    That was a pretty smooth hand shake though.

    I know they have a lot of personal good will and warmth torwards each other but still

  19. 19.

    Ailuridae

    I’m @srv:

    I’m in Doug’s thread because he is almost from upstate NY. And, as a neo-nazi I feel unwelcome in ABL’s thread.

  26. 26.

    Southern Beale

    Husband and I were just joking about “win the future”. George W Bush style: “You know how we win the future? By SUCCEEDING! And we will succeed by PREVAILING!”

    Sorry but George W Bush was just too traumatic for me to ever get over

  34. 34.

    batgirl

    Okay, Biden looks like he has a man crush. Boehner looks blank, like he is staring off into space.

  35. 35.

    Ailuridae

    @soonergrunt:

    Mebbe. But if one can teach that to Coburn maybe Dick Durbin can teach him macroeconomics.

    I love the president but the assertion the the US has the best colleges is laughably absurd.

  37. 37.

    General Stuck

    They need to put a sun lamp over Boner’s head, maybe he’d quit squirming so much and take it like a man.

  38. 38.

    eemom

    Look at Orange No-Boner’s face….he is fucking DYING for a drink and smoke.

    He’s thinking, “Man, if I knew if I’d have to sit through this shit sober, I’d SO have let Cantor have it….k Barry, it’s been five minutes, time to STFU now…..GODDAMN I need a drink…..”

  39. 39.

    blahblahblah

    I’m reading, “The First Amendment and the Fourth Estate: The Law of Mass Media” by Carter, Franklin, and Wright. It’s assigned for a media law class. I just wanted to say:

    A) Fuck Barack Obama and the bullshit rainbow sled he rode in on. I’m no fan of Firedoglake, but I do agree with many of Jane’s positions.

    B) I’d rather be in a bar sucking on a stiff drink than reading this crap.

    That is all.

  41. 41.

    Lynn Dee

    “Poised for progress” is in Mao’s Little Red Book?

    And is it alliterative in Chinese, do you know? :D

  44. 44.

    Nicole

    Aww, poor Boehner. He didn’t realize that when you sit in the important seats it means you have to look like you’re paying attention. Governing is hard!

  50. 50.

    blahblahblah

    @Ailuridae:

    Leave? Nobody will miss you.

    Sure!

    If you can convince John to personally throw me off this island, you too can enjoy life without my grating personality and wit violating your righteous sense of righteousness.

  51. 51.

    lol

    Obama truly is a monster. Check out these massive cuts to Social Security. Jane Hamsher was right! JANE HAMSHER WAS RIGHT!

    “To put us on solid ground, we should also find a bipartisan solution to strengthen Social Security for future generations. And we must do it without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future generations; and without subjecting Americans’ guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market.”

  52. 52.

    Comrade Mary

    Ha! I’m on my laptop with the streaming version of the SOTU playing in another tab while the tv is broadcasting MSNBC. The delay means I’m getting Obama in counterpoint.

  55. 55.

    Nicole

    Ooh, Boehner no clap for ending oil subsidies.

    And apparently he hates clean energy. I guess his tanning bed can only run on gov’t subsidized fossil fuels?

  57. 57.

    jrg

    I like how Boehner didn’t clap when BHO suggested we stop giving billions in subsidies to oil companies.

  59. 59.

    BGinCHI

    @handy: I fucking love that band. Tiny Little Voices is a great song too.

    Also check out Frightened Rabbit, another great young Scots band.

  63. 63.

    Evolved Deep Southerner

    @blahblahblah: So, uh, sport. Why do you believe we give a fuck what you’re reading or why? I thought that was about to lead into something meaningful. Instead, it’s some whiny ass titty baby bitching about homework.

  70. 70.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @blahblahblah: You’re a very bold and independent thinker, to be typing things. Good for you.

    Now, don’t you have some homework to finish?

  72. 72.

    Davis X. Machina

    Did the president just drop the “foreign oil” dependence meme?

    It’s a tradition. Bi-partisan, 40 years old…. be a shame to see it go. It went to college with Wastefraudandmismanagement. A lot of people don’t know that.

  74. 74.

    lamh32

    Boehner is like my nephew when he’s in church. he shifts an shuffles like he’s uncomfortable when he’s sleepy and trying to pay attention.

  76. 76.

    jl

    I’m recording it, so I can play it backward in slow mo and find out what Obama is really saying.

    I tuned in late, because I am a hopeless dork and turned off the sound as well as the pic (I don’t want no pics, because they, you know who I mean, might put some subliminal something that will brainwash me).

    On CBS I heard some color man, or something, comment on what is going on in the chamber, in tones similar to what you hear from golf tournament announcers. I hope that doesn’t happen too much.

    D’oh! Just did it again. Know I know that ‘they are standing’ in response to Teacher Waters, Nation Builder.

    Now the goof is talking again. Which media outlet is just broadcasting the speech?

    Edit: by ‘goof’, I mean the broadcast commenter, not Obama.

  80. 80.

    numbskull

    @General Stuck: Good call, but it looks more to me like he got caught half way through squeezin’ out that last log when they called time and he just doesn’t know what to do with the dangler.

  82. 82.

    BGinCHI

    @Ailuridae: Shit dude, sorry about that. I’ve been busy as hell, and Mon and Tues are crazy. I barely have time to write a few stupid posts here.

    Let’s try to get together after early Feb. Got a couple deadlines looming.

  83. 83.

    Nicole

    Bizarre camera shot of Walnuts. I guess they had to cut away from him before it was revealed that he’s not actually there; he’s sitting in a booth at TGIF.

  87. 87.

    TR

    @blahblahblah:

    Are you new here? We’ll fire off a few shots at any game that comes into view.

    Ideally, it’s something worthy of the effort. You? You’re like a mangy raccoon that’s spent the day rooting through the dumpster outside an Arby’s and is now licking its balls, pausing occasionally to eat its own shit.

    You’re not a trophy. You’re a mercy killing.

  90. 90.

    demkat620

    The quiet of the members allows Obama to be Obama. When he can just roll with his speech or get his flo on, he is really good.

    And the smile is a killer weapon.

  95. 95.

    BGinCHI

    @demkat620: As opposed to the Bush “Hey kid you wanna put your hand in my pants and get a candy bar” smile?

    I miss Will Ferrell doing it at least.

  103. 103.

    Davis X. Machina

    @Southern Beale:

    @daveweigel: Ruth Bader Ginsburg just nodded off and was awoken by Anthony Kennedy. #SOTU

    I noticed with interest the relative absence of the usual “Obama has to hit a home run here or he’s doooooooomed” nonsense that precedes many of his other speeches in the run-up commentary this afternoon, despite the mid-terms.

    The Justice may have picked up on this, too.

  104. 104.

    Hawes

    Biden looks like Sam the Eagle.

    Boehner, well, I can’t see Boehner, he disappears into his leather chair like a green screen.

  106. 106.

    Southern Beale

    VERY different from last year, when the Republicans made a big show of disrespecting the president — playing with their Blackberries, Texting, nodding off, holding up signs and shouting “You Lie!”

  109. 109.

    dr. bloor

    @jl:

    I’m recording it, so I can play it backward in slow mo and find out what Obama is really saying.

    I’m getting “Rahm is dead.”

  114. 114.

    TR

    Nice image there of Republicans refusing to applaud for stopping insurance companies from denying patients good care. They really do have insurance companies’ backs, don’t they?

  115. 115.

    stuckinred

    @BGinCHI: We have a 3pt lead with 6 seconds to go and Fl ball under our basket. Instead of fouling we let their hottest shooter drill a 3 from 30 to tie it and wilt in the 2nd ot. Really bad loss.

  116. 116.

    Southern Beale

    @Davis X. Machina:

    I noticed with interest the relative absence of the usual “Obama has to hit a home run here or he’s doooooooomed” nonsense that precedes many of his other speeches…

    Oh I guess you weren’t watching MSNBC then…

  133. 133.

    Hawes

    Well, there you go. Obama may have said he wants to protect Social Security, but I could clearly hear him say he wants to eat grandparents.

  137. 137.

    El Cid

    Ha ha. I kind of hoped he’d go after the tax cuts for the rich. Good, fuckers — there actually is a revenue side of budget deficits.

  140. 140.

    jl

    Metaphor maze misses majorly on spending.

    I think it befuddled some Congresscritters.

    But no metaphors for social security, or Bush tax cut for the rich, though. CLASS WAR! Billionaires pay taxes so lazy college students can binge drink, huh? Was that civil? What happened to the civility?

  147. 147.

    El Cid

    That salmon smoked joke was funny.

    The situation doesn’t surprise me much, though — you often do have separate responsibility for various types of waterways coming under different authority.

  148. 148.

    Ailuridae

    @lamh32:

    My perception is that Countdown/Olbermann was incredibly popular (versus the choices) in Black America. Right? Wrong?

  149. 149.

    eemom

    Lawd, but No-Boner is a pissy-ass asshole.

    Somebody take him out and waterboard him. I do believe he’d be happier.

  150. 150.

    Jager

    The Speaker of the House looks like he needs in no particular order: smoke a cigarette, drain a drink and take a very loose shit. Bachmann (sitting right next to Mean Jean) looks confused. Kyl looks stupid as always and when they did a close up of McCain he looks like he is at death’s door, if he’d been elected, he’d be dead and Palin would making this fucking speech!

  152. 152.

    Hawes

    There’s another word for earmarks: legislative negotiations.

    I was trying to explain it to a student from China. She was trying to figure out why earmarks were so bad. I hated to cloud her mind with cynicism before lunch.

    After lunch? Meh.

  161. 161.

    inkadu

    Oh. Disrupting terrorist plots.

    I thought he meant mairjuana plots. Must pay more attention.

    +1

  163. 163.

    jl

    @Jager:

    Palin would making this ******* (civility censor) speech!

    “and our Great Country is Freedoming and Enterprizing itself to Greaterness every day now, like no other country ever countried, you betcha!”

    That would be an interesting State of the Union speech.

  164. 164.

    lamh32

    @Ailuridae:

    Right. Thx to Obama’s campaign/election, more people turned to MSNBC ’cause it seemed to be the only nationally news other than BET to be in Obama’s “corner” so man people started watching Countdown and to some extent Tweety.

    And afterwards, Countdown was one of the only shows watched by a larg nubmer on MSNBC.

  165. 165.

    BGinCHI

    Stand up for Muslims, bitches!

    Erik Erikson beating his whole family in anger over that one. Berserk.

  187. 187.

    Ailuridae

    He@lamh32:

    I grabbed a beer at lake and halsted year’s ago in a refit uncle remu’s and the crowd was 90% black. And they watghed Keith with rapt attention

  188. 188.

    Midnight Marauder

    Republicans still hate those gays.

    John Boehner: “Clap for gays in the military?! What am I, a bitch?!”

  189. 189.

    BGinCHI

    Good shoutout to the gays in the military. Lot of forthrightness in this speech.

    That stuff about college campuses is very interesting, as DADT is the main reason we don’t let them have a stronger presence. Interesting point.

  199. 199.

    mr. whipple

    Officially declared Worst Democratic SOTU address ever by the base.

    Rachel was “pre-disappointed.”

    Whatever.

  201. 201.

    fasteddie9318

    Forget quoting Mao, did he really talk about “five pillars” (I never watch SOTU speeches, so maybe he didn’t) and not expect to make the screwball brigade immediately think of the Five Pillars of Islam?

  203. 203.

    Nicole

    Well sure, none of THEM would trade places with any other country. They work on Capitol Hill. They already get health care and a month off in the summer.

  207. 207.

    Comrade Mary

    Obama is very flexible. I’ve never seen a double reach-around to the back executed with such finesse.

  212. 212.

    Hawes

    I think this speech plays very well among people who don’t read FDL or Red State.

    Ohh, this is my favorite part. The drill part.

  214. 214.

    jl

    @Davis X. Machina: Most of the State of Union Speech is ceremonial boilerplate and political Kabuki now, that I don’t see the point in going overboard in judging it.

    Obama did not definitely commit himself to any objectively disastrous domestic policies (and I am giving him the benefit of the doubt on the apparently very selective spending freeze).

    Most of it is boilerplate. When I have time I should look at the FDR, Truman and Ike speeches. Did Truman stand there and call the GOP a bunch of lying sh*ts*cks and SOBs?

  216. 216.

    Anne Laurie

    Obama just stole Ornj Jawn’s line about ‘sweeping the floor in his father’s bar blahblah’. Boehner can’t quite keep himself from grimacing.

  219. 219.

    eemom

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    All of them.

    Dunno. I just hate pageantry. I hate scripted applause and I REALLY hate standing ovations.

    Nothing against Obama — being as I am a semi-Obot — but this is all sound and fury signifying nothing.

    Most of all, I HATE No-Boner being in that spot instead of Nancy. What a disgrace.

  223. 223.

    Ailuridae

    On a somewhat unrelated note: Wow is Michele Obama attractive.

    I’ve known this for almost twenty year but … yeah

  225. 225.

    Evolved Deep Southerner

    @stuckinred:

    Earmarks

    Stuckinred, I don’t watch hoops and I haven’t been on here in a while, either, but are you talking about the game here still? If I missed a God damn earbiting, I’m gonna be pissed.

  226. 226.

    Davis X. Machina

    @jl: I take great comfort from the fact that the Republic, while not flourishing as it might, is on an even enough keel that going through the ceremonial motions is once again the appropriate rhetorical stance.

    Save the great speeches for when the asteroid is incoming, is my position.

  232. 232.

    magurakurin

    Hey, Chuck Todd, blow me. And David Gregory, don’t even bother, just go fuck yourself. Thanks.

  235. 235.

    Midnight Marauder

    @GregB:

    I did a shot every time I saw a bad comb-over on an old white guy.

    As you can imagine, I am on the verge of imminent death.

    +All but, like, 8 people in Congress

  237. 237.

    handy

    @KG:

    One thing that kind of jumped out at me was Washington’s proposal for a “national university.” Those founding fathers sure hated federal programs like public education.

  238. 238.

    fasteddie9318

    @jl: Maybe. I figure there’s no point in giving the diaper corps another reason to shit themselves; they can find one on their own no problem.

  239. 239.

    ppcli

    “did he really talk about “five pillars” (I never watch SOTU speeches, so maybe he didn’t) and not expect to make the screwball brigade immediately think of the Five Pillars of Islam?”

    It’s inconceivable that this wouldn’t have occurred to the writers. If he put this in the speech, it’s evidence that they’ve decided the best way to handle these guys is to bait them with stuff that they are sure to grab, and on which they look stupid when they go all frothing at the mouth.

  240. 240.

    fasteddie9318

    You know what would be a good SOTU drinking game? Take a shot everytime you see a black senator. Saves you money on booze and you can be the DD.

  242. 242.

    Ailuridae

    @JMY:

    It will be confused. If anything has been demonstrated over the years it is that the professional left is innumerate.

  243. 243.

    fasteddie9318

    @ppcli:

    they’ve decided the best way to handle these guys is to bait them with stuff that they are sure to grab, and on which they look stupid when they go all frothing at the mouth.

    I guess, although what happens in those cases usually is that they look stupid to people who already think they’re stupid and they look like deep thinking sages to the usual crowd that gets all hot and bothered about such stuff. Lather, rinse, repeat.

  246. 246.

    jl

    @KG:

    What a ridiculous statement. Take a look at this blockbuster:

    “Uniformity in the currency, weights, and measures of the United States is an object of great importance, and will, I am persuaded, be duly attended to.”

    And here is GW Washington already trying to turn the U.S. into a communist state:

    “encouragement as well to the introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad” (advocates FOREIGN, probably atheist, IDEAS)

    “facilitating the intercourse between the distant parts of our country by a due attention to the post-office and post-roads.” (The famous Washington Post Office Plot to take away our freedoms. Good thing that was nipped in the bud.)

    “a speedy but temperate vigilance against encroachments, with an inviolable respect to the laws.” (temperate vigilance, an oxymoronic road to serfdom. And not a mention of the second amendment remedy.)

    “Whether this desirable object will be best promoted by affording aids to seminaries of learning already established, by the institution of a national university, or by any other expedients will be well worthy of a place in the deliberations of the legislature.” (Blatant plug for a big gummnint college for snoots, glad that plot was nipped too.)

    Either Washington was a commie fascist, or some Obama spy sneeked in and changed it. Issa should investigate. It is surely the latter.

    Did I not tell people here in comments some time ago, that Obama had a sinister time machine to facilitate such outrageous falsification of history?

    Case closed.

    Edit: God, Christianity, Jesus, Christ, religion, religious faith not mentioned in the speech! Who snuck in and changed it?

  248. 248.

    Karen in GA

    Ryan: “When my three children, who are now 6, 7 and 8 years old, and coached me on my delivery…”

  252. 252.

    The Raven

    Wow. Does anyone else think this sounds like one of those official speeches one hears from a defeated leader? Rah-rah-rah. Only…there’s nothing to rah about.

    No jokes about food tonight–this is just too painful.

  253. 253.

    Jager

    Ryan looks and sounds like every asshole you hated in high school, college and life. The fucking republican intellectual, right! His speech sounds like one of those American Legion contest speeches.

  254. 254.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Why the hell would anyone post anything of meaning on a 252 post thread? We need term limits here.

  256. 256.

    Erikthe Red

    @BGinCHI:

    I don’t think both Obama and the Steelers can win the future.

    Wait a goddam minute here!

    That would mean that for the President to succeed (which I want) that would mean the…

    …the (oh God!)…

    …the PACKERS would win, too!

    AAAAAHHHHHHHH!

    fuckin’ Bears

  261. 261.

    Zuzu's Petals

    The catchphrase of tonight’s speech is supposed to be “win the future”. We’ve also got “poised for progress”.
    __
    What’s weird is that these are both direct quotations from Mao’s Little Red Book. You think they’d be more careful than that.

    Whaaa…?

    Wait a minute, I looked in the Little Red Book and don’t see that anywhere. What’s the deal?

    Am I just too earnest to get a good joke?

  262. 262.

    Modusoperandi

    Lynn Dee #41 “‘Poised for progress’ is in Mao’s Little Red Book? And is it alliterative in Chinese, do you know? :D”
    I don’t know. Is “Ching chong ching” alliterative? That’s how Rush Limbaugh pronounces it.

  264. 264.

    Angry Black Lady

    @lol: yes, but according to Adam Green WE progressives needed a stronger statement from Obama that “we are not no way no how gonna even think about looking into whether we should consider anything having to do with social security. ” and so on the one hand, adam green is all WAAAAH but on the other, katrina van helsing seems to think that the progressives are the ones who made him “change his mind.”

    + ∞

  266. 266.

    The Raven

    I will say, by the way, that Obama has at least found a way to defend infrastructure spending. We seem to have come full circle: much of the expansion of the Federal government in the 1950s and 1960s was justified by nationalism. The Interstates started as a “defense” project, and much of the expansion in education and research similarly. So now we have Obama defending these things as appropriate for “competitiveness.” At the same time, though, he has capped a great deal of spending. With a growing population that is a per-capita spending cut. The states are cash-strapped, and Obama has committed to a course where the Federal government will not help them. So just where is the funding for all this education and research going to come from?

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