Time to Get Rid of the The "Time to Get Rid of the State of the Union" Thinkpiece
— Wyeth Ruthven (@wyethwire) January 12, 2016
"President should lead and use the bully pulpit"
"What if he gave an annual speech to the nation?"
"No, no, no. I don't want to cover that."
— Wyeth Ruthven (@wyethwire) January 12, 2016
Lifehacker has a whole list of streaming options, if you don’t want to watch it on network tv.
The Washington Post liveblog is here.
The Guardian liveblog here.
CBS will be streaming, here:
… The president previewed the address in a video last week and said he wants his speech to highlight not only the progress the U.S. has made and what he wants to accomplish in his final year, but “what we all need to do together in the years to come.”
The White House has invited a number of people to sit in the box with First Lady Michelle Obama during the address, and one seat has been reserved and will be left vacant to represent “victims of gun violence who no longer have a voice.”
Other White House guests include Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D); the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella; Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court same-sex marriage case; Spencer Stone, one of the three Americans who thwarted a potential terrorist attack on a Paris-bound train in August; one of the partners of a San Bernardino terrorist attack victim; and a Syrian refugee who moved to the U.S. with his children in December…
Who attends: Vice President Joe Biden will sit behind the president, next to Speaker Ryan. Members of the House and Senate will file into the House chamber for the speech. Some of the 2016 GOP presidential candidates will be there. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul will attend, but Ted Cruz is skipping it in favor of his own campaign event in New Hampshire. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be delivering his state of the state address on Tuesday.
A number of Supreme Court justices usually show up, as well as members of the president’s cabinet. There’s always a “designated survivor,” who is a member of the cabinet designated to be at an undisclosed location when he delivers the speech, in case something happens to the president, vice president and speaker. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was the designated survivor last year.
Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis who spent five days in jail defying a court order to license same-sex marriages will be in the chamber, although no one has revealed which lawmaker invited her.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, on Tuesday said he won’t be there, and further, he has reserved an empty seat in the House chamber’s gallery during the State of the Union to represent “the lives of more than 55 million aborted babies.”….
Welp, the ceremonial March of the Senators has begun…
ETA: First Lady looks incredible in a sleeveless mango dress.
Once again, the SCOTUS Retrograde Boys (Scalia, Thomas & Alito) chose not to be here. Designated “Cabinet member who’ll be in charge if a meteor takes out the building” is Jeh Johnson — Homeland Security head.
The President is in the house — shaking hands & kissing ladies (including the Supremes!). Mitch McConnell, right behind him, looks like his hemorrhoids are acting up.
Corner Stone
Ah, Chuck Todd.
Corner Stone
I think Moochelle may be wearing Prince-esque Purple! And it’s raining!
Keith G
I will watch some streaming recap tomorrow. That is not a comment on Obama, but just a comment on my relationship to news and politics as of early Jan, 2016.
Knock em dead. Mr. President. Really.
beltane
I’m glad the aborted babies will be in attendance, it wouldn’t seem complete without them.
Anne Laurie
Michael Gerson, Dubya’s old speechwriter / apologist, truly has a mouth that cries out for a fist in it.
(I haven’t been able to avoid his words, but this is the first time — on the CBS livestream — that I’ve had to listen to his Sylvester-sputtering lies & BS leak out of that conspicuously-oh-so-sincere yap.)
Iowa Old Lady
Who’s going to ruin their career by doing the R response?
Corner Stone
Not for nothing, but a site complaint. Can we have the blog so that when you click on the link for “Comments” it goes to below the OP and where the comments actually start? It’s incredibly frustrating to scroll down a long read post, then click Comments link and have to spend 3 seconds or more of my precious time to get to the comment box to sample all the witty and erudite postings of our own highly injury prone jackals.
Corner Stone
@Iowa Old Lady: Isn’t it Gov Haley of SoCar?
Iowa Old Lady
@Corner Stone: Probably. I haven’t paid any attention.
Corner Stone
What does Beschloss translate to in English?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Corner Stone: I muted it when Chuck told us he was going to tell us what President Obama is really thinking.
SiubhanDuinne
@Iowa Old Lady:
Nikki Haley, Governor of South Carolina.
Corner Stone
@Iowa Old Lady: It is.
Mike J
@SiubhanDuinne: The woman who took down the treason flag in SC. That doesn’t endear her to the Republican base.
jl
I thought this thing had started. All I see is pundit BS, a WH focus group / remote audience of some kind and title screens.
Somebody said that the Senators were already marching in. How long does it take those rich geezers to get their asses into the chamber anyway.
JPL
If only Steve King cared about all those who were born.
Anoniminous
@Corner Stone:
Beschloss = Decided
Baud
Biden is trying to convince Paul Ryan to be the dark horse in the brokered GOP convention.
Corner Stone
Purple seems to be the color of the evening.
Yeah, I’ll be here all night.
beltane
@Corner Stone: Google translate says Beschloss is the German word for “decided”.
Anne Laurie
@Iowa Old Lady:
Nikki Haley.
Guardian liveblog had a photo of her ‘poised & ready’ some minutes ago…
NotMax
Kind of annoying to hear the talking heads repeatedly refer to it as his final State of the Union address.
Other than tradition, there’s nothing keeping him from delivering another before the next inauguration.
Article 2, Section 3 of the Constitution:
Betty Cracker
Would love to hear what Biden and Ryan are talking about. Probably the most innocuous shit in the world.
jl
I am pre-grouchy for this one. I was promised a new and exciting SOTU. So, better be some dancing bears, fireworks, WH garden cooking demo or something, or I will be pissed and that will be how Obama failed me today. I don’t even want to spy a damn GOPer pol, or hear one. More I think about, probably catch in youtube later, when in no danger of running into punditbafflegab or GOPer responses.
Edit: Music. I want some music. I want damn Public Enemy and NWA bringing down the house. That is olde tymey grandpa music by now anyway. And Lin-Manuel Miranda freestying some themes from Hamilton in the background. Don’t got that, this thing aint ‘new kind of SOTU’ enough for me.
I’ll catch it later.
PsiFighter37
@Betty Cracker: Wonder if Ryan is still upset about how badly Biden stomped him the VP debate 3.5 years ago
beltane
@Betty Cracker: Biden’s probably asking him how the kids are doing, etc. That’s the kind of man he is.
Baud
Michelle!!
Corner Stone
Our SCOTUS looks so ridiculous.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Remember the Manimal SOTU?
Corner Stone
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Mars, bitchez!
Mike J
@NotMax:
He has to be invited to speak in congress. He can give as many speeches as he wants that aren’t in front of congress, but, barring some catastrophe, will probably not be invited there.
SiubhanDuinne
OMG, has Michelle ever looked better?
Patricia Kayden
Mrs O was stunning!! Jealous…
SiubhanDuinne
@Corner Stone:
Yeah, no. Notorious RBG is wonderful in her over-the-top lace jabot.
Anoniminous
@NotMax:
He can give as many State of the Union addresses as Congress invites/asks him to.
WaterGirl
What channel are you guys watching? I am not seeing Michelle yet.
Baud
Vilsack has done a good job staying out of the news.
Baud
@WaterGirl: MSNBC.
Patricia Kayden
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well it worked. There are no manimals running around in my neck of the woods. Thanks Bush.
dmsilev
Does the existence of Wolf Blitzer prove that God does not exist?
TaMara (BHF)
Paul Ryan looks like someone stole his tricycle.
Baud
@dmsilev: Or that the devil does.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: since the Shirley Sherrod fiasco (not to be That Guy, but that was a fiasco)
@Patricia Kayden: you’re right, I’m gonna have to chalk that up as his domestic achievement
WaterGirl
@Baud: Thank you. I think I preferred seeing Boehner to seeing Paul Ryan. Can’t we just substitute the photo of him with the barbells from the last election?
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I forgot that was Ag.
mdblanche
@TaMara (BHF): Probably bad memories of the last event he had to do with Biden.
NotMax
@Anonimous
Nay. Nothing requires it be delivered in the Capitol, just that it be addressed to the Congress. Nor that it be delivered in person (historically, many were sent in writing).
Baud
They’ve turned up the mic. I can hear everything.
Thanks NSA tech.
Corner Stone
@Baud: Vilsack should have been sacked moments after Shirley.
Patricia Kayden
Warm hug from RBG. Nice.
Corner Stone
@SiubhanDuinne: A group of nine doddering old farts completely immersed in political goal scoring. That’s who sets policies for 330 million people.
NotMax
Paul Ryan:
“The Prezint is near!”
dmsilev
What’s the over-under on how long it takes before Biden gives Ryan a wedgie?
mdblanche
Fired up! Ready to go!
Corner Stone
“First, on Iran. I have completely capitulated. They now own our Fort Knox and Goldman Sachs.”
the Conster
LOL PBO IS GOING TO KILL IT
Corner Stone
@dmsilev: Like Buford to Baljeet on Phineas & Ferb.
Baud
Oh, he’s sinking Paul Ryan’s career. Hahahaha
WereBear
Still trying to forget.
WaterGirl
Paul Ryan needs to work on his game face behind Barack Obama on camera.
dmsilev
“Tonight is my last State of the Union Address. Next year, I look forward to delivering my first State of the Caliphate Address.”
the Conster
Paul Ryan is trying to find his resting bitch face.
Corner Stone
@Baud: Paul Ryan has already sunk Paul Ryan’s career.
WaterGirl
@the Conster: we had the same thought!
Patricia Kayden
@dmsilev: That VP debate in 2012 was enough of a wedgie. Anything more would be child abuse.
Baud
Bernie!
mdblanche
@WaterGirl: What’s he doing? The White House livestream cuts his head off.
WaterGirl
Bernie!
Corner Stone
Weird spacing/pausing so far. Pick up the pace, Mr. President!
NotMax
The gray striped tie is tres classy.
(Presume it does not carry a Trump label. :) )
Jim, Foolish Literalist
he called them a’feared!
prepare the macho pout-sturing and outrage
@the Conster: LOL! literally, my word as a Biden
Corner Stone
How rude is it that Gabby’s husband didn’t even see fit to attend the SOTU with her!
Darkrose
Paul Ryan has an even more punchable face than Don Mattingly. I just want to go up and pop him one in the mouth.
TheMightyTrowel
@NotMax: I love it but it’s the exact same colour of his hair and that kind of makes me sad.
the Conster
@WaterGirl:
Instead he looks like a smirking smarmy douchecanoe with too big ears who looks like he doesn’t belong there.
WaterGirl
@mdblanche: Ryan seems to realize the camera is on him at all times. But he has kind of a smirk, I think. He was tilting his head this way and that way as if he was trying to find the right pose. Ryan seems to have settled on the smirk.
Cain
goooo, Obama!!! My last chance to cheer for my fav pres!
Anne Laurie
@Corner Stone: She’s someone’s guest, and each Congresscritter is allowed only one. Too bad nobody else had one to spare for Mark Kelly, though.
dr. luba
@dmsilev: No, that is evident in the fact that Bowie is dead and Trump lives.
Baud
Warren’s down with the purple theme tonight.
Irony Abounds
Knowing that the end is near, as inspirational as President Obama may be, it is really quite sad knowing the next President is very very unlikely to measure up. The President talks about choices, but when you look at who is running, the choices just aren’t very good.
David Koch
I’m looking through the audience and gallery but I can’t locate Baud
WaterGirl
@the Conster: I almost used the word smarmy, too!
Eric S.
I haven’t watched one of these live in several years. I had almost forgot how much I hate the applause breaks every 30 or so seconds.
Anne Laurie
Who invited those two nuns that CBS keeps focusing on? And why does one of them look like Scalia’s biological sister?
Steeplejack
Realizing that Ryan has resting smirk face. Ugh.
Baud
@David Koch: I’m sitting next to Kim Davis.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: Makes me want to smack him. And I’m not usually a “smacking” kind of gal.
dmsilev
@Anne Laurie: I think the second one is actually Scalia in drag.
I believe those are the nuns that are suing the US government because contraception is icky, and I believe Speaker Ryan invited them.
slag
Digging the whitehouse feed that cuts off the background heads and offers some decent charts and graphs. Also loving the speech!
Anne Laurie
Bernie Sanders — sitting with my Senators, Warren & Markey, and Al Franken — just pulled out a notepad & started writing something…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: give you a dollar if you sneeze on her
mdblanche
“The United States has the strongest most durable economy in the world.”
Unfortunately we’re beating some alarmingly weak competition.
NotMax
@Baud
The one shot I saw of Michelle, she was wearing some sleeveless tangerine shmata.
jl
I can’t avoid this thing. Yahoo news says Orrin Hatch is the ‘designated survivor’. Get this thing over with asap, and get Barack and Joe headed off in different directions asap. I think I will have a SOTU drinky.
WaterGirl
peddling fiction is right.
muddy
@Anne Laurie: It’s really him in disguise.
ETA: @dmsilev: Drag is the better word, thanks.
SRW1
If Ryan ever wants to be able to project gravitas he needs to get a grip on his smirk.
Baud
Who’s the thoughtful bearded guy?
Corner Stone
This is really awkward so far.
WereBear
That’s a dystopia in the making.
jl
@Irony Abounds: HRC or Sanders will be pretty good follow ups. One of them gets it, will make a nice series of admins in the history books. You wait and see.
the Conster
@Steeplejack:
He has no lips, no heart and no soul, like McConnell. That’s why they hate PBO so much.
Skerry
@jl: I read that Jeh Johnson, Sect of Homeland Security, is the designated non-attendee.
ETA: Please, someone tell me that Orrin Hatch is not in the line of succession.
MomSense
Holding my iPhone up to cover Ryan’s face. His smug expression almost makes me miss the boozy Agent Orange.
David Koch
This will cause the fundies to freakout: Photo emerges of Obama laughing at Pope Francis
NotMax
@SRW1
Too involved getting a grip on his thighs. Hasn’t applauded once yet.
Cain
I’m watching PBS.. so much better than anywhere else.. no talking heads!
Anne Laurie
@dmsilev:
Figured it would be some stunt like that. At least I haven’t seen the cameras picking out Kim Davis — yet.
Steeplejack
@Mike J:
Took it down so that they could showcase it in a $3.5 million “museum” setting.
Corner Stone
OoooOOOoooohhhh!!! Snap!
mdblanche
@Corner Stone: Congress laughed very nervously.
dmsilev
“We should strengthen Social Security and Medicare”.
Biden stands and applauds, Ryan looks like he just stepped in a pile of dog crap.
Corner Stone
@MomSense:
Son of a barkeep!
Cain
Ryan is going ot have a hard time keeping that face straight the whole time… Obama needs some more zingers. :)
Rommie
Hah, was Biden trash-talking there? ;)
Corner Stone
Good God! Sockulism!!
PsiFighter37
Someone needs to tell Paul Ryan that the Speaker needs to stand up and applaud sometimes, too. Seems like he’s content being an asshole with his douchebag smile and not clap at anything.
Baud
No, Obama. Speaker Ryan has expressed interest in tackling poor people, not poverty.
opiejeanne
Who is the best woman seated to the left of Ryan?
Corner Stone
He just put the bull ring on Ryan for poverty BS.
Cain
hahah,a, Obama.. it looked Biden was giving Ryan a high 5 after the whole there is red tape to be cut, comment by Obama :D
Baud
Bernie on the TV w/r/t corporate profits.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
what a petty thing to stand and applaud for: deregulation
Steeplejack
Kay is not going to like all this “retraining/retooling” stuff, and I agree with her. The people are available; the jobs aren’t.
mdblanche
@PsiFighter37: Even Boehner stood up and applauded sometimes and he always guzzled a full bottle of wood alcohol before these things.
MomSense
I love no fucks to give Obama!
Snarkworth
Biden is whispering jokes to Ryan, hoping to crack him up.
MomSense
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It’s all they’ve got.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
foodstamps didn’t cause the financial cries, recklessness on Wall St did
fuck you jeb
Baud
@MomSense: I do too, but I’m not sure this is it, except for a few zingers.
Corner Stone
If someone looped a garrote around Ryan’s neck would he change his expression?
David Koch
@Anne Laurie:
Writing the SOTU address he’ll deliver next year calling for the end of capitalism.
WaterGirl
love the sputnik / space comments. we didn’t make our own reality, we put ourselves on the moon 12 years later. go barack!
Irony Abounds
He’s mocking the shit out of the GOP but doing so in a splendid humorous way. Love it.
slag
Sputnik-was-fake conspiracy theorists unite!
Baud
@WaterGirl: Yes, that was good.
Corner Stone
@Baud: This really is not it. So far.
mak
Republicans would refuse to applaud if the President announced that he’d cured Alzheimers AND sucked Putin’s dick.
Somebody, somewhere, has got to promise to kick Ryan square in the nuts, preferably while he’s wearing that smug fucking smirk.
muddy
@Corner Stone: I need scientific data, wouldn’t want to jump to conclusions.
Baud
@Corner Stone: My expectations were raised since this is the last one.
WaterGirl
I just want Barack to turn to all the republicans and say what I say nearly ever single day:
What the fuck is wrong with you people?
Patricia Kayden
@David Koch: Do they ever not freak out?
Corner Stone
Onion Joe to Major Tom…
Eric S.
Ryan won’t even applaud curing cancer.
Baud
@mak: I thought sucking Putin’s dick was the cure for Alzheimers.
NotMax
@Corner Stone
Practicing his best C3PO impression.
“If you don’t mind, sir, I’ll just shut down for a while.”
WaterGirl
@Baud: I laughed out loud. Really.
mdblanche
Waits until after Bowie dies to start curing cancer. Thanks Obama.
Baud
Haha. They had McConnell on the TV for the war on coal.
mdblanche
@Eric S.: Professional courtesy.
? Martin
I’m starting to suspect that Obama doesn’t send all of his own tweets.
Kay
@mdblanche:
I miss that about him, though.
Patricia Kayden
@mdblanche: Wood alcohol. You all are some funny people.
Steeplejack
@David Koch:
He is truly an outsider’s outsider. Not a faux outsider like Cruz.
Corner Stone
Yeah, solar is great. Except for in NV where Warren Buffet’s power station and regulations are killing it.
Mike in NC
When they trot out Nikki Haley, try to remember there isn’t a molecule of difference between her and Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann. She has repeatedly called union members cockroaches who are not welcome in “her” state, and has basically done nothing to improve the lives of the benighted people of South Carolina, one of America’s armpits that ranks alongside Alabama and Mississipi for low quality of life.
David Koch
@Steeplejack: Rafael Cruz is such an outsider he wasn’t even born in America.
Baud
@Steeplejack:
I will never interrupt your NCIS shows for something as stupid as the SOTU. You can count on that.
Baud
The Joint Chiefs apparently don’t think we’re so powerful.
David Koch
You lie!
mdblanche
@David Koch: But is there any proof Baud was even born at all?
Corner Stone
Ok, jingoist militaristic rhetoric could be skipped.
WaterGirl
Who’s the purple lady with no head who is sitting behind the Chiefs of the armed forces?
NotMax
Ryan does seem to be fighting having a Rubio/water moment on camera.
mdblanche
Finally something Ryan can applaud.
dmsilev
@? Martin: Are you sure he doesn’t have an iPhone or something hidden on that podium?
schrodinger's cat
@Baud: eeww, why? I had better expectations from you.
SRW1
@Corner Stone:
Ryan knows he under observation by the Freedumb Caucus and can’t afford even one wrong facial expression. He probably also nailed his ass to the chair in order not to fall prey to any reflex of joining a standing ovation.
David Koch
Peter King = IRA sleeper cell
Corner Stone
This speech. Who wrote it?
lol chikinburd
FUCK CANCER.
FUCK CANCER.
FUCK CANCER.
FUCK CANCER.
FUCK CANCER.
FUCK CANCER.
Obama chose the “FUCK CANCER” option during the second mission. Maybe oughta watch out for extraterrestrial invaders, and keep a close eye on Keith David.
the Conster
NO FUCKS LEFT TO GIVE OBAMA LAYING TRUTH BOMBS DOWN
mdblanche
@Baud: If you’re really that powerful, applauding yourself just looks desperate.
oldgold
So far, so good.
TaMara (BHF)
OMG, my cousin just put up two photos on FB – one of Paul Ryan and one of Eddie Munster, side by side. The resemblance is uncanny.
Baud
@schrodinger’s cat: I wanted to give her her official pink slip from the Democratic Party.
Mike J
@Corner Stone: Keenan?
WaterGirl
Anyone else think McCain’s demeanor seems kind of odd tonight?
mdblanche
@SRW1: Somebody check if he’s blinking “SOS”.
mak
@Baud: Aaah, well, that would explain why their asses are glued to their chairs.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
John McCain eclipsed by somebody stating up in front of him to applaud. Perfect.
Who was that he was sitting next to?
Steeplejack
@David Koch:
Touché.
jog
McCain is such a bitter old man, can’t even stand when BO talks about the Terror.
“Twisted souls plotting in apartments ….”
I’m gonna miss this guy’s rhetoric. And just about everything else about him.
Baud
AUMF!
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The next Mrs. McCain??? It would be irresponsible not to speculate.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Oh, he is slamming the warmongers and neocons and chest thumping cowards.
The Scarboroughs
NotMax
Haven’t heard the words “yooge” or “classy” yet.
;)
David Koch
@mdblanche: The greatest trick Baud ever pulled is convincing the world he doesn’t exist.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I loved it when Obama said “take the fucking vote, you cowards!”
Steeplejack
@Baud:
You can fuck with NCIS: New Orleans all you want. And CSI: Cyber, also. In fact, please do.
Corner Stone
@Mike J: Maynard James Keenan?
If so, I am totally all in.
dmsilev
Benghazi!
Probably not in the way the GOP was hoping though.
mdblanche
Such stony faces from the people being told to do their damn jobs.
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
Srsly. I winced all the way through that.
Zinsky
Don’t go bragging about killing people, Obama. Bad karma.
Corner Stone
Ask Bin Laden. Oh, wait…you can’t. Mr. Laden, he dead.
Baud
@WaterGirl: IMHO, it’s the biggest hypocrisy in the GOP and the media today.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: When Baud is president, CSI:cyber will be just a distant memory. He has pledged to wipe it from the earth. (I hope.)
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: It is a pity, though, that Obama didn’t phrase it in that way.
? Martin
@dmsilev: He’d have to be tapping out tweets with his dick if he does. And it’s not that I doubt he could do that, but I’m surprised he can type that quickly with his dick without looking.
Baud
@Steeplejack: We’ve lost the fear war in the U.S.
Mike R
Is Alito at the speech didn’t see Obama greet him
David Koch
republicans seem unhappy that bin Laden is dead ?
Steeplejack
@TaMara (BHF):
Separated at birth.
Baud
@dmsilev:
Agreed. Last SOTU, and not one single “motherfucker” yet.
Thanks, Obama.
Corner Stone
@? Martin: I find your lack of faith, disturbing.
Mike J
@Corner Stone: Cody.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The lesson of Vietnam, the lesson of Iraq that we should have learned by now.
But there is a smarter way.
(Someone check if McCain can still blink with both eyes.)
Corner Stone
NOOOO!!, Not the TPP!!
Fuck you!
Patricia Kayden
@Mike R: Alito, Scalia and Thomas aren’t there.
Angie
@PsiFighter37: i
Amazing how Ryan is what we are all talking about. I agree I’m so focused on him and his smug look. I think this will be something that is going to be talked about after the speech. I just don’t understand why sometimes they can’t just agree that maybe I don’t know poverty is bad and why can’t people just talk about that agree on it anything. Watching Ryan behind the president just screams partisan politics. I just don’t get why it always has to be so divided. Watching this makes me think Congress in our presidents will never agree on anything which means they’ll never get anything done. All of this came to my mind because of Ryan sitting behind the president LOL
? Martin
@Mike R: No, Thomas and Alito are absent. Scalia is in the back dressed as a nun.
Helen
He needs to find his groove. Needs to find his inner preacher. Whoever wrote this should be fired.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Just tell me that we at least have one more of those media dinners where Barack can pull out Luther again. We might hear motherfucker yet!
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
What do you mean “tonight”?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@? Martin: ! ! !
O’Toole and Richard Harris?
Baud
@WaterGirl: There’s still one more White House Correspondent’s Dinner, I think.
WaterGirl
@Helen: Maybe we’ll get some fire at the end.
slag
@? Martin: The last POTUS tweet I see is from 2 hours ago: https://twitter.com/POTUS
TaMara (BHF)
Glad to see him hand the rethugs their asses on fearmongering and playing into ISIL’s recruiting program.
Corner Stone
@Mike J:
Baud
@WaterGirl: That’s how his speeches usually go.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Could not think of the name! thanks
Mary G
Shut down Gitmo, yeah!
Corner Stone
@Mike J: Diablo Cody ?
PsiFighter37
Looked like Kelly Ayotte had a major sad about Guantanamo getting closed. I hope Hassan beats her like a drum.
David Koch
Future ex-Senator Ayotte wiping her tears
Pogonip
@David Koch: That’s because, as Baud was cycling to the White House (faster than driving), he was hit by a June bug which knocked him off his bike. Since he can’t get there in time, SGM John G. Cole, USA Retired, is now delivering the traditional after-speech: “My fellow Americans. I hate you all. Bite me and goodnight.”
Baud
Trump just won the GOP nom.
MomSense
@TaMara (BHF):
It is so good to hear.
Corner Stone
@Helen: This is a really poor speech. It’s just bad in delivery, content, meter, everything.
TaMara (BHF)
ABC News just flashed on Rubio and he looked like he got caught sexting his girlfriend. It was weird.
ETA: Man, my President just shut down Trump. Yes.
khead
@Baud:
“Our reach has no limits.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Obama goes after Trumpism, Paul Ryan decides he should half-heartedly applaud a critique of bigotry and racism
Suzanne
I just love this POTUS so much.
Paul Ryan looks like he is doing Kegels.
mdblanche
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I wonder who the new Speaker will be.
slag
Moderation? WTH?
I was in no way immoderate.
MomSense
@Suzanne:
LOLOLOL!
TaMara (BHF)
@Corner Stone: He did a quick little FB video from the oval just before the speech and I thought he looked awful, like flu-like awful. Like he hadn’t slept all week.
Al Swearengen
@Corner Stone: If you think that, you’re an idiot. Honey Obama don’t care!
WaterGirl
ugh. kim davis.
NotMax
Nice little E Plebnista moment.
Mike J
@Corner Stone: Cody Keenan. Took over when Favreau left.
TaMara (BHF)
Paul Ryan’s drugs must’ve kicked in, he looks kinda….blissed out.
Corner Stone
They finally found that troglodyte Kim Davis in the crowd.
? Martin
Kim Davis! Everybody drink!
Anne Laurie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I want to say Susan Collins, but I don’t think that’s her. *Some* Repub lady I’ve seen in the news, but not recently…
Al Swearengen
The speech is fine.
Steeplejack
@Suzanne:
He’s wearing ben-wa balls.
(Note to self: Check if one “wears” ben-wa balls.)
WaterGirl
Increased rancor and suspicion. Maybe Lincoln could have done better than I am, but this cannot be my task alone.
Baud
@TaMara (BHF): He does seem a little more low energy than usual. Maybe he is fighting something.
Corner Stone
He has lost the entire crowd now.
Cacti
Any reaction shots from president-in-exile McCain yet?
WaterGirl
Politicians should not be able to pick their voters instead of the other way around.
mdblanche
Don’t be so hard on yourself, Mr. President. Despite his talents, the rancor when Lincoln was president was even worse.
the Conster
This is the peroration of PBO’s last SOTU. He’s the best speaker anyone of us alive will ever see. Stand up people, your president’s passing.
NotMax
More of a lecture than a speech.
MomSense
It is past time for Susan Collins to leave the senate. If she can’t even muster a pleasant face for the idea of civility then she should go.
Steeplejack
Huge (hypocritical) ovations against gerrymandering and money in politics. Yay!
ETA: Ditto for “easier to vote.”
ETFA: I’m a few minutes behind and can’t find any gaps to catch up.
Al Swearengen
@NotMax: Congress needs a lecture in civics.
Cacti
I miss President Obama already.
The top 2 Dem candidates are a retread and an ineffective prig.
Sigh.
Baud
@MomSense: I don’t see how unless she gets primaried from the right.
? Martin
@NotMax: Congress needs to be
beatenlectured.Anne Laurie
@PsiFighter37:
Dang! How did I miss id’ing her?
Verily, high office (Lead Handmaiden to the Future Lords of the Republic of Gilead) ages one. She looks way older than her years!
Mike J
@MomSense: you are dougj ‘s parody centrist account and I claim my five pounds.
WaterGirl
If we give up now, then we forsake a better future. If we do that, people with more money and power will screw things up even worse. We can’t afford to go down that path, it doesn’t get us the economy and security we want and contradicts everything that makes us the envy of the world.
Whatever you believe, our collective futures depends on your willingness to uphold your duties as a citizen. Vote, speak out, stand up for others, especially the weak and the vulnerable.
MomSense
@Baud:
A bunch of somethings in the same room.
Suzanne
@Steeplejack: Um, one doesn’t “wear” Ben-wa balls. Not that I would know.
@Corner Stone: Dood. Who pissed in your cornflakes?
jog
@Cacti:
Looks as bitter as he did in 2009. You’d think a guy who survived the Hanoi Hilton wouldn’t harbor such emotions.
Not too many politicians recently mention how we need to help out the weak and vulnerable.
gogol's wife
@Steeplejack:
And just how are you going to check that?
WaterGirl
Barack Obama really believes in the goodness of people. Thank god. What is wrong with these people who want to “lead” in office but don’t believe in people?
MomSense
@Mike J:
Every election she rubs our noses in her I’m so moderate, oh so civil and bipartisan shtick and I’m fucking sick of it.
Proud to say I’ve never voted for her or said one nice thing about her. Just really grating that she runs on civility and is sitting there with a sour face while the President talks about it.
Corner Stone
@Suzanne: It’s not a good speech. Not good in delivery, content, energy, spacing. Anything.
I believe Obama is the best publicly elected orator in our lifetime and is preternaturally gifted as a speaker. This is not his best effort, by far.
debbie
@Suzanne:
Win!!!
Suzanne
@WaterGirl: I don’t know how eight years of dealing with those fuckers didn’t beat that out of him, but you are right—he still genuinely believes people are good.
I love him so much. So so so much.
Booger
@Corner Stone: To decorate something with schloss.
WaterGirl
Clear eyed big hearted undaunted by challenge, belief in unconditional love and hope for the future. I believe in you.
Good close.
Baud
And it’s muted before the talking heads start up.
NotMax
And that is that.
Ryan deigned to stand and give a golf clap.
WaterGirl
Michelle used to hate hearing him speak, it made her so nervous. I wonder if she is over that by now. I think so.
jog
That’s a goddamn impressive peroration. Old school Obama.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@WaterGirl: Did anybody else LOL that the Ohio Gooper who invited her didn’t know he did? h/t Raw Story
MomSense
@Baud:
Our best chance was in 2008 but we blew it.
Anne Laurie
Speaking of people we’ll miss, has any President had a better corner man than Joe Biden? The comparison between his always-on-key reactions & Paul Ryan trying to thread the needle between ‘stern opposition’ & ‘pissy-pants loser’ is *not* flattering to the Repub or his party…
Cain
I’m in tears, mostly because I’m not going to see his like for the rest of my life. It is the knowledge that this is a good man, and he cares.
The sarcastic part wants to say, that I thought he looked at me and was talking to me, and I saw starbursts. :-)
Thank you Obama!!
Steeplejack
@gogol’s wife:
On the Internet. Gingerly and with trepidation.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Yup. I had the same impression when the Kenyan Socialist said it.
Suzanne
FOUR MORE YEARS. FOUR MORE YEARS.
slag
whitehouse feed has Biden bonus.
SiubhanDuinne
I love this President very much.
SiubhanDuinne
@Suzanne:
Hear hear!
BillinGlendaleCA
@TaMara (BHF): When MSNBC showed Marco(Boy Wonder) he looked antsy to get the hell out of there and head to Iowa.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: Or head to the water fountain.
oldgold
Tough crowd here. It was a good and serious speech that was well delivered. Was it the damn Gettysburg Address? No. So what?
Baud
@oldgold: I think expectations were raised since this is the last one.
Redshift
@WaterGirl:
They don’t want to lead, they want to rule.
Poopyman
@slag: The NYT feed on Youtube is completely comment free. And you can hear the chatter.
Mike R
Does anyone else think that Nora and whoever the other squirrel that followed her are about as disgusting as abucket of spit. Sorry on my phone and it is too small for m2 fat fingers
Mike J
Peter Sagal @petersagal 1h1 hour ago
If Trump is elected, this is the last SOTU we’ll see for four years that does not involve chained slaves pulling a palanquin.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@BillinGlendaleCA: I’m sure Marco has a date with Bill-O or Sean to express the judgment he totally didn’t make until he heard the speech and gave it mature reflection
JPL
@WaterGirl: I thought he was going to do full Friday Night Lights.. clear eyes, full heart, can’t loose.
I loved the speech and thought it was from the heart.
amk
@NotMax: and that’s wrong?
WaterGirl
@Suzanne: I truly love him, too. He’s a great man and we are so lucky to have had him. He has not lost himself even tough he watches the republicans try to burn down this country ever single day. And still he believes in the goodness of our citizens.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Cacti: Well, there’s Baud!!!2016!!!
Irony Abounds
@Corner Stone: It a State of the Union speech, not a campaign speech, it went about as far in that direction as would be appropriate. It was just fine, it made clear that the Republican doom and gloom is utter nonsense, and it touched on all the things that the average joe sitting at home could relate to.
Steeplejack
When is Nikki Haley? Is there a set time?
Suzanne
@BillinGlendaleCA: He’s not going to Iowa. That sounds like effort.
@SiubhanDuinne: God, I love him. So proud I voted and pounded the pavement for him.
slag
@Poopyman: Any curse words yet?
Biden’s talking about shaming people into changing the political system.
NotMax
Cue the Republicans to dismiss the entire thing as pie in the sky, touchy-feely unmanliness.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: I am both of those things!
WaterGirl
@JPL: He still hasn’t given up on us. The audacity of hope, indeed.
pseudonymous in nc
@Corner Stone:
It’s the speech that a great and gifted orator would give after seven years of dealing with the gaggle of arseholes on one side of the chamber. It was a knowing speech, defined by a sense of the limits of what the presidency can achieve but also that it can offer a national message that’s aspirational and distinct from the dumpster fire of primary season.
Sorry not sorry you disliked it.
Redshift
@Anne Laurie: It’s easier because Uncle Joe is having an honest reaction, in contrast to Ryan’s listening to what’s being said and quickly deciding what emotion to try to fake.
slag
Biden on Obama: “This guy has more character in his little finger than most people have in their whole body.”
Irony Abounds
@Suzanne: If only. I only hope something miraculous happens and someone like Elizabeth Warren or Joe Biden emerges as the Democratic nominee so I’m not forced to vote against someone as opposed to for someone.
Steeplejack
Nikki Haley in five minutes, according to C-SPAN.
Corner Stone
@Irony Abounds: Come on. I have seen a few of his SOTU’s. Ok, all of them.
Don’t yank my garters and tell me it’s a free bread line.
NotMax
Gun control? May have missed it, but if so it was a cursory mention.
Poopyman
@slag: Nah. And now they’ve sut down until Nikkitime.
SRW1
Did I see that right, poor Paul Ryan had to wait all by his lone self until Obama had completed his shaking hands tour and left the room before Ryan could gavel the session to a close?
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: It was in the opening list of objectives and phrased as “reduce the number of children killed by gun violence”.
Corner Stone
@pseudonymous in nc: It didn’t work. That’s just the truth of it. Sorry you don’t have the ability to actually evaluate the speech and its delivery.
WaterGirl
@Redshift: Rule the “lesser” people. I am sad that we only have another year of Barack Obama as our president, but not half as sad as it would be to look at the world that way.
Irony Abounds
@Corner Stone: You think any SOTU speech was great? It is a rare occurrence no matter who is President. I have no idea what you were looking for, but my guess is nothing he could have said or done would have pleased you. And don’t worry, I’ll leave it to you to yank your own god damn garters.
PsiFighter37
Speech, frankly, was okay – not really amazing. They should’ve brought Jon Favreau back for one last memorable speech.
SRW1
A quote from The Guardian live blog:
Suzanne
@Irony Abounds: Eh. I’ll vote for Bernie or Hillz (or Baud) without any regrets, because moving forward is the most important thing. Never lose ground.
Nice Tex Cruz trolling during the speech.
Shit, I would have basically spent the entire speech saying “NYAH NYAH NYAH, FUCKERS”, but that is why, for a President, I make a really good architect.
Corner Stone
@Irony Abounds: I am on record on this very blog blowing my nuts on previous PBO SOTU’s.
Don’t really care if you want to hear that or not but it’s truth. The other truth here is that this SOTU was sub par for him . Wevs.
Irony Abounds
Well, Ms. Haley won’t have to worry about matching deeds with soaring rhetoric.
amk
@pseudonymous in nc: yup, a guy who throws around fucks over trivial football games. ’nuff said.
Kay
“We like Nikki Haley because of what she did with that flag”
C. Matthews, moments ago
Irony Abounds
@Corner Stone: Well, whatever blows your nuts. Most SOTUs, even Obamas, are boring and overly long. I felt this speech was just fine under the circumstances, and your truth isn’t anyone’s but your own.
Cain
Nikki’s eyebrows are rising pretty high.
As an Indian, I would like to extend a fuck you to Nikki Haley.
Cacti
@Cain:
Nimrata “call me Nikki” Haley
As opposed to Rafael “call me Ted” Cruz, or Piyush “call me Bobby” Jindal.
David Koch
On which channel does Baud deliver his SOTU response?
Irony Abounds
@Cacti: They must have previously worked for Comcast Customer Service.
Corner Stone
@Irony Abounds: How ironic.
japa21
This was not his finest oratorical effort. And he doesn’t give a rat’s ass. He wasn’t really going for the inspirational. He was going after the naysayers and the doom and gloomers and the haters. In other words, he was going after the GOP.
This was the opening salvo for the campaign year. And he was great at that. And he definitely, based on this, is not going to go quietly into the night.
David Koch
@Cacti: What about Donald Drumpf?
farthestnorth
I was hoping Kim Davis would give the rebuttal
BillinGlendaleCA
@David Koch: It’s a virtual channel.
Cain
I would have liked to have seen Senator Obama at the SOTU. But he did a great job regardless.
I would say that Nikki probably did the best response from all the other 8 republican responses.
schrodinger's cat
@David Koch: TunchBlog.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@oldgold: I liked it a lot. I listened to it while doing other things, so I didn’t see too much of the video.
I thought he was speaking to history mainly, not mainly to people watching or the talking heads.
He was more than alluding to Kennedy when he talked about us conquering cancer and AIDS and malaria. I liked that he explicitly swatted down the doom and gloom, we’re broke and can’t do anything, and Daesh is going to kill us in our beds crowd. I liked that he again brought up the importance of Citizenship and us not just sitting around waiting for the politicians to fix things for us.
Was it his best? Dunno. But I think history will treat it as an important speech.
I hope voters wake up and take to heart some of the things he said. But tribalism is a really powerful thing in the USA… :-(
Cheers,
Scott.
pseudonymous in nc
@Corner Stone:
Sorry about the stick up your arse.