People have unique beliefs that don’t always fall neatly into Republican or Democrat camps.
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Rare is no exception, as we are a group of writers who believe the United States of America is worth fighting for but who have different ideas on key issues. While we agree on many things, we bring a diverse set of experiences and unique points of view to our editorial discussion.
We sat down to watch President Obama deliver this evening’s state-of-the-union address, interested in the effect his words will have on his party, his legacy and the nation.
The president’s words meant something different to each writer. Here are those thoughts.
Douglas Barclay
There is nothing more demoralizing than taking a photograph of the president of the United States on an iPad during the state-of-the-union address. Let’s find that man and make him feel silly.
Now for the important stuff.
While the president’s address was not at all very surprising, it is always fun to see him trot out the newest version of “this is the perfect world I wish to live in, but I won’t tell exactly I plan on getting there.” I couldn’t be the only one that was struck with the overt campaign rhetoric of the beginning of the speech.
Listing hypotheticals about teachers and a man riding a bus is fine, yet sounds like the type of dialogue normally given in the back of VFW halls and auditoriums — not Capitol Hill.
I watched along with the White House stream and found the interactive images quite amusing — such as this gem that appeared while the president wished to leave the world a better place for his children’s children.
Even for an Obama speech, the text was at times rife with the type of pun-soaked BuzzFeed cornball that has appeared over the last five years. From Mad Men references to really bad pizza puns, the president’s speech was certainly in line with the relaxed attitude of his tenure in office.
It’s always encouraging to stand up for women and the military, but perhaps he missed a moment to truly stand up for marriage equality. Ultimately, this may just be another round of presidential vitriol … while I don’t like the man very much, I would love nothing more for the idealism he preaches to come to fruition. Actions speak louder than words, Mr. President.
Thanks for introducing us to Cory Remsburg.
Carolyn Bolton
The old Woody Allen quote “Those who can’t do, teach” rang true tonight during President Obama’s state-of-the-union address — a speech in which Americans were schooled in sleight of hand meant to make them believe their commander-in-chief is effecting positive change when, in reality, he’s simply an empty-pocketed president spinning his wheels. While more than 13.1 percent of Americans are unemployed or underemployed — many having dropped off the job-search wagon entirely — President Obama’s most impassioned rhetoric concerned carbon-footprint reductions; contrast this with his seemingly disinterested rhetoric regarding the potential failure of Iranian nuclear negotiations. Forget the red herrings. Forget painting Americans as perpetually dependent. Swap out high-speed broadband for high-speed employment. Quit the “Little Dutch Boy” act and fix the dam hole that is out-of-control spending.
Anna Giaritelli
The attribution of actions … it can be good or bad, linked to successes or failures. The president’s narrative was a brilliant storytelling hour in which he deceitfully attributed “wins” within our borders to be the result of his leadership but failed to connect the two points.
President Obama in his personal self-assessment, or the “state of attributing positive growth to his presidency,” neglected to mention how his administration is directly associated with the prosperity Americans have seen in their lives. Obama hinted at, without specifying, how the opportunities Americans have utilized are to his credit.
He petitioned Americans to seize opportunities and overcome class differences. As long as an enticing welfare system exists, including his recent ploy to extend the duration of unemployment benefits, many will milk the system because, well, it’s an opportunity that does not afflict the comfortable.
Opportunity does not come to those who choose to receive a government check every month for years on end just because he or she can.
My decision to work does make me and the aforementioned hypothetical person economically unequal. If that’s the kind of inequality you seek to get rid of in America, prepare to dismantle those who rely on your system.
If the economy was actually thriving, inequality among the working and unemployed would cease to exist. That’s not the case. We don’t need more uplifting stories, we need plans.
Tabitha Hale
We’ve heard this speech before. It’s basically the same one he has given for the past five years. In all seriousness, a friend of mine inadvertently clicked the link to last year’s speech and tweeted along with us for 10 minutes before she realized she was watching the wrong one … a picture of the ties tipped her off. There were a couple things worth noting:
The first was when the president straight up begged businesses to give their employees raises. He obviously has no idea what that even means in the context of running a business. He presents this as if everyone running a business is a fat cat that is intentionally paying their employees as little as possible. He either truly believes that business owners are pocketing money that could be spent on wage increases, or he thinks that we are dumb enough to think we are sticking it to the man when we get pay increases. The fact that businesses are already burdened by the highest corporate tax rate in the world, insane Obamacare fees and a struggling economy doesn’t even register. Businesses can’t just add it to the tab of the American people like Washington has a tendency of doing. This is why it’s a horrible idea to let someone run a country who has no idea how to run … well, anything.
The second thing (which incited several all-caps tweets from me) was Obama’s assertion that he has “never hesitated to use force” when it comes to protecting the American people. There has seriously not been a time when the president acted confidently and decisively on a foreign-policy matter. He doesn’t know how to operate without hesitation. Dithering is his thing. A quick look back at Afghanistan and Benghazi is all we really need to shoot holes in his statement.
This was a pep rally. He needed to set the narrative heading into the midterm and that’s what he tried to do.
Jack Hunter
Every year the president gives a state-of-the-union address full of promises that will never happen, that we can’t afford and most of which are a bad idea to begin with.
This address was no different. Minimum-wage hike that will harm the entry-level job market and raise prices for everyone. More funding for “innovation,” as if state sponsorship in that area has even accomplished more than the free market. Further federalization of education, as if school choice, private education and homeschooling aren’t far outpacing the old standard government model.
If there’s something wrong that heavy government intervention hasn’t yet fixed, the president promises, yet again, that more government finally will. And, if Congress won’t go along, the president is ready to sign as many executive orders as necessary.
The economy is still doing poorly, unemployment is far too high and the president offers little more to explain it than the class-envy characteristic of his entire tenure.
Obama should be praised for seeking diplomatic solutions with Iran as opposed to imposing more sanctions, something the hawks in both parties prefer. He is right that our tendency to intervene abroad does indeed fuel more extremism than it prevents, however, his administration has been as guilty of this as the last.
Obama’s drone policy alone arguably fuels more anti-American sentiment than virtually any other, something Taliban victim and activist Malala Yousafzai told Obama personally when she visited the White House last year.
If Obama is serious about finally closing Gitmo, the same promise he made when his presidency began, it is still better late than never.
State-of-the-union addresses inevitably are full of promises. As President Obama delivers his fifth, Americans would like to finally see some solutions.
Matt Naham
As usual, the president has come forward and delivered an effective speech on a rhetorical level. Take, for example, this statement:
“[W]hat I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. Some require Congressional action, and I’m eager to work with all of you.”
Who doesn’t want these things?
Growth, strength, opportunity, unity. But the words I’m hung up on here are “concrete” and “practical.” The last four state-of-the-union addresses contained the same terminology, but where are the results? The use of the words “concrete” and “practical” here seem to mean “obvious” instead of “specific” – let alone good — particularly when it concerns what worries Americans the most: the economy.
His proposals: Let’s fix the tax code this year and — if Congress doesn’t get aboard — “I will act on my own.” Let’s raise the minimum wage. Let’s move clean-energy policies forward. Let’s fix income inequality for women. Let’s fix education. Owning a home should be for everyone. Let’s ensure 99 percent of our kids have the Internet, somehow, without adding to the deficit. Let’s institute “no risk” programs like “MyRA.” Let’s forge ahead with Obamacare because it worked for Amanda.
In the end this is really what the president meant by practical:
“So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Follow my lead, do as I suggest, do what’s obvious. Where the practicality of it all resides is lost on me.
Richard Thompson
It’s clear that President Obama’s ability to sway a crowd has diminished exponentially since he first took office in 2008.
Even Joe Biden seemed to have lost his buzz by the end of the speech.
But they say actions speak louder than words and the loudest person in the room was clearly John Boehner when he gave his silly half-salute after Obama’s “son-of-a-barkeeper” shout-out and sat down to continue mean-mugging the back of the president’s head.
Since I believe actions truly do speak louder than words, I’d like to imagine what the state-of-the-union after-party was like (I assume they have an open-bar shindig after these sorts of things.).
Did Boehner duke it out with Uncle Joe in the back alley after a couple Bourbon pulls? Did Michelle Obama hand out shots of wheat grass in an effort to promote her “Let’s Move!” campaign? Did Nancy Pelosi finally learn how to keep her crazy eyes in check while smiling?
Call it trivializing but, at the end of the day, what President Obama said during the state-of-the-union address doesn’t really matter. All that matters is what happens during the after-party.
Food for thought.