That’s not a thesis, it’s a junkheap » « The University of Wollongong just degraded the value of their degrees

I missed the state of the union address

I was busy. Also, I tend to get angry at political events, so I’ve been avoiding them.

But I caught up tonight, and I guess I missed a really good one.

I have a new criterion for who I’ll vote for in the election…who has the best dance moves?

That’s not a thesis, it’s a junkheap » « The University of Wollongong just degraded the value of their degrees

Comments

  3. slithey tove (twas brillig (stevem)) says

    While too many previously were just a long list of accomplishments with a meager list impossible dreams included; this one seemed a presentation of well reasoned optimism with reasonable challenges for longer term benefit than just next year. While some claim it was entirely responses to Trump blaps, I heard only an occasional reference to each of the Rethugs current talking points. The references were not just made in passing, but embedded in reasonable proposal to address the major issues facing [~] all of us.
    switched off the GOP response, unnecessary to hear more BS

  4. says

    When South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley gave the official Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, she said some predictable stuff, and she said some stuff that was not so predictable. She took veiled shots at Donald Trump:

    My story is really not much different from millions of other Americans. Immigrants have been coming to our shores for generations to live the dream that is America. They wanted better for their children than for themselves. That remains the dream of all of us, and in this country we have seen time and again that that dream is achievable.

    Today, we live in a time of threats like few others in recent memory. During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation. No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country.

    Some conservatives are very upset with Haley. Ann Coulter said:

    Trump should deport Nikki Haley. Nikki Haley says “welcoming properly vetted legal immigrants, regardless of religion.” Translation: let in all the Muslims.

    The Coulter text is from her Twitter feed.

    More rightwing backlash to the State of the Union speech:

    [from Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly]: “Has he [Obama] been in another world for the last 7 years? America has declined every day under his failed weak ideological disjointed illogical politically motivated attempt at leadership.”

    Because Nikki Haley included some substantial critiques of Trumpish politics in her speech. Trump responded by calling Haley “weak.”

    […] Trump responded to Haley during an interview on “Fox & Friends” and suggested that she was not under consideration to be his running mate.

    “I respond a couple of ways. Number one, she’s very weak on illegal immigration. I’ve known that for a long time. But she’s weak on illegal immigration,” Trump said. “And she certainly has no trouble asking me for campaign contributions. Because over the years, she’s asked me for a hell of a lot of money in campaign contributions. So it’s sort of interesting to hear her.”

    By way of clarifying what he meant by “weak on immigration,” Trump said: “I feel very strongly about illegal immigration. She doesn’t.”

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-responds-nikki-haley-sotu

    More rightwing backlash to Nikki Haley’s response to the SOTU speech:

    [Haley said:] “We need to be honest with each other, and with ourselves: While Democrats in Washington bear much responsibility for the problems facing America today, they do not bear it alone. There is more than enough blame to go around.

    “We as Republicans need to own that truth. We need to recognize our contributions to the erosion of the public trust in America’s leadership. We need to accept that we’ve played a role in how and why our government is broken.” […]

    Breitbart columinst John Nolte was livid […] “To the glee of our corrupt media, Nikki Haley is attacking our own frontrunner. The GOP Establishment is garbage.” […]

    Some humor from Obama:

    Matt Lauer asked President Barack Obama if he could imagine Donald Trump giving a State of the Union address. His response:

    “Well, I can imagine it in a Saturday Night [Live] skit.”

  5. says

    Republican legislators who watched the State of the Union address maintained dour and skeptical faces, while refusing to stand and applaud for the following:

    […] Nearly 15 million new jobs and the unemployment rate being cut in half.

    Equality for all Americans. [reference to marriage equality]

    Cutting pollution levels. […]

    Fighting terrorism.

    The idea that America is the strongest nation on earth. [I thought for sure the Republicans would like that one.]

    Avoiding war.

    Making it easier to vote.

    And—drumroll, please—saving the best for last …

    Curing cancer! […]

    Link

    The “curing cancer” part refers to a new “moon shot” initiative started by President Obama. He is putting more money into research, and he put Vice President Joe Biden in charge of “mission control.”

  7. says

    Some excerpts from the SOTU speech:

    […] The United States of America, right now, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world. We’re in the middle of the longest streak of private-sector job creation in history. More than 14 million new jobs; the strongest two years of job growth since the ’90s; an unemployment rate cut in half. Our auto industry just had its best year ever. Manufacturing has created nearly 900,000 new jobs in the past six years. And we’ve done all this while cutting our deficits by almost three-quarters. Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction. […]

    I told you earlier all the talk of America’s economic decline is political hot air. Well, so is all the rhetoric you hear about our enemies getting stronger and America getting weaker. The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. It’s not even close. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined. Our troops are the finest fighting force in the history of the world. No nation dares to attack us or our allies because they know that’s the path to ruin. Surveys show our standing around the world is higher than when I was elected to this office, and when it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead – they call us. […]

    Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention. Most of all, democracy breaks down when the average person feels their voice doesn’t matter; that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest.

    Too many Americans feel that way right now. It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency – that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There’s no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office. […]

    What I’m asking for is hard. It’s easier to be cynical; to accept that change isn’t possible, and politics is hopeless, and to believe that our voices and actions don’t matter. But if we give up now, then we forsake a better future. Those with money and power will gain greater control over the decisions that could send a young soldier to war, or allow another economic disaster, or roll back the equal rights and voting rights that generations of Americans have fought, even died, to secure. As frustration grows, there will be voices urging us to fall back into tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens who don’t look like us, or pray like us, or vote like we do, or share the same background.

    We can’t afford to go down that path. It won’t deliver the economy we want, or the security we want, […]

    White House link

    President Obama also took a short victory lap when he mentioned the nuclear deal with Iran, and how, so far, Iran is complying. He didn’t mention the ten U.S. sailors detained by Iran two days ago, but the new diplomatic relations with Iran were a plus when Secretary of State Kerry called his counterpart(s) in Iran and put an end to the hullabaloo almost immediately. The U.S. sailors have already been safely returned to a naval base, and seem to be well and unharmed.

  8. Anton Mates says

    @Lynna, OM

    [from Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly]: “Has he [Obama] been in another world for the last 7 years? America has declined every day under his failed weak ideological disjointed illogical politically motivated attempt at leadership.”

    Yes, clearly the highest political office in the country should never be occupied by someone with political or ideological motivations. White House policy should be driven entirely by the president’s personal greed and intense obsession with goldfish crackers.

  9. andyo says

    Second funniest thing in that video: Paul Ryan.

    Funniest thing: the fact that Paul Ryan’s face with the red hat wasn’t photoshopped.