The State of the Campaign Speech

The State of the Campaign Speech

This AWESOME Picture courtesy of http://totus-blog.blogspot.com/

He started out by once again connecting the Tucson shooting to “noise and passions and rancor of our public debate.” Just had to get that dig in, didn’t he? Not much else jumped out in the 2011 State of the Union speech, save that Obama is still pushing to punish big oil and ‘the wealthiest 2% of Americans’. Oh yeah, and has great but foggy dreams for the future – putting Americans to work building roads… he wants to see more Americans graduate high school, he wants college ‘within reach of every American’… he wants firefighters to be able to download building schematics on a handheld device, he wants 100,000 new teachers... He still wants to transform America into a ‘green’ nation (it’s worked so well for Spain, hasn’t it?)


It was basically a campaign stump speech to get rid of the tax loopholes, hire more people, spend more money, create rail systems… It was Obama at his vague and magical best; conjuring images in the air with no substance and no specifics. It had many well-worn staples like ‘simplifying the individual tax code’ and getting rid of fraud and waste :::::yawn:::::: “We need to out innovate, out educate, out build…. Yada yada, yada…”

He begged kids to think about becoming teachers without addressing how CURRENT teachers are leaving in DROVES because of how horrid the teaching profession is right now... paperwork, class audits, bureaucrats assessing teachers, more paperwork... lifelong teachers are having breakdowns, fighting suicidal tendancies and having heart attacks from the stress. I asked a professor what he would say to someone getting into teaching, he said, “Don’t! You'll have ulcers, sleepless nights, and you won't get to teach the kids without the government making your life hell... all the good teachers are leaving.” Obama didn't tell the prospective teachers THAT, now did he?


Obama proved he is still painfully out of touch with the main street American,,,” We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again.“ Really?!?!? Give me a break!

He threw so many ideas at the wall, some are bound to stick while most others can be shunned aside and forgotten. Those forgotten ones will be on the same shelf as closing Gitmo, getting us out of Iraq and Afghanistan “immediately… not next week, not next month… but the day I'm inaugurated” Remember him promising that back in 2008?


So, there were a lot of generalities, a lot of programs, a lot of spending… then a cursory talk of cutting 12% of domestic spending. So which is it? Are we going to cut spending, or spend on new programs? He spoke of the “10’s of billions of dollars” the Pentagon is willing to cut, but he’s also proposed increased spending on Family rediness, psychological treatment..." Again, throw both side of the issue at the wall, and someone’s gunna’ like it. This was also true with the talk on Afghanistan “we will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat you” (but troops are coming home in July regardless.)


There was a lot more joking and down home Palin-isms than I was expecting… talking about government oversight for salmon in fresh water, versus salt water…”I hear it gets even more complicated when they’re smoked.” Yuk Yuk Yuk… what a funny guy. Does he not realize that there are 20 million unemployed Americans out here that don’t want to see their President yucking it up as if everything’s hunky dory - HEY! let’s have a beer summit and some laughs?


What is it with Tunisia and Somalia? “And tonight, let us be clear: the United States of America stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people…” (but if you’re fighting for freedom in Iran, you’re on your own, bud!)


And again, on the military, “Tonight, let us speak with one voice in reaffirming that our nation is united in support of our troops and their families. Let us serve them as well as they have served us – by giving them the equipment they need; by providing them with the care and benefits they have earned; and by enlisting our veterans in the great task of building our own nation. “ ---- of course he’s freezing military pay, raising TriCare Insurance premiums, eliminating any benefits of shopping at the PX, and try and get us to cover battlefield wounds on our own private insurance. Oh! And his great example of supporting the troops? Getting rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell - a move 77% of combat military members were AGAINST!


In short, he said everything for everybody, making broad strokes and few specifics. He didn’t acknowledge the ‘spanking’ he and his party got in November. He was completely tone deaf to the shouting cries of the American public… again, reiterating that “out of touch” image the jokes and cutsie-cute remarks instilled.


It’s sad that with all the double talk, grandiose palaver, unfulfilled promises and directly contrary-to-the-desires of the American people strong-arming (ObamaCare, Stimulus…) he’s done in the past…. I can’t trust anything the man says, even the things that sound like great ideas. He promised ‘transparency’ yet every major bill he signed was negotiated and horse-traded behind closed doors with untoward back-room deals. He promised to ‘reach across the aisle’ yet told the Republicans ‘it’s my way or the highway’ on every major bill. So, what am I to believe?


As far as refering to this as our "Sputnik moment" - rudely and grostequely ironic considering HE gutted NASA and stripped them of their madate to explore space.... does he not realize when he's being perverse, or is he just that openly dishonest?  This was a speech filled with sound and fury signifying nothing, a carefully vague and nonspecific ruse for the rubes that will follow him like children after the pied piper. I want my 60 minutes back!