The State of the Union, As It Goes

10:22 p.m. And it is over. Obama has never chanted “USA, USA, USA” before in his life. And it shows. Apart from that? I give that a pretty high marks for an ending. We don’t quit! I don’t quit! It was like a really good car commercial, back when we made cars. Still, it was nowhere near as ornate as some of the hyper-engineered Bush speeches? But it was less manipulative and therefore more persuasive. But! Now that that is concluded, we would like to hear from you in the comments, so we can know more fully what we all think of this speech tomorrow.
10:19 p.m. Oh, we found the part that could get me weepy. “The 8-year old boy in Louisiana, who just sent me his allowance and asked if I would give it to the people of Haiti.” OOF.
10:16 p.m. Are you ready? Are YOU READY? “The more that TV pundits reduce serious debates into silly arguments, and big issues into sound bites, our citizens turn away.” THIS MEDIA ANALYSIS WILL NOT STAND. (Or does it? We will discuss this more fully tomorrow.) For sure, Rachel Maddow is throwing her beer at the TV now.
10:14 p.m. In 2011, gays also get to openly be denied PTSD benefits after killing people for wars started on false pretenses. Related: when did my love for Obama, so strong 45 minutes ago, begin to evaporate?
10:13 p.m. “Eventually we are going to own Haiti and reform it into a resort full of servants.” (Too soon? Yes. Way too soon. But you know, check back in ten years.)
10:10 p.m. In just four years, we are going to secure the world’s nuclear materials! If we haven’t been nuked into oblivion.
10:08 p.m. Hey, so, we are going to support the military when they come home now. Not deny them benefits and force them to sue for the support. (Starting, you know, two whole days ago.)
10:06 p.m. AL QAEDA HAS A SPIDER ARMY NOW? Oh phew. He said “fighters.” I don’t know why I was thinking about spiders!
10:03 p.m. John Cornyn has already trashed Obama’s delivery. Issued at 9:11 p.m. (9:11 p.m.? REALLY?)
10:00 p.m. The windup to the windup: America has always had division, etc. Now someone needs to work on a version of “Every day is Election Day” for this.
9:58 p.m. Annnd he just trashed the Supreme Court, who had to sit there and eat it. The line is: “Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests-including foreign corporations-to spend without limit in our elections.”
9:57 p.m. It never gets old to hear it acknowledged that tax cuts for wealthy Americans over the last eight years helped destroy America. On this, you and I and the teabaggers and everyone in between can agree!
9:56 p.m. “This freeze will not take effect until next year, when the economy is stronger.” One also has to be careful with those whens….
9:54 p.m. Triple ooh, executive order creating the bipartisan Fiscal Commission that got killed by the Senate.
9:52 p.m. Double ooh! Spending freeze gets like ONE SAD GOLF CLAP.
9:51 p.m. Oooh. Record-straightening on the recent history of American finance and the vast ballooning of the deficit. This is also super-sweet.
9:49 p.m. You know what, in all seriousness? It is a good thing he is going hard on health care reform like this. We might get our “vast improvement over the status quo.” And now he is taunting the Republicans to bring him some “ideas.” This is actually pretty sweet. (And, again? Very English!)
9:46 p.m. Ha! “’Now, let’s clear a few things up.’ ORLY TAITZ LEANS FORWARD…”
9:45 p.m. Oh, haayyyy, he actually brought up this stale old topic of “health care reform”? Remember when we used to talk about that all the time? So he is taking it back to root causes. The root cause of health care reform being that health care SUCKS IT HARD in this country.
9:43 p.m. Hmm. A $10,000 tax credit for college-student-having families. And a 10% income cap on student loans. Well… for starters, colleges need their asses kicked. And THEN people need help with the college cost. ONLY AFTER the college asses are all kicked.
9:42 p.m. BTW? Get ready for the part where he talks about a young scientist. It should be v. v. heartwarming.
9:41 p.m. No one likes to hear about our friends in Columbia. No one Republican, at least.
9:39 p.m. More money for farmers! You guys, farming. Start farming. You have it MADE.
9:36p.m. So the other day it was BUDGET FREEZE and now it’s basically DRILL BABY DRILL.
9:35 p.m. This has been some engrossing TV. I just totes ate a whole bag of cheddar cheese puffs without even noticing. I feel bad.
9:33 p.m. Um there was some chanting in response to his “NO SECOND PLACE FOR AMERICA” line. Was it “USA, USA?”
9:32 p.m. Oh good. He’s addressing the “SLOW DOWN” Republican talking points. Because that was some made-up shit.
9:31 p.m. He wants a jobs bill on his desk without delay. I want a jobs bill without Tom DeLay! HI-O.
9:30 p.m. You know, the noise in the room tonight is very English. Lots of roaring? They sound like drunken English Parliament!
9:29 p.m. TRAINS? High-speed trains in… Tampa? TO WHERE? Panama City? Destin? Okay. Biden finally got something, I guess.
9:27 p.m. Uh oh. Trouble. There’s a call now for tens of millions of dollars to be given to banks to lend money? The banks that WON’T LEND MONEY? Even though they HAVE IT?
9:27 p.m. But what about us comfortable people, who no longer have any money, who don’t want to install windows and build schools (because we don’t have any real skills)?
9:26 p.m. Oh! “New Job Bill Called For.”
9:25 p.m. There are single teachers that raise two kids. Also, some businesses “are starting to hire again.” It’s true! They just get TRAMPLED by job-seekers. Overqualified, PhD-having job-seekers.
9:23 p.m. Gosh, my affections for Obama have returned. Fleetingly. Ana Marie Cox just wrote that “Okay, just consider this the ‘Wall Street BAD MAKE OBAMA ANGRY’ section.” But I think that’s a little too jaded maybe?
9:19 p.m. Okay so this is about togetherness, and unity, and the stuff like that. And? WE ALL HATED THE BANK BAILOUT? Whoa. Okay whoa. GAME? CHANGED.
9:17 p.m. I am ALSO TIRED OF THE SHOUTING AND THE PETTINESS. (Mostly my own.) But not of the partisanship. I like that part. I’m pro-difference.
9:15 p.m. For real, dawg. 2009 was the implosion of some systemic shit, and it is nice to hear that acknowledged.
9:13 p.m. J/K. This is kind of moving. And I approve of the tie even.
9:12 p.m. FUCK THIS GUY.
9:11 p.m. Aww, he’s cute, with his serious face. Sometimes I get mad at the President, but really he’s just a guy, you know?
9:10 p.m. David Cho: “Barack points too much. Barack is pointing just to start a meme. He knows people are going to take pictures.”
9:09 p.m. You guys have totally heard this new Sade song right?
9:08 p.m. OMG all the clapping. It is like the sound of a hard rain in the Tibetan hills.
9:07 p.m. Should we do this?