President Obama's speech tonight
Feb. 24th, 2009 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamsharkIt was a great speech, IMHO. (Thanks, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
skylarker, for reminding me it was on). Now that I've finished The West Wing, maybe I'll start watching our real-life president and staff instead. It's such a pleasure to have a president that actually... speaks in complete sentences!
I don't usually watch these things, so I don't know if it's usual or not, but there seemed to be a lot of excitement in the room (to the point where it was difficult for the President to get them to sit down and stop clapping so he could say something). There was about 5 minutes of standing ovation when he walked in, which finally subsided long enough for Nancy Pelosi to make a short introduction, which got them all on their feet clapping again for another couple of minutes. Then Obama got to say hello and make a couple of acknowledgements, which was going fine until he threw in one to "The First Lady" in the balcony and they all leaped to their feet and started applauding wildly again, while Mrs. Obama managed a perfect blend of slightly embarrassed and wholly radiant. It's startling how much she looks like a black Jackie Kennedy.
The speech started kind of bland, but once he got into the meat of it you began to realize that what sounded like obligatory introductory homilies actually paved the way for the main points. He made it clear in his opening remarks that he was there to speak to the nation, not to Congress. He didn't exactly say, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," but that was the gist of the introductory segment: it's a hard road ahead, but Americans are a great people and we can do it. I found it uplifting, but sort of content free. Then he got to the content - the three things he intends to focus on during his first year. The Big Three were: education, energy and health care. I can't think of a better set of choices. The goals he outlined were pretty ambitious, making JFK's goal of putting a man on the moon sound trivially easy. You can look up the details if you're interested. The impressive thing was that just for a moment I found myself believing it might be possible.
I watched on TV, which was kind of fun. I was surprised how often both sides of the house were on their feet applauding (again, can somebody tell me whether that is usual behavior for these speeches?). Apparently it's not obligatory, since there were definitely moments where only the Democrats stood up (such as the point where they found themselves on their feet applauding THEMSELVES for passing the stimulus bill while the Republicans sat and glowered). John McCain sat through some of the applause points, but was on his feet for the "We will not torture!" moment, looking like he might cry.
I liked the symbolic citizen moments a lot: "Let me introduce you to xxxx, a great American that should be a role model for us all." This kind of thing is common on the campaign trail, but I was a little surprised to see it in a speech before congress. It always works, though. People like a good story, and God knows we need some new role models. The little girl from South Carolina who wrote the precocious and heartfelt letter asking for more support for her school was sweet (I especially liked that she and her Mom were sitting with Michele Obama, who held the little girl's hand and gave her smiles and hugs). But the best one was the CEO who had taken his entire multi-million dollar bonus and distributed it to his employees. Apparently he'd tried to do it without publicity and looked like he was more embarrassed than proud to be dragged into the public eye. His wife, however, looked like she was about to explode with pride and joy. I'd like to see more of this type of CEO and less Gordon Gecko in the months ahead.
After the speech was over, Obama made a beeline for the Republican side of the chamber and turned on his charm offensive again. You know, I think he might really be serious about this bipartisan thing. Congress isn't exactly with the program yet, but I'm hoping he'll wear them down.
Then this Bobby Jindal character popped up to make the Republican response, which was ... awful. Apparently this little twerp is being touted as a possible presidential candidate for 2012 (which apparently explains why half the speech was about himself). OMG, is this really the best that the Republican party has to offer? Honestly, I was embarrassed for him.
skylarker, for reminding me it was on). Now that I've finished The West Wing, maybe I'll start watching our real-life president and staff instead. It's such a pleasure to have a president that actually... speaks in complete sentences!I don't usually watch these things, so I don't know if it's usual or not, but there seemed to be a lot of excitement in the room (to the point where it was difficult for the President to get them to sit down and stop clapping so he could say something). There was about 5 minutes of standing ovation when he walked in, which finally subsided long enough for Nancy Pelosi to make a short introduction, which got them all on their feet clapping again for another couple of minutes. Then Obama got to say hello and make a couple of acknowledgements, which was going fine until he threw in one to "The First Lady" in the balcony and they all leaped to their feet and started applauding wildly again, while Mrs. Obama managed a perfect blend of slightly embarrassed and wholly radiant. It's startling how much she looks like a black Jackie Kennedy.
The speech started kind of bland, but once he got into the meat of it you began to realize that what sounded like obligatory introductory homilies actually paved the way for the main points. He made it clear in his opening remarks that he was there to speak to the nation, not to Congress. He didn't exactly say, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," but that was the gist of the introductory segment: it's a hard road ahead, but Americans are a great people and we can do it. I found it uplifting, but sort of content free. Then he got to the content - the three things he intends to focus on during his first year. The Big Three were: education, energy and health care. I can't think of a better set of choices. The goals he outlined were pretty ambitious, making JFK's goal of putting a man on the moon sound trivially easy. You can look up the details if you're interested. The impressive thing was that just for a moment I found myself believing it might be possible.
I watched on TV, which was kind of fun. I was surprised how often both sides of the house were on their feet applauding (again, can somebody tell me whether that is usual behavior for these speeches?). Apparently it's not obligatory, since there were definitely moments where only the Democrats stood up (such as the point where they found themselves on their feet applauding THEMSELVES for passing the stimulus bill while the Republicans sat and glowered). John McCain sat through some of the applause points, but was on his feet for the "We will not torture!" moment, looking like he might cry.
I liked the symbolic citizen moments a lot: "Let me introduce you to xxxx, a great American that should be a role model for us all." This kind of thing is common on the campaign trail, but I was a little surprised to see it in a speech before congress. It always works, though. People like a good story, and God knows we need some new role models. The little girl from South Carolina who wrote the precocious and heartfelt letter asking for more support for her school was sweet (I especially liked that she and her Mom were sitting with Michele Obama, who held the little girl's hand and gave her smiles and hugs). But the best one was the CEO who had taken his entire multi-million dollar bonus and distributed it to his employees. Apparently he'd tried to do it without publicity and looked like he was more embarrassed than proud to be dragged into the public eye. His wife, however, looked like she was about to explode with pride and joy. I'd like to see more of this type of CEO and less Gordon Gecko in the months ahead.
After the speech was over, Obama made a beeline for the Republican side of the chamber and turned on his charm offensive again. You know, I think he might really be serious about this bipartisan thing. Congress isn't exactly with the program yet, but I'm hoping he'll wear them down.
Then this Bobby Jindal character popped up to make the Republican response, which was ... awful. Apparently this little twerp is being touted as a possible presidential candidate for 2012 (which apparently explains why half the speech was about himself). OMG, is this really the best that the Republican party has to offer? Honestly, I was embarrassed for him.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
A New Foundation
Date: 2009-02-25 11:29 am (UTC)It's common for there to be buzz in the room when The Prez shows up before a joint session of Congress. This was more than I've seen in a while. All the SCOTUS showed up (iirc) and everyone was eager to see and be seen. The last few Bush appearances were intensely embarrassing, with Cheney acting like a cheerleader to push a tepid applause line; hard to do with a scowl. Clinton was better at the meet-and-greet parts at the beginning and the end, though Obama does pretty well.
It used to be common for both sides of the aisle to give a Standing O for good lines, but Bush was so hideously partisan that the GOP would deliberately stand when their issues were pressed just to rub the Dem's noses in it. Wow, that made them look arrogant and stupid, and probably contributed to so many of them not being there anymore. This time around, as you note, Obama got in a few moments where the GOP didn't cheer but he was so inclusive in his statements that if you blinked you didn't notice.
Obama's references to "the mistakes of the past" and "we inherited a deficit..." (which he used several times) drew unexpected applause. The Democrats were on the war path. At last. But Obama was having very little of it. He really was trying to be "post partisan" even as he kept congratulating Congress for passing "bi partisan" measures. My prediction: Dems are on a roll and the goppies better watch their hide.
The "symbolic citizen moments" started with Reagan and have been a mainstay of speeches to Congress ever since.
I didn't even bother to watch the GOP response. Who cares what those idiots think? A conservative is someone who hasn't realized that they've lost...
Re: A New Foundation
Date: 2009-02-25 01:01 pm (UTC)I thought he got in a couple of digs are the Republicans toward the end.
I didn't watch the response, either.
Re: A New Foundation
Date: 2009-02-25 05:05 pm (UTC)K.
Re: A New Foundation
Date: 2009-02-25 07:41 pm (UTC)Re: A New Foundation
Date: 2009-02-25 07:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-25 07:48 pm (UTC)A friend described the republicans as not just shooting themselves in the foot, but essentially after the first bullet, to just continue to empty the clip into both of their feet. I hope the rest of the country and see their stalling and grousing for what it is.
I, too, was surprised by the number of Repubs participating in the standing ovations, although the sheer number of them kind of limited their effectiveness.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-26 01:42 am (UTC)I turned off the tube when Jindal started spouting more of the same garbage we had before.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-26 07:20 pm (UTC)But Obama did good. At least he talks a good fight, but as one Repub said, the devil is in the details. In other words, there's still a big question mark about exactly how his grand plan is going to take shape, and how well it will succeed. But the most important thing about the speech was his confidence, and his reminding the American people of the spirit that survived the Great Depression and won the space race.
Jindal, on the other hand, seemed to have taken the George W. Bush "How to Try to Appear Sincere When You're Really Not" course of public speaking. His body language was awful. I listened to the first few minutes of his talk, but when he justified his preference to not rely on the government by pointing to what happened after Katrina, I wanted to yell at him, "that wasn't the GOVERNMENT failing you, that was the BUSH ADMINISTRATION!" At which point I turned him off in disgust and went back to watching the first-season finale of CARNIVALE.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-26 08:33 pm (UTC)Besides the fact that bringing up Katrina is just not good PR for Republicans, that particular story ended in a strangely disheartening way, with nobody getting rescued while the politicians and bureaucrats were busy yelling at each other. What exactly was the point he was trying to make? Whatever it was, it wasn't exactly uplifting.
Isn't Carnivale GREAT? Not exactly uplifting either, but at least your nightmares will be creative and beautifully produced.