State of the Union

[WuDrWu]

Discuss.


Did we ever actually hear what the State of the Union is?

The President is out of line calling out the Supreme Court although it doesn't surprise me. His arrogance has exactly NO bounds.

I would have enjoyed Justice Alito dropping the gloves and giving the President what he had coming to him.

To me it was the typical Democratic speech. Everyone but the evil rich is going to get more and it won't cost anything.

[SFL]

Re: State of the Union

Discuss.


Did we ever actually hear what the State of the Union is?

The President is out of line calling out the Supreme Court although it doesn't surprise me. His arrogance has exactly NO bounds.

I would have enjoyed Justice Alito dropping the gloves and giving the President what he had coming to him.

To me it was the typical Democratic speech. Everyone but the evil rich is going to get more and it won't cost anything.

I almost threw-up watching this mug in the background...

[Maggie]

Re: State of the Union

The President is out of line calling out the Supreme Court although it doesn't surprise me. His arrogance has exactly NO bounds.

I would have enjoyed Justice Alito dropping the gloves and giving the President what he had coming to him.

I don’t have time to discuss the SOTU right now; however, President Obama flatly (and I can only assume willfully - he is a lawyer) misrepresented that Supreme Court ruling.

I will say this about the speech: It is good thing I decided against participating in a SOTU drinking game as I probably would have been hospitalized last night. On the bright side, I suppose, I would have passed out after the first five minutes.

[ISASO]

That would have been an interesting dynamic - a Supreme Court justice shouting "YOU LIE" at a President during that speech.

I suspect Alito would receive an ominous knock at his door in the dark of night. He would open the door to find Rahm Emanuel and several of his large, shadowy friends from Chicago in tow.

[WuDrWu]

The shaking of the head and mouthing "not true" worked for me.

If I were Justice Alito (or any other conservative on the bench), I'd increase my death benefit immediately.

[SFL]

Yikes again! :(

http://quote.foxbusiness.com/symbol/i:dji/snapshot

[Maggie]

Over the years, no matter who has been president, I have come to detest the SOTU address, in part for its absurd everything-and-the-kitchen-sink policy prescriptions, in part for the endless episodes of staged applause. I don’t know when or why the tradition developed of Supreme Court justices attending the speech, but it strikes me as a tradition worth abandoning.

A few thoughts regarding the President’s remarks about the Supreme Court (because several of the posts reference it):

1. In our system of separated powers, I think that it’s entirely proper and healthy for a president to engage in responsible criticism of a Supreme Court decision. (And so did, among others, Abraham Lincoln.) If there’s something seemingly impolite about offering that criticism in a State of the Union address when justices are present, I think that’s a good reason that justices should not attend.

2. As I pointed out before, President Obama’s criticism of the Court’s recent decision was demagogic mendacity. Period. Q.E.D. (As Linda Greenhouse points out in the NYT, Obama was also wrong in asserting that the decision “reversed a century of law.” – link below) That - not the mere fact of criticism - is what made it improper.

3. Perhaps it would have been more politic if Justice Alito had managed to remain stone-faced during Obama’s demagoguery, but I find it encouraging and refreshing that, notwithstanding his years in D.C., he retains the capacity to be jarred by lies. (It’s also impressive that Alito was still paying attention; the Washington Post noted that Justice Ginsburg evidently fell asleep during the drone-a-thon.)

NYT

Washington Post

[ISASO]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/27/democrats-asleep-reid-napolitano-sotu_n_439717.html

Did anyone ever fall asleep while Jesus was telling a parable? I would guess not so maybe Obama is human. Maybe Robert Gibbs could clarify that for us. Who in the press would dare ask that question?