Patterico's Pontifications

1/25/2011

State of the Union: Open Thread (and, if I Can Work It in, Live Chat)

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 5:36 pm



Leave your comments below. If I get a chance, I’ll put up a live chat when I can. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Sorry no live chat. Boy, that was awful, huh?

133 Responses to “State of the Union: Open Thread (and, if I Can Work It in, Live Chat)”

  1. Stephen Green is drunkblogging it, so I poured a rum and coke.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  2. We call it ‘a Cuba Libre’ or the little lie.

    narciso (6075d0)

  3. I am thankful there are brave and dedicated people who are willing to watch and tell me what I missed, or didn’t miss, or whatever. I will need to put my daughter to bed at that time, and I can tell she will want a real long story at bedtime tonight.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  4. Lie lie lie lie be civil lie lie lieBush lie lie lie unexpected lie lie lie Gabby lie lie lie deficit reduction lie lie lie fiscal responsibility lie lie lie green technology investment lie lie lie bipartisan work together lie lie uh uh huh um lie

    SOTU in 50 words or less.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  5. Big time thunderstorms in SW Florida. TV reception spotty at best. I’m out of the loop.

    ropelight (20aa73)

  6. Don’t need to watch it; here’s the Cliff Notes version:

    Our democracy is great.
    Congratulations to Republicans; now let’s work together.
    Yay Gabrielle Giffords; let’s be nice to each other.
    We have to get a handle on the deficit, but we can’t hurt people in need.
    I made tough choices; I’m ready to make more.
    Teachers are great, and education needs more money. I’m prepared to pretend to demand accountability if needed.
    Health care reform can’t be touched.
    Let’s use less oil and recycle more.
    Things are going well in Iraq and Afghanistan; nevertheless, we are going to leave soon, but I won’t commit to when.
    North Korea is a problem.
    China is an ally and a competitor, when they aren’t being an obstacle to freedom.
    Wouldn’t it be great if Israel and Palestine could figure it all out?
    Keep hoping.
    God bless us, unless the deism that statement offends you.

    JVW (4463d3)

  7. I think Boehner is crying.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  8. It was a graceless acknowledgment of Boehner’s elevation to Speaker.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  9. I’m still not getting why people think this guy is a great speaker. The tics as he cranes his head, never breaking eye lock with the teleprompter just annoy the crap out of me.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  10. Stephen calls it the left-right-left skull metronome.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  11. Obama forgets that we did use biofuels before switching to fossil fuels. They were called wood and whale oil.

    Michael Ejercito (64388b)

  12. JD

    you forgot this part.

    spend spend spend, er, i mean invest, invest, invest.

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  13. I love this from Stephen Green’s comment threads:

    Paul Ryan’s like a lot of the rock bands I’ve seen over the years.

    He has a lousy opening act.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  14. Undocumented workers. Douchebag. Calling illegal aliens undocumented workers is not a sign that you want to address the issue in good faith.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  15. If you have no job, just borrow money as a non dischargable student loan …

    The new “let them eat cake”.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  16. This is not a knock on Obama (honestly), but why do all the big broadcast networks see fit to carry the State of the Union, especially in an era where 95% of Americans (or whatever it is) get cable or satellite channels? I would think that the big four networks should get together and alternate carrying the SOTU each year, so the rest of us can watch Walker, Texas Ranger or NCIS or whatever drek the networks usually carry.

    JVW (4463d3)

  17. Awesome: Revenge of the Nerds on the Fox Movie Channel in 15 minutes!

    JVW (4463d3)

  18. My head is about to explode. President Obama says one of the advantages of High Speed Rail is they are a faster way to travel because there’s no TSA pat-downs. Well, yeah, but that’s only because there hasn’t been a bomb in the the leading car of a train travelling at 220mph yet. But golly, California should spend something between $20 billion and $90 billion because no terrorist has thought of it as a target yet. I am so sick of these spenders.

    Wesson (dc314c)

  19. They just gave a standing ovation to themselves for passing a law that had a clause in it that fucked small businesses, and now they might fix it. Never mind. He is such a lying blowhard whining about Bush and deficit spending.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  20. Wesson, he is President of the United States and he is ignorant of the terrorist incidents of recent times like Madrid.

    Unf**kingbelievable.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  21. After increasing discretionary spending by 84 percent in 2 years, he now proposes a freeze. Lying arse.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  22. If I ever get to be programming director at a cable channel, I am running a Three Stooges marathon against the SOTU. If I could find one now I would so be there.

    JVW (4463d3)

  23. Obama does not mention that insurance companies still deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.

    Fire insurance companies do not cover pre-existing fire damage. Auto insurance companies do not cover pre-existing collision damage.

    Michael Ejercito (64388b)

  24. Oh, my God. He is talking about reducing spending and his bipartisan commission — and including tax breaks as part of the “spending” . . . but not talking about really doing something about Social Security.

    Now he is mentioning it — but saying we must reform it “without” [insert list of the only things that will work, like reducing benefits to future generations].

    Aaargh.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  25. If you make $250,000 you are now a millionaire.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  26. love this bit. spending = tax breaks and loopholes. got that? not taking your money is spending!

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  27. His commission was nothing but a distraction, its brazen that he even mentions them since he’s abandoning their proposals.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  28. The idea that this clown could ever be fiscally responsible is laughable. The idea that he could create a competent government is even more so.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  29. TRANSPARENCY !!!!!!!!

    JD (d4bbf1)

  30. Or London, or the Tschaikovsky station in Moscow, or the half dozen train related plots in this country

    narciso (6075d0)

  31. He’s still lying about nonexistant “health care cost reductions”.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  32. If you make $250,000 you are now a millionaire.

    I thought Gibbs was earning a small salary.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  33. Wow, Glenn put up the classic photo of this stupid fest.

    http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/113831/

    SPQR (26be8b)

  34. His commission was nothing but a distraction, its brazen that he even mentions them since he’s abandoning their proposals.

    Exactly what I thought. He is nothing if not brazen.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  35. SPQR: Hahahahahahahaha.

    What the hell is he doing with his mouth?

    And every time I see this guy, I wonder if he is wearing lipstick.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  36. Well, I give up. I’m going to go watch “White Collar” on cable.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  37. Patterico, isn’t a great shot? That facial expression as if he’s swallowed a turd while intently focused on his teleprompter, and those ears …

    Meanwhile, Joe Biden’s hair plugs are so bored they are asleep.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  38. I was about to ask, “Is this guy the best that America can produce?” But then I remembered: False premise.

    Kevin Stafford (abdb87)

  39. Much more productive use, although Andrew McCarthy, (from the Brat pack) as the villain, that doesn’t quite work, maybe

    narciso (6075d0)

  40. #

    If you have no job, just borrow money as a non dischargable student loan …

    The new “let them eat cake”.

    Comment by SPQR — 1/25/2011 @ 6:39 pm

    This is something I wish more people understood.

    It’s not like other debt. When I first bought a house, I was a recent graduate. When we were going over my debts, the only substantial one was student debt, and it limited the price of the house I could get a mortgage for.

    No problem. I could still afford a nice house, and the reasoning behind this limitation is for my own good. But my realtor told me to just take another class so that all my student debt wouldn’t be counted by the bank. Lovely.

    A lot of people wind up out of a job, with already crushing student debt, and the easy way out is to just take another class. It keeps them from paying the piper now, but it makes the situation much worse.

    My view is that you shouldn’t be able to enroll in college if you have a poor debt to income ratio. Also, we shouldn’t give loans for the vast numbers of useless degrees programs out there.

    It’s only a matter of time before there’s a bona fide bailout for student debt, at the expense of those who paid their own way instead of falling into the trap. The main beneficiaries are overpriced universities.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  41. Good idea, SPQR. Good show.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  42. Barcky thinks we are stupid.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  43. When you hear the teaparty message tonight, remember that thier leader who touts the constitution has not even the most basic knowledge of American history.

    More here.

    Tea Party America (a1e089)

  44. Hush, Yelverton. You are an idiot.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  45. President Obama says one of the advantages of High Speed Rail is they are a faster way to travel because there’s no TSA pat-downs.

    Which is totally irrelevant because Napolitano’s already gone on record saying that they’d have to look at putting these measures in for mass transit as well.

    http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/130549-next-step-for-tight-security-could-be-trains-boats-and-the-metro-

    Another Chris (67858a)

  46. Willie the racist hilljack is out doing the TPM/Soros talking points thingie.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  47. Is anyone else astounded that Ryan didn’t mention the escalating price of oil and link that to Obama’s policies? Granted the single biggest factor in oil’s rise is the Fed’s printing press which has caused every commodity to soar, but shutting down the Gulf of Mexico is certainly bizarre under these circumstances. There’s a reason the Republicans are called the stupid party.

    Gerald A (9ef895)

  48. graceless and clueless
    big 0 full of platitudes
    and dis hillary

    ColonelHaiku (f8a47b)

  49. Barky thinks freezing spending is a painful cut – He’s got that Dem speak down pat.

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  50. Crissy tingle is still blathering on about Reich wing rhetoric.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  51. spending freeze = reduction in the rate of increase of the debt.

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  52. Now that I’ve heard the whole thing, let me say, in the most civil way I can, that this guy is easily the biggest liar and smallest intellect ever to occupy the White House. He will lose in 2012, and lose big, and history will take little note of him.

    Kevin Stafford (abdb87)

  53. Spending, spending, spending.

    Moment of jaw-dropping stupidity: snickering about not needing patdowns to board the futuristic high-speed rail trains. Because terrorists NEVER attack trains.

    gp (098d27)

  54. Barky is not going to tell whats his name his brain cancer is not covered by insurance or whats his name his prescriptions are covered.

    Why doesn’t Barky tell us what lucky son of a gun he’s going to tell has to pay for whats his names’ brain cancer and prescriptions?

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  55. Another Chris, that’s a damn shame. I’d love a nice alternative to air travel. I realize a huge rail system would be a ridiculous money hole, but if we built one, I’d use it if the security theater was very low.

    Gerald, I fear that’s because Republicans are deathly afraid of being associated with ‘Big Oil’. The dems can just pretend your (great) argument means someone is loyal to big oil, and ignore the main point of how this affects the rest of us. Oil is The Enemy, apparently.

    Until the GOP starts fighting back on that kind of crap, we’re going to avoid many excellent points.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  56. I wish I could get an 84 percent increase in my salary, and then claim that it was a sacrifice to have my pay frozen.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  57. Comment by Kevin Stafford

    You forget how few actually PAY taxes to the IRS. Add to those the Truly Delusional (some might call them “true believers”), and you have more than enough to vote for President Hope’n’Change.

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  58. That whole Sputnik “thing” …
    And now the Communists have established a foothold in outer space. Pretty soon they’ll have damned space platforms so they can drop nuclear bombs on us, like rocks from a highway overpass. Now HOW IN THE HELL did they ever get ahead of us?

    Isn’t Sputnik where the “nuclear arms race” took off ?

    Neo (03e5c2)

  59. Repealing ObamaCare will cost us MONEY!!!!!!!

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  60. I also wonder how many of these people “now benefiting from the health Care Bill” are aware that it hasn’t even STARTED to take effect yet.

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  61. Barky is willing to work with people who have good ideas – we’ve heard that one before. Pull my other finger.

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  62. oh, ryan just drew blood, pointing out that investment = spending. nice.

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  63. We know at least one person, who isn’t afraid to put those realities forward, but that’s not considered ‘presidential’ but evasion of the real
    state of the union is?

    narciso (6075d0)

  64. BRAZEN JAW DROPPING DISHONESTY

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  65. The “failed stimulus” that saved GM and averted a depression.

    Tea Party America (3f7f82)

  66. So Obama said that he is willing to listen to the ideas of Republicans to work on Health Care?

    Didn’t we hear that last year?

    I mean, that exact freaking line?

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  67. Ryan doesn’t remember that Republicans voted to increase the debt ceiling every year under Bush, now under Obama, it’s suddenly irresponsible.

    The stimulus SAVED GM and the American economy.

    Ryan (6ca10f)

  68. Scott, actually there were some provisions that have taken effect. One provides of high risk pools for people with preexisting conditions. It had billions allocated to it and a projected enrollment of 300,000 people by now. Its exhausted its funds, and enrolled 8,000 people.

    The Obamacare bill has already failed.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  69. Now, I’ve heard rumors that a few of you have some concerns about the new health care law. So let me be the first to say that anything can be improved. If you have ideas about how to improve this law by making care better or more affordable, I am eager to work with you. We can start right now by correcting a flaw in the legislation that has placed an unnecessary bookkeeping burden on small businesses.

    What I’m not willing to do is go back to the days when insurance companies could deny someone coverage because of a pre-existing condition.

    Rumors? Most US States are suing on the grounds it is not constitutional. 50% or more of Americans oppose it.

    It really is the ‘audacity of hope’ to pretend Americans won’t be insulted by how he’s dismissing these ‘rumors’.

    Your law was rammed through by the slimmest margin, by people who had not read it. Now you refuse to go back on the most central reason it won’t work?

    So if someone doesn’t have insurance, and gets a major disease, they can just get insurance and everyone else has to eat the cost. That burden means you can no longer call it ‘insurance’ at all. I don’t need it to prepare for the unforseen. I need it for the most recent diagnosis.

    And because this can’t work, it requires the government to force something unconstitutional on me. And you won’t budge. For the children.

    Sadly, he’s probably right. The GOP isn’t going to overcome the preexisting conditions issue, so healthcare is effectively destroyed.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  70. Dustin, to be quite honest, I wouldn’t mind a national rail system for travel, either. Amtrak is pointless because it doesn’t go everywhere–hell, I’d love to take a train from Albuquerque to Vegas, or even DC (if nothing else, so I can flip off the Federal Reserve). But as long as the TSA is in place, these security measures are going to be inevitable when you’re talking about transporting massive numbers of people over great distances.

    And Obama’s naive if he actually thinks a “high-speed rail network” is even politically viable. The airlines are always on the brink of bankruptcy, and the implementation of a mass rail network, if it worked, would result in a whole industry potentially going under save for maybe one or two major carriers.

    And where exactly are we going to get the blue-collar workers needed to run and maintain the infrastructure? The insistence by Obama that “everyone should go to college!” all but insures that the system would fall apart within 10-20 years anyway. Who the hell wants to spend $40K for a degree, only to end up fixing track in the desert southwest during the summer?

    Finally, the whole idea of a “national high-speed rail network” guarantees that the thing will be run by the Dept of Transportation, so it will end up being a huge subsidized mess.

    How on earth does Obama (and most left-wingers, for that matter) expect a nation of over 300 million people to pay for everyone’s college, everyone’s healthcare, and everyone’s transportation, on top of everything else, to say nothing of even paying down the national debt? Even cutting the DoD to $0 wouldn’t come close to closing the gap–hell, right now, it wouldn’t even pay off the current spending deficit.

    No, this high-speed rail thing is just a sop to make the hippies feel good. Like a lot of things he says, it’s a beautiful theory, but beautiful theories have a way of being crushed by ugly realities.

    Another Chris (67858a)

  71. trains are like really big buses you can’t steer

    happyfeet (164ead)

  72. I can rest assured that the the Presidential inanities spewed forth tonight will be properly dissected in tomorrow’s WSJ, with great relish.

    Then, the country can get back to the really important issues of the day:
    The Super-Bowl spread.

    AD-RtR/OS! (54f08d)

  73. High speed rail reminds me of the Simpson’s monorail episode with Phil Hartman. Made the same points; who’s going to use it, and who would pay for it?

    “Investing” is up 84%, not spending. Let me be clear; spending is a verboten. This very evening the Missus invested in broccoli,Oreos, pork chops and sweet potatoes.If you think of Oreos as “investments” we can all be rich, not just those evil people making $250K.

    To all presidents; we are officially broke. Let the masses yearning to breathe free figure it out fro themselves without American soldiers fighting their battles. We want Osama’s head on a pike, nothing else.

    The Gettysburgh Address clocked in at just over 4 minutes. Is this verbal excess doing anything other than wasting bandwidth and screwing up DVRs?

    Bugg (4e0dda)

  74. How on earth does Obama (and most left-wingers, for that matter) expect a nation of over 300 million people to pay for everyone’s college

    Like everything else, they’ll just tax the rich!

    AD-RtR/OS! (54f08d)

  75. The GOP isn’t going to overcome the preexisting conditions issue, so healthcare is effectively destroyed

    I actually don’t mind prohibiting HC Insurance co’s not being able to deny because of pre-existing conditions…

    It’s the refusing to let them charge higher premiums to those people that I find stupid.

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  76. Isn’t Sputnik where the “nuclear arms race” took off ?

    The nuclear arms race probably had a lot more to do with Kennedy’s “missile gap” argument, which was a flat-out lie that he told to make the Eisenhower administration (and Nixon, by implication) seem weak on defense.

    Another Chris (67858a)

  77. It’s the refusing to let them charge higher premiums to those people that I find stupid.

    Comment by Scott Jacobs — 1/25/2011 @ 7:49 pm

    OK, I admit, there would be a sensible way to let the market handle this.

    If someone has AIDS, and applies for insurance, their insurance will have to be freaking expensive to justify the risk to the insurance company.

    We should accept that we actually do want insurance companies to have viable business models. That is the goal, right? If they aren’t making money, then they go away, and we have to resort to socialism. Oh wait. I think I just figured it out…

    /CPT Obvious

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  78. “Investing” is up 84%, not spending. Let me be clear; spending is a verboten. This very evening the Missus invested in broccoli,Oreos, pork chops and sweet potatoes.If you think of Oreos as “investments” we can all be rich, not just those evil people making $250K.

    There’s been some articles popping up recently about consumer savings and spending rates, and how the savings rates are still high despite the economy supposedly “recovering.” What’s left unsaid is that the government considers paying down consumer debt to be “saving,” even though it’s really not.

    Another Chris (67858a)

  79. wasting bandwidth and screwing up DVRs?

    Comment by Bug

    I sadly suspect more people will be ticked over the DVR issue than will listen to Obama’s speech.

    You’ve got a damn fine point that speeches are too long. If Obama gave a 5 minute SOTU, he’d gain 5 popularity points overnight.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  80. As a tax attorney, saving is on the upswing, but not necessarily investing. Nobody trusts the market right now. No one knows what will happen in the bond market. And companies with cash reserves are staying on the sidelines waiting to see what the costs of the health care mandates and tax increases could be under The One. Better to watch the lawn grow at 1-2% than watch your house burn down.

    Bugg (4e0dda)

  81. Gerald, I fear that’s because Republicans are deathly afraid of being associated with ‘Big Oil’. The dems can just pretend your (great) argument means someone is loyal to big oil, and ignore the main point of how this affects the rest of us.

    They can cut through that baloney if they are skillful and forceful in making the argument. They should imitate the Democrats and just keep reminding people that oil is going up, over and over and over. You have to keep repeating it, not say it once and then run with your tail between your legs when they bring up “big oil”.

    Gerald A (9ef895)

  82. No, this high-speed rail thing is just a sop to make the hippies feel good. Like a lot of things he says, it’s a beautiful theory, but beautiful theories have a way of being crushed by ugly realities.

    Comment by Another Chris — 1/25/2011 @ 7:43 pm

    LOL. Yeah, that sums it up perfectly. It’s one of those things that sound sweet, would be awesome in a sci fi movie, and Obama can benefit from promising because he won’t be around to realize the disaster. Kinda like Obamacare.

    And it also reminds me of the tunnel that Christie had to abort in New Jersey. Lots of agitators wanted massive spending, and when someone pulls the plug, they are blamed.

    Obama knows someone will have to pull the plug on high speed nationwide rail, and that person will be accused of costing our country some sweet fictitious BS.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  83. You have to keep repeating it, not say it once and then run with your tail between your legs when they bring up “big oil”.

    Comment by Gerald A

    I keep running into this point. We have to be tireless in responding to memes. It seems like a tremendous burden, what with all the lies told for dems, but that is exactly what it will cost to recover as a country.

    I don’t think we have a choice.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  84. “trains are like really big buses you can’t steer”

    Mr. Feets – It takes major practice to keep those train wheels on those tiny rails. The steering wheel ain’t like your daddy’s oldsmobile.

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  85. What a fantastic speech! God Bless our dear Leader (pbuh).

    Hooray for the President encouraging our lemming insensate urge to leap to our collective deaths!

    Where is your patriotism? You all must be enemies of the state and worthy of round up for appropriate dispensation (i.e. “bang” and your relatives get a bill for the bullet).

    Pieter Nosworthy (91027e)

  86. Mr. Feets – It takes major practice to keep those train wheels on those tiny rails. The steering wheel ain’t like your daddy’s oldsmobile.

    Comment by daleyrocks

    Imagine being one of those DC Metro workers who actually wasn’t up to this job.

    Please tell me I didn’t just insult a dead person.

    What a fantastic speech! God Bless our dear Leader (pbuh).

    CIVILITY!!!!

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  87. Please tell me I didn’t just insult a dead person.

    Too soon, dude. Too soon. 🙂

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  88. I wonder if high-speed rail would be better if it were named after a politician. I think it’s a master stroke to call the health insurance bill Obamacare. I hope it sticks. Just imagine what it would be like today if the British National Health Care had somebody’s name on it – so that every time it killed somebody and everytime it denied treatment and everytime it took 2 years to get in to see a doctor that name would be connected with the disaster.

    Instead of Amtrak, we should ride on Democrat Trains. The elderly should have to go to their Democrat Healthcare Doctor. And we could call our deficit the Democrat Debt.

    Well… maybe not that last one.

    Gesundheit (aab7c6)

  89. I love that idea, Gesundheit.

    We should rename the bill Obamacare.

    I think we already know how they’d react, since they already freaked out that we call it that.

    I think it would be perfectly fair to call the debt the Obama debt, since he wants the debt ceiling raised. It can remain the Obama debt until President Huckabee asks to have it raised.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  90. Trains are even harder to protect than planes, because the tracks are vulnerable to sabotage. You have to secure the whole infrastructure, not just the terminal points. Multi-billion-dollar train systems will make an attractive target for jihadis and wackos.

    All train systems, everywhere, need subsidies to operate.

    Here in the Chicago area, we have train accidents every frickin week. Here’s an idea: make the trains faster!

    Finally, who needs the damn things? We’ve all got cars, which will get you door to door faster than any train 90% of the time. Plus, your car has a trunk, so you can carry stuff. It would be cheaper and more efficient just to blow the money on buying every family a Hyundai.

    So I guess you would have to count me out on the whole high-speed rail idea.

    gp (098d27)

  91. I liked Ryan’s speech – hit most of the right notes, and made a compelling case that the POTUS and his party’s made a difficult financial situation into a dire one in only two years. He also made sure to mention that the growth in the Fed gov’t is placed squarely on both parties going back decades, and that we have nowhere to hide anymore on the deficit. Good beginning, even better speeches (and actions) to follow shortly.

    Dmac (498ece)

  92. President googley-eyes! You people are funny. Huckabee is the only Republican that even has a chance, true, but it is not much of one. Look at that Presidential job approval rating.

    Chris Hooten (6b52e6)

  93. This is a future in which we will transform our social safety net into a hammock, which lulls able-bodied people into lives of complacency and dependency.

    From Paul Ryan’s very direct speech.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  94. Oh surprise, surprise: the Dog Trainer is already spinning this as Obama’s brilliant political recalibration. Here is the cringe-inducing concluding paragraph:

    Self-assured and increasingly comfortable in his role as national leader, Obama proved again Tuesday night that he can seize the big moment. If the political winds continue to blow his way, he will be a formidable foe for the Republicans, this year and next.

    JVW (4463d3)

  95. Trains are even harder to protect than planes, because the tracks are vulnerable to sabotage. You have to secure the whole infrastructure, not just the terminal points. Multi-billion-dollar train systems will make an attractive target for jihadis and wackos

    This. More people die in train-related accidents each year in the US than in planes.

    Shifting it to highly vulnerable trains is, frankly, the bright idea of a complete retard.

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  96. increasingly comfortable in his role as national leader

    Well, when your starting point is Zero, any move up is an improvement…

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  97. We’ve all got cars, which will get you door to door faster than any train 90% of the time.

    I’ve been commuting downtown for years, and if everyone had to take a car suddenly (which happened when the CTA went on strike about two decades ago), it would be total chaos in the metro area. But regarding high – speed rail, it won’t work here, never will. Our country’s way too spread out to make any kind of rail system efficient in either time or cost, and that’s the only way you’ll get loyal car drivers to even try it in the first place. I remember arguing about this with a guy from Germany, I told him that going from IL to IN was akin to him going to Poland – but we’ve got 50 other states that have to be covered in similar fashion.

    Dmac (498ece)

  98. Here in the Chicago area, we have train accidents every frickin week. Here’s an idea: make the trains faster!

    One thing I recall is that the super fast train in Austin turned out to be pretty freaking slow, for safety reasons.

    The politicians simply pretended the train could safely fly through the city faster than their buses, yet the trains are about 15 minutes slower than the buses are because they simply can’t move very quickly. Add in that they are trains, so they stop where you can put a station, instead of where you need to go to work, and they are a huge loser.

    This problem is different outside cities, but I still don’t believe claims about super fast trains.

    We are out of money, Obama. You already spent ridiculous sums on stimulus. I sorely wish we had actually built something with it. 100 nuclear power plants, even your silly trains, and at least we’d have something to show for it.

    I guess Obama knows what he can get away with now, and is ratcheting back just slightly. After all, we spend over a trillion on nothing, so what’s another trillion for trains?

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  99. Obama will be a formidable candidate, JVW, especially with the loyal media recalibrating his every word to fit whatever is happening at the moment.

    DRJ (fdd243)

  100. DMac, Assuming I could rent a car when I got to Kansas City, or Chicago, or wherever, I would happily take Amtrack. It may be SLOWER than flying, but the room you have to lay back, stretch out, move around freely…

    I really do prefer it.

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  101. BTW, I am a huge believer in buses.

    Most cities with a rail system should have scrapped that whole thing and gone with more buses and HOV lanes.

    but that’s not flashy.

    There’s something wonderful about a road trip across America. It’s a very central part of being American. I don’t really see the big problem this is causing society. Well, except on I-35.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  102. Dustin – Metro trains are, however, generally far more efficient than anything else with wheels.

    Trains are a great mass hauler, and they are mind-blowingly efficient.

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  103. When you hear the teaparty message tonight, remember that thier leader who touts the constitution has not even the most basic knowledge of American history.

    More here.

    Comment by Tea Party America

    This is repeating a lie started by Chris Matthews. Her point was that John Quincy Adams had a large role in trying to end slavery. If the lefties knew any history, they might avoid such bloopers but they think it will work. Who cares about real history?

    The speech shows that Obama is not moving to his right as Clinton did in similar circumstances.

    Mike K (8f3f19)

  104. Spending by any other name is still spending.

    Arizona Bob (e8af2b)

  105. Dmac, I lived in Wrigleyville for 18 years, and there, yes, public transit is probably better for work commute. I took it for school commute all the time. Not so good if you have to go shopping, go to laundromat, etc, unless you like hauling a cart around. But CTA is subsidized; riders would balk en masse at full fare without the subsidies. And CTA, a local system, isn’t (?) (or shouldn’t!) be the business of fed govt.

    For long trips, with a car you can go or stop anywhere you want, smoke cigarettes if you want, open/close the windows, blast the radio, run the A/C or the heater as you like, … it’s just freer and more versatile.

    gp (098d27)

  106. Trains are a great mass hauler, and they are mind-blowingly efficient.

    Yeah, but they’re real vulnerable to unforseen events because of their infrastructure and timetables.

    For example, when I lived in Denver, during one period working on the other side of the metro area, I’d take the light rail from Union Station all the way down to I-25 and Orchard, then catch the Orchard bus to work. One accident or hold-up on the line, and the whole system would clog up. This isn’t a big deal when you’re in an automobile, because in rush hour or even when there’s a bad accident, you can always take the next exit and go along the major boulevards instead. It will be slower, but you’ll still get to your destination in a reasonable amount of time. In the train, you are well and truly stuck, because getting out and walking at that point just isn’t an option. On top of that, it took me less time to drive from home to work than it did to take the train.

    When I got an apartment closer to work, right next to a light rail station, I found myself driving most mornings.

    Another Chris (67858a)

  107. By the way, how did all that stimulus investment turn out?

    Arizona Bob (e8af2b)

  108. [Amtrak] may be SLOWER than flying, but the room you have to lay back, stretch out, move around freely…

    Not to mention the cafe car which serves booze!

    JVW (4463d3)

  109. I’m beginning to doubt that Yelverton knows any music, it might be a Chomsky out of field thing,
    but I doubt it. He is inacapable of doing that,
    Mike K, that was one of his complaints with Clinton, which may have been in Audacity

    narciso (6075d0)

  110. DMac, the hot rumor is that Daley’s going-away-present / legacy thing is the Chinese building high-speed rail double-decker over the blue line from O’Hare. Fares would be like $20 each way, or half the cost of a cab. Supposedly, the blue line would still run local as well. Could be interesting.

    I watched the Blackhawks lose 4-2 and someone poured a beer on me during a controversial call. Sounds like it was better than watching the teleprompter.

    carlitos (a3d259)

  111. Here’s a more elaborate explanation of the point Bachman was trying to make:

    http://bigjournalism.com/driehl/2011/01/25/michele-bachman-gives-chris-matthews-a-history-lesson/

    narciso (6075d0)

  112. Dustin – Metro trains are, however, generally far more efficient than anything else with wheels.

    I’m sure that’s true. However, consider that the Austin trains cost $150,000,000 to implement, and we already have a bus system that’s faster.

    Sure, the trains are very fuel efficient, but it’s a lot like buying a $500,000 Prius. I think trains are awesome in many cities, but I see it as a luxury rather than thrift. I think NYC’s and DC’s metros are very expensive, but very handy. They can be justified this way.

    Though in my town, where they aren’t even very handy, I think they are pure folly.

    What we need is cheaper energy. Everything else will take care of itself. If the nation wants to spend our future wealth, spend it on nuclear power. Just my opinion. I like trains too, but it’s not an urgent problem, and we’re flat broke.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  113. The ‘Sputnik moment’ in 1957 (really it was Sputniks 1 & 2) was little more than lousy PR–a self-inflicted wound, at least with respect to reaction from the American public and the press at the time.

    http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/2004/3/2004_3_44.shtml

    Americans could have lofted a satellite a year earlier.
    http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/beginning-project-vanguard/

    And the Soviets had indicated in the IGY circles, plans to try to orbit a satellite for the IGY. So within the scientific community, it was not a ‘surprise’ or an ‘if’ but ‘when.’

    http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/sputorig.html

    Recent declassified information indicate the ‘Sputnik moment’ worked to Eisenhower’s advantage. By lofting a satellite, Sputnik, the Soviets verified free access to space by their own act, all but voiding any disputes on overflight rights and national sovereignty in space– something very much in question in the 1950’s. It also made the successful flights of a new spy satellite system, known today as Corona, that much more legitimate. It was the public and the press that panicked over Sputnik. Eisenhower’s reaction at the time was highly criticized for being far too cool and dismissive, but in fact, it fit with his planning, strategy and goal… pressing on to establish, in secret, a space reconaissance capability for the U.S.

    Obama’s analogy to Sputnik is strained if not tepid. It might send a tingle up Chris Matthews’ leg, but it may very well be meaningless to a generation of Americans under 40. And for the younger generation not well schooled in history, a curiosity, if that, disconnected and not particularly inspiring. If the president wants to go to space analogies and spark some new national ‘enterprise’, he might want to review episodes of ‘Star Trek’ and do some self-relecting. The nation needs a Captain Kirk. What it has, instead, is a Mr. Spock.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  114. We believe a renewed commitment to limited government will unshackle our economy and create millions of new jobs and opportunities for all people, of every background, to succeed and prosper. Under this approach, the spirit of initiative — not political clout — determines who succeeds.

    Millions of families have fallen on hard times not because of our ideals of free enterprise — but because our leaders failed to live up to those ideals; because of poor decisions made in Washington and Wall Street that caused a financial crisis, squandered our savings, broke our trust, and crippled our economy.

    From Paul Ryan’s speech.

    He also said:

    Businesses and unions from around the country are asking the Obama administration for waivers from the mandates. Washington should not be in the business of picking winners and losers.

    The trick I love about this is that he’s pointing out that the winners were those who begged to escape Obamacare. The rest of us are the losers. He’s quite right, and this ought to become a major talking point.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  115. DCSCA, you’re right. It’s not often I find myself saying that, but great point.

    It really bugs me that we’d not look to our own amazing success. Why define that generation’s moment of triumph as ‘the sputnik moment’? It’s pretty insulting to our national pride. Obama was referring to a period when American innovation and accomplishment was at her absolute zenith compared to the rest of the world, and yet he still must pretend it wasn’t America making us proud. In fact, it was our mortal enemy, the USSR!

    Once again, he bows. It’s a silly thing, compared to the issues of great consequence in his speech.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  116. Well this was the reason for concern, not the satellite itself, it turned out to be misplaced:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-7_rocket

    narciso (6075d0)

  117. @116- The R-7 was a known. The key wih respect to Sputnik was overflight rights- not known at the time by the general public lost in the panic of the period. The rationale was secret, for obvious reasons, at the time. Soviet missiles by design developed more thrust in that era because their payloads/warheads at the time were less sophisticated and much heavier than those in the West.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  118. @117- see 118.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  119. Well that might have been a design flaw common to Korolev’s team, who had to operate under different
    contraints than Von Braun, then again we don’t have
    a Von Braun, who far all his faults was a visionary
    in the field

    narciso (6075d0)

  120. It’s crazy to consider the R7. A weapon with an accuracy of 5 km, and a mere 3 kt weapon yield.

    If only nuclear weapons were that crappy today.

    And for all the horrors of the cold war, at least we were inspired to be nationally excellent, in order to beat the Soviets to space as much as we could. We could use some kind of push for excellence again.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  121. Dustin

    > If only nuclear weapons were that crappy today.

    In Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando, you learn about the first ICBM with facial recognition technology built in, you know, so you can be sure your thermonuclear warhead definitely kills one specific person.

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  122. That MT, not KT, they were the weapons spotted by the U-2 over flights

    narciso (6075d0)

  123. Oh, well that’s a pretty substantial correction, narciso.

    3 kt would be much smaller than Nagasaki.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  124. Considering they got the H- bomb in ’53, that would
    have been the first real booster for that.

    narciso (6075d0)

  125. See the Congressman who thanked the president for the high speed rail for CA? Obama said, yeah, we’re doin it!

    Jeez, bread and circuses and fast trains to nowhere. But think of all the patronage jobs fast trains just like Europe!

    Patricia (3aa1fd)

  126. “And where exactly are we going to get the blue-collar workers needed to run and maintain the infrastructure? The insistence by Obama that “everyone should go to college!” all but insures that the system would fall apart within 10-20 years anyway. Who the hell wants to spend $40K for a degree, only to end up fixing track in the desert southwest during the summer?”

    I’ve been saying this to my husband for over a year. My 4-year-old wants to be a garbage man when he grows up. I’m not discouraging him. You’ve seen shots of Naples?

    em (3fe634)

  127. “Within 25 years, our goal is to give 80% of Americans access to high-speed rail, which could allow you go places in half the time it takes to travel by car. For some trips, it will be faster than flying – without the pat-down. As we speak, routes in California and the Midwest are already underway.” Pres. Obama

    Did I miss something? Didn’t we just bail out the auto industry? I guess they’ll be the ones building the high-speed trains?

    em (3fe634)

  128. I didn’t watch his stupid liefest, and I don’t care to.
    I’m glad the pathetic weasels decided to have their date sit next to them (Thanks Neil Cavuto) as they played the gay and carefree audience of love and domestic bliss…
    Let’s face it, just like Nobel peace prizes are now a standing joke, so is the sotu – it’s a game of lies the worthless pigheads play for unknown reasons now.
    Who cares ? I mean really, the time that the potus speaking meant anything to the public is long gone.
    The children in charge “feel” the state of the “union” is wether or not they are “united” in “union” as two parties… so…
    We know the skumbag dimmy dem decided it was time to have televised dates with each other, to show the union, in union.
    I’m happy I haven’t heard about kissing and hand holding, although I suspect some of the fakirs had to pull that off as well.

    SiliconDoc (7ba52b)

  129. “19.My head is about to explode. President Obama says one of the advantages of High Speed Rail is they are a faster way to travel because there’s no TSA pat-downs”

    Fair to say we both know then, by the time they create a single maglev boondoggle of idiocy after the endless years of red tape and fighting and trillions spent, the passengers will be checked for refrigerator magnets interfering with their mandatory rfid chip implant before boarding.
    For now, here, it’s just all pets over 4 months old MUST have the frid implant, but we well know our fearlessly insane hippies love animals more than humans, because the animal “always forgives and loves them unconditionally”, no matter their childhood traumas and resultant deviancies.

    I mean who thinks otherwise ? Obama is a stupid joke. No TSA patdowns… this one is not smart enough to be serious and fool anyone with his lies, or rather his 30 yr. old speech aren’t…
    WHATEVER
    300mph traisn wtih hundreds of the “pyublic” on them, and no doubt, plenty of the congresscritters. The chance of a TSA equivalent not being involved is ZERO.
    However, given how stupid our government is now, how it is “reactionary” with the TSA 100%, it’s not surpsing dimmy dem dumbo o spewed out the fallacy.
    It’s sad the sotu is some stupid drughead perp repeating lies some commu-fascist punks dreamed up to fool the populace.

    SiliconDoc (7ba52b)

  130. I am about to begin a brand new website and I’m searching for some advice. First, can someone give me an instanceof a web site that’s good for google? I am having a tough time figuring this out. Second, I’ve a question aboutgetting a new laptop, can someone clarify to me what a front side bus is and why it makes your computer faster?

    lealtycic5 (5105c3)

  131. Howdy! I’m Mark. This looks like a fantastic page. I cannot wait to look around.

    markbright (fc7863)


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