I really like that guy. You know the one with the big ears and the beautiful wife? The one who can talk FOR-EVER? The leader of the free world? Okay fine, I’ll say it – the black man with the funny name. His name is BARACK OBAMA and he is MY President.
I’m uber tired. Yesterday I left work, ran errands all afternoon, worked out and then went home to watch the State of the Union Address on DVR. Got my food, got something to drink, let’s go! Then I got a phone call that I had to take so now it’s REALLY late and I’m like “Okay, it shouldn’t be too much longer, I’ll keep going, take some notes and go to bed.” Another 20 mins pass. “Wait, is he still talking?” So umm I didn’t make it through the whole thing BUT the transcript is available on a bunch of a sites so there!
Anyway, here are a few* observations and highlights:
(*Warning, it’s kinda long. I got a little aggressive with the cutting and pasting. But in my defense he made so many excellent points it was difficult to figure out which ones to highlight sooooo I went a little overboard…)
BEFORE THE EVENT
HOW FABULOUS AND BEAUTIFUL IS OUR FIRST LADY!?!
Memo to Rush Limbaugh: You need to check your hating a*s commentary. RESPECT!
Continuing,
Chris Matthews reminded us of a very salient point:
He noted that the GOP did not want President Obama to ”succeed historically.” Elaborating, he said, “I believe, and I know the President believes, that from the beginning they sought to kill his place in history by REFUSING to let him be bi-partisan.”
Think about that for a second.
This is their thinking: “Alright, you made history by becoming the first Black President of the United States of America. We can’t take that away from you BUT what we can do is make sure that will be the ONLY historical footnote you get.”
This goes deeper than “there’s a democrat in the executive branch, we’re not in power, let’s make sure we protect our interests and don’t lose any ground.” Nah. This is personal. To the detriment of the ENTIRE country the Republican opposition has fought the President tooth and nail every step of the way. Even to the point where they have backtracked on their own interests. Hating is an insane and ugly business.
Moving on,
“Ooooo here he comes!!”
I know one thing for certain, I ALWAYS get fired up when I see my President in his official capacity. In his tailored suit, rocking his power red tie, secret service looking like “just try it, I dare ya, just try it, I got a death grip I can’t WAIT to use” and here comes the President, shaking hands, throwing kisses, smiling. Sigh. The SWAGGER is too much!!! #swoon
THE EVENT
(1) He opened up strong. “Hey haters guess what?”
“For the first time in nine years there are NO Americans fighting in Iraq” and “For the first time in two decades Osama Bin Laden is not a threat to this country” (left unsaid: ON MY WATCH B*TCHES!!)
(2) Praising the Armed Forces. “There is no “I” in Team!”
“These achievements are a testament to the courage, selflessness and teamwork of America’s Armed Forces. At a time when too many of our institutions have let us down, they exceed all expectations. They’re not consumed with personal ambition. They don’t obsess over their differences. They focus on the mission at hand. They work together.
Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example.”
Pause: John “Tangerine Man” Boehner looks real uncomfortable right now.
(3) “Need I remind you, I am JUST AS AMERICAN AS YOU ARE”
“My grandfather, a veteran of Patton’s Army, got the chance to go to college on the GI Bill. My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth.”
(4) EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
“We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”
(5) “Reclaim American Values!” (Stop acting like Douchebags)
“What’s at stake aren’t Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. And we have to reclaim them.”
(6) JOBS (“Yep, I’m on that”)
“In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly 4 million jobs. And we lost another 4 million before our policies were in full effect. Those are the facts. But so are these: In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than 3 million jobs.”
“Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005. American manufacturers are hiring again, creating jobs for the first time since the late 1990s.”
(7) WORK WITH ME OR GET OUT OF MY WAY!
“As long as I’m President, I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum. But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.”
(8) TAKE THAT ROMNEY!
On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Some even said we should let it die. With a million jobs at stake, I refused to let that happen. In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We got workers and automakers to settle their differences. We got the industry to retool and restructure. Today, General Motors is back on top as the world’s number-one automaker.
Chrysler has grown faster in the U.S. than any major car company. Ford is investing billions in U.S. plants and factories. And together, the entire industry added nearly 160,000 jobs.”
Pause. WTH??
Who gave John Kerry a black eye? Cats wildn’ out like that in the Capital Building?? Dude, he couldn’t get any cover-up? There’s no congressional make-up artist? Maaan. #roughtimes
Continuing,
(9) THIS IS BULLSH*T AND YOU KNOW IT! (Corporate Taxes)
“Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas. Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and everyone knows it. So let’s change it.
First, if you’re a business that wants to outsource jobs, you shouldn’t get a tax deduction for doing it.
Second, no American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas.
Third, if you’re an American manufacturer, you should get a bigger tax cut. If you’re a high-tech manufacturer, we should double the tax deduction you get for making your products here. And if you want to relocate in a community that was hit hard when a factory left town, you should get help financing a new plant, equipment, or training for new workers.”
(inner monologue): “Put your money where your mouth is Fool!”
“It is time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America. Send me these tax reforms, and I will sign them right away.”
Pause.
Camera shot of Eric Cantor. His inner monologue: “Damn, he is making sense and saying good stuff but I cannot nod my head. I cannot smile. I cannot like anything he says or does. Not even his cool looking tie. He is the enemy. Must. Stay. Angry. Must. Destroy. Him.”
Continuing,
(10) STOP BEING GREEDY BASTARDS
“Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same. It’s time to apply the same rules from top to bottom. No bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody.”
(11) TAXES (“Ain’t this some ish?!?”)
“Right now, we’re poised to spend nearly $1 trillion more on what was supposed to be a temporary tax break for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.
Right now, because of loopholes and shelters in the tax code, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households. Right now, Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.
Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? Or do we want to keep our investments in everything else –- like education and medical research; a strong military and care for our veterans? Because if we’re serious about paying down our debt, we can’t do both.”
“The American people know what the right choice is. So do I.” (OBAMA 2012!)
“If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes.
And my REPUBLICAN friend Tom Coburn is right: Washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. In fact, if you’re earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn’t get special tax subsidies or deductions.
On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes shouldn’t go up.
Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.
We don’t begrudge financial success in this country. We admire it. When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it’s not because they envy the rich. It’s because they understand that when I get a tax break I don’t need and the country can’t afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference — like a senior on a fixed income, or a student trying to get through school, or a family trying to make ends meet. That’s not right. Americans know that’s not right.”
“AN AMERICA BUILT TO LAST”
“They know that this generation’s success is only possible because past generations felt a responsibility to each other, and to the future of their country, and they know our way of life will only endure if we feel that same sense of shared responsibility. That’s how we’ll reduce our deficit. That’s an America built to last.”
(12) Y’ALL NEED TO CHILL OUT AND GET IT TOGETHER
“We need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction; that politics is about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building consensus around common-sense ideas. I’m a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.”
(13) IN CLOSING (“What serving your country really means”)
“Those of us who’ve been sent here to serve can learn a thing or two from the service of our troops. When you put on that uniform, it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white; Asian, Latino, Native American; conservative, liberal; rich, poor; gay, straight. When you’re marching into battle, you look out for the person next to you, or the mission fails. When you’re in the thick of the fight, you rise or fall as one unit, serving one nation, leaving no one behind
No one built this country on their own. This nation is great because we built it together. This nation is great because we worked as a team. This nation is great because we get each other’s backs. And if we hold fast to that truth, in this moment of trial, there is no challenge too great; no mission too hard. As long as we are joined in common purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey moves forward, and our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union will always be strong. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.”
Delivered by Mitch Daniels, Governor of Indiana.
He gave a few perfunctory accolades to President Obama:
“Republicans tonight salute our President, for instance, for his aggressive pursuit of the murderers of 9/11, and for bravely backing long overdue changes in public education. I personally would add to that list admiration for the strong family commitment that he and the First Lady have displayed to a nation sorely needing such examples.”
and soon went into FEAR mode:
“In our economic stagnation and indebtedness, we are only a short distance behind Greece, Spain, and other European countries now facing economic catastrophe. But ours is a fortunate land. Because the world uses our dollar for trade, we have a short grace period to deal with our dangers. But time is running out, if we are to avoid the fate of Europe, and those once-great nations of history that fell from the position of world leadership.”
“So 2012 is a year of true opportunity, maybe our last, to restore an America of hope and upward mobility, and greater equality.”
and DELUSION:
“It’s not fair and it’s not true for the President to attack Republicans in Congress as obstacles on these questions. They and they alone have passed bills to reduce borrowing, reform entitlements, and encourage new job creation, only to be shot down time and time again by the President and his Democratic Senate allies.”
“No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others”
to OUTRIGHT LIES:
“As a loyal opposition, who put patriotism and national success ahead of party or ideology or any self-interest, we say that anyone who will join us in the cause of growth and solvency is our ally, and our friend.
to being completely DISINGENUOUS:
“In word and deed, the President and his allies tell us that we just cannot handle ourselves in this complex, perilous world without their benevolent protection. Left to ourselves, we might pick the wrong health insurance, the wrong mortgage, the wrong school for our kids; why, unless they stop us, we might pick the wrong light bulb!”
That’s just stupid.
In conclusion:
President Obama – let’s work together to keep American great.
Republicans – If we don’t act fast, America will die.
Personally, I like the President’s approach. #letsdoit
OBAMA 2012!
Good stuff! The Republicans can’t continue to hide their true message of division and greed. Trying to make Obama look bad, just makes them look stupid! His message is so clear, on point and sensible that it highlights their hypocrisy and outdated thinking effortlessly…thanks for this Crescent!
You are very welcome! I think fighting fiction with facts is a good start!!