The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    But what did Lady Gaga think of the SOTU speech?

    By erica20 on Tue, 01/24/2012 - 11:55pm |

    I had the feeling that ordinary Americans might have liked the President's speech tonight more than Congress did--even, in some spots, than Democratic members of Congress did.

    Is it possible that Spring has come to Narnia, and Washington will be the last to know?

    Comments

    I think she would have liked it better had Obama went to the podium in a meat suit.

    But I think Washington was reminded that Obama, when it comes Quidditch season, is the one who knows how to get the Golden Snitch.


    by Elusive Trope on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 12:27am

    We are loading up on entertainment analogies today, aren't we?

    It was definitely a speech for voters.


    by erica20 on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 12:47am

    I'm kinda disappointed Another Trope couldn't work in a Twilight reference. (At least, I assume there isn't one there…)


    by Verified Atheist on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 8:02am

    I suppose Obama can be compared to JFK in they're the only presidents who could have possibly pulled off the Twilight "look" while giving the STOU.


    by Elusive Trope on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 10:32am

    Now I'm sorry I mentioned it!

    Barfing


    by Verified Atheist on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 10:37am

    I thought it was terrific. 

    Without a doubt this was a speech for all Dems who are in elections this year too. It delivered what was needed to make it clear some of the salient points that highlight the difference between his administration's plans/Dems as opposed to Repubs.

    I would have liked something about healthcare, but understand his rationale in not including it tonight.

    Andrew Sullivan was extremely negative about speech, saying he liked Mitch Daniels' response better. Huh?!?!?


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 12:47am

    That is a good point aunt Sam,  it gives dems something to run on, which he did not do in the run up to 2010. (I think I remember begging for a little white meat and some tofu for the democratic masses back then.)

    I did not care for Daniels' speech at all, but I have to admit I had a hard time getting past his nonverbals--looking at the camera out of the corner of his eyes, shaking his head from side to side--he seemed to vacillate between "make my day" and "they're making me say this."

    It made it hard to focus on not liking what he was saying!


    by Erica (not verified) on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 1:14am

    I too was not able to absorb his speech because the way he presented himself. It was the first time I have seen him and I expected more because he is on the Republican party bosses wish list. I bet viewers took a snack break while he was speaking or decided to go to bed.

    by trkingmomoe on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 5:42am

    Hit the "mute" button and take a pee.


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 1:32pm

    I didn't see either the SOTU or Daniels' speech, but I read the transcript for Daniels' speech, and I thought this was an excellent exemplar of Republican mythology:

    Out here in Indiana, when a businessperson asks me what he can do for our state, I say, "First, make money. Be successful. If you make a profit, you'll have something left to hire someone else, and some to donate to the good causes we love."

    I'm hardly a swing voter these days, but this message doesn't sound like what the swing voters would want to hear.


    by Verified Atheist on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 11:17am

    Thanks for the transcript, VA. I read it and it helped.

    I guess I see where Daniels was trying to go, with his encouragement of Republican responsibility. He seemed to be trying to rally the troops around some of the more practical Republican concepts, but I wonder who he thinks will exercise the bravery and good judgment required to bring on the wave of responsible government that he's talking about. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney? Rick Santorum? The current crop of GOP congresspeople? Himself? My goodness, I don't think so.

    It was nice of Daniels to mention that Obama didn't cause the problem. But if Daniels had called for an end to offshoring and outsourcing, he might have been going somewhere!


    by erica20 on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 12:43pm

    I also noticed what I took as a dig at Gingrich hidden as moderating praise for 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.


    by Verified Atheist on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 1:16pm

    VA - See below please!


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 3:20pm

    A lot of Dish readers had the same Huh? reaction. But Sullivan is a wonk, and that speech seems to have been aimed at the great unwashed.


    by Donal on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 11:06am

    I was stunned at the vitriol  (IMO) in Sullivan's remarks.

    This a.m., after reading some of his post again (and others of the same tone) it struck me that so many are stuck in the glass half full mode.  All about what there's not, what's wrong and how if it's not exactly how the individual thinks 'it' should be, then it's not good enough and let the bitching begin.

    Enough with the cynicism and choosing to seek out what's wrong, instead of crowing about what's right, is never going to result in a positive outcome.

    What I got out of the SOTU, is the fact that only by taking positive steps and working towards our goals together will we obtain them and secure a more positive future.  Obama can't do it, only WE can.  He can lead us, but we have to do the work too.

    I'm not giving voice to the ol' 'don't worry, be happy' idiocy.  What I am hoping for is that We, The People, acknowledge that, if we want Obama re-elected, let's build on the positive and be constructive, not destructive.  The latter is the Repubs mantra and their choice.

    Whew, rant over (for now).


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 12:19pm

    Sorry; but your assumption is baseless and hopeless 

    Obama can't do it, only WE can.  He can lead us, but we have to do the work too.

    I am not about to give Obama a free pass.

    Newt said exactly what many have felt for a long time...... Obama's agenda is NOT in the best interest of the middle class;  it's only better than the others 

    Besides (did you get a voice in the decision to appoint the BIASED  T Geithner ?) Did Obama give a rats .. what you thought about his choice 

    As Newt pointed out, Geithner has a bias, A BIAS AGAINST HOMEOWNERS.......  HIS BIAS  favors treasuries over homeownership.

    Obamas choice has a bias against the working class; and no amount of Obama BS will ever change the fact;

    Obamas a wolf in sheeps clothing, only his pack of predators don't run with the Republican pack. both packs are tearing the middle class apart.    

    Obama TALKS about bringing manufacturing jobs back to the USA, but he lets the only industry left in America;  to flounder and sink  

    As pointed out in the USA Today;  housing related industries are 18 percent of the GDP

    What's wrong with intervening to help save 18 percent of the GDP?  then talk about doing what ever it takes to bring back jobs while he presides over the only industry left in America.

    God, he must think were all idiots (well at least he has the Obamabots fooled)   

    Home foreclosures have made millions of the 99%,  dependent upon the government, as millions have lost their retirement nest eggs. 

    So Obama can blame the rich;  when IT WAS HIS OWN ADVISORS who've screwed the middle class homeowners?  

    Obamas plan ........ Tax the rich, so he can give food stamps to the middle class,  his advisors screwed over and robbed? 

    Geitheners banker friends have been helped, because Obama chose the best friend the bankers could get and by extension Obama ignored the WE ....as in  WE THE MIDDLE CLASS  

    When you write "Obama can't do it, only WE can.  He can lead us, but we have to do the work too".

    Your assuming Obama really cared to lead is baseless.  

    Tell me what more can WE homeowners do, when the president ignores WE in favor of those;....... and only gives lip service so that he can get reelected because he can claim his pack of predators is more compassionate, than those mean ol republicans.      

    Obama can blame everyone else, but the reality is.. HE CHOSE TO IGNORE THE PEOPLES PLEAS FOR HELP.

    It was his appointments that stabbed the middle class in the back. 

    ET TU OBAMA ?

    http://www.thenation.com/article/161054/geithner-and-goldman-thick-thieves


    by Resistance on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 7:24pm

    Just curious, which one of the four horseman do you support?  


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 7:35pm

    The white horse, and the one seated upon it wearing a crown 


    by Resistance on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 8:10pm

    Good choice.  But, wasn't aware they were on the ballot per se.


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 8:20pm

    Oh Resistance, I KNEW you were going to say that! ;^)

    But I think what Aunt Sam meant, is: which of the four Republican candidates do you think would make an appropriate alternative to Obama?


    by erica20 on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 8:26pm

    I get too emotional.

    I get too caught up in my left wing ideals.

    so I am not neutral.

    Neutral is a feeling that something that Viagra makes a lot of money on. ha

    I was quite taken by this speech.

    I was wrong in that I thought there would be more boos from the opposition party.

    I suggest that Pudge Luntz and others argued against that tactic in the current political environment. People were cranial-wired and their neural transmitters forced the repubs to lay back.

    But Obama represented something to me when he was running for an impossible position in this government.

    And maybe, just maybe, he was right!

    Maybe the end is not so near.

    Maybe hope is in the offing.

    Remember, that when the debt limit crisis was looming a treaty was reached between the Hooverites and the Franklinites!

    No debt ceiling bullshite will be witnessed this year.

    Maybe I was right a few years ago.

    Maybe Obama was playing an incredible chess game and McConnell was playing checkers.

    This year is going to be fascinating!

    And I am prone at this point in my meaningless life to be fascinated!

    I enjoyed this speech.

    I was caught up in this speech.

    I was overjoyed that the repub diss speech was so incredibly bad! ha

    I mean he hit Osama which is hard for an Obama!

    He hit GM--I mean what is a repub mother to do?

    He presented repub and dem resolutions to the issues facing the nation?

    I enjoyed this speech and at least MSNBC agrees.


    by Richard Day on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 1:24am

    dd - I got teary when he was hugging Giffords and she just clung to him, then tried to reach up and kiss his cheek but got his shoulder.  So emotional!


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 1:32am

    Oh Auntie i cried like a baby. No kidding!

    This poor woman.

    Damn.

    But she seemed so at peace when her President held her!

    There is some reality in some short events!

    I do wish her well and hope for the best.


    by Richard Day on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 2:09am

    I am no fan of violence. But I thought closing with the team running upstairs in the dark, not knowing who was republican or democrat, to do a job they had to do, was very effective, and reads on a lot of levels.

    I am glad you were wrong about the booing. I was amused by the number of times that even dems seemed a bit stunned by what the pres was suggesting.  (30%???? Really???)


    by Erica (not verified) on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 1:37am

    I liked this:

    "I am asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorneys general to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis. This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans."

    HURRAH!


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 1:55am

    Oh I am hitting your comment again Auntie rather than Erica the author of this piece.

    But I was really amazed by this statement.

    It actually made me stand up from my chair which does not occur often enough!

    Taibbi and Greenwald and others have caused me pause; well more than pause actually.

    Quite a statement in the face of repub denial.

    Thank you for a good, direct quote that shall be examined for decades I would think but I am more interested in what shall be revealed in the coming months.

    He would not have said this if he had not some info that has not been released to the press!


    by Richard Day on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 2:18am

    An investigation into the housing crisis was the #1 question on the White House's Facebook page yesterday. It was strange to read the comments: request for an investigation, allegation of socialism, request for an investigation, allegation of fascism, request for an investigation......

    I think people (and by people I guess I mean me and some others, we always tend to personalize these things I suppose) really need this investigation in order to feel ok about the implicit contract with the government. Owning a home was always seen as a way for ordinary people to acquire a little bit of wealth--seen as kind of special. It's a way for ordinary people to "invest in America" along with the big guns. The response to the housing crisis essentially said "Yeah, you guys don't matter. Your biggest investment is totally expendable as far as we are concerned." Remember Resistance? I haven't seen him/her around for awhile--the bitterness and sheer disappointment was very clear.

    I hope the AG does a good job. Personally, I'm not expecting many heads to roll but a report that at least says "we know what you did" would be helpful.


    by erica20 on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 10:30am

    Erica, there is an excellent piece from the site Naked Capitalism on this subject, including how Schneiderman is joining the Task Force and is signing onto the overall 50 state AG agreement on Foreclosure fraud. Getting Schneidermann to sign on is a huge win for Obama. 

    You might want to post the link.

    If Romney wins the nomination he is going to rue the day he ever suggested that the foreclosure process should just be allowed to "hit bottom"


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 12:45pm

    Thanks Oxy. I might do a post on this--it seems important enough.

    Comments on the story indicate that this investigation might be a bit of a sham--really just an opportunity to run in circles, scream and shout. I don't think that's what people were asking for. 

    It's funny--by this morning, I was thinking "well, those were all very nice things he said, and certainly very welcome. But it will all depend on the actions."


    by erica20 on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 1:16pm

    Apparently all of them were stunned by the Insider Trading comments. Some people are suggesting that the Justice Dept. might have some specific evidence which could make this a strong part of a do-nothing, as well as corrupt, Congress campaign tactic. 


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 12:32pm

    Oh that's right--you could pretty much hear the sound of jaws hitting the floor at the insider trading mention.

    (My guy, who sometimes thinks it would be fun to run for Congress, said "Oh great, now I won't even be able to get rich off being in Congress.")

    I'm not sure what you mean by that last sentence about the evidence.


    by erica20 on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 12:56pm

    There is buzz about "on-going investigations" into trades by Congress folks. While there is no specific insider trader law as there is in the securities industry, there could be breaches of ethics rules. 


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 1:29pm

    It will be interesting to see how many people watched the SOTU speach. My guess is the ratings break all past records. The media is starting to catch on to the public's desire for change. NBC did show OWS Tampa demonstration at the debate Monday and two other groups protesting on USF campus.

    by trkingmomoe on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 6:13am

    My guess is the ratings break all past records.

    Nope. The ratings are in and they are down a bit, as they have been each year:

     
    Interesting that he didn't even overtake Bush's least watched in 2008.

    by artappraiser on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 8:41pm

    Anyone who says Lady Gaga doesn't know anything doesn't know what they are talking about. 


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 7:36am

    Is Oxy a little monster?


    by Donal on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 8:11am

    Oxy, stop stomping!

    Two tea cups and a saucer.

    A little monster. 


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 11:39am

    Note: Putting "Lady GaGa" in the title of one's post does seem to increase the hits.


    by erica20 on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 1:23pm

     SWING VOTERS AND SOTU SPEECH - FYI

    Copied from Andrew Sullivan's 'The Daily Beast'

    Stan Greenberg's results from watching 50 swing voters in a focus group respond to the speech. 

    Screen shot 2012-01-25 at 11.21.31 AM

    As noted on Sullivan's site:

    The dials spiked when the President made his strong populist pitch for the “Buffet Rule,” with Democrats exceeding 80 on our 0-to-100 scale and both independents and Republicans moving above 70. There was no polarization here, as voters across the political spectrum gave Obama high marks. And Obama’s framing of the economic challenges facing the country through the lens of post-World War II America was particularly effective. He also received high marks for his proposal to change the tax code to encourage “insourcing” instead of “outsourcing,” his call to change our “unemployment system” to a “re-employment system” and his appeal to make it easier for entrepreneurs and small business to grow and create jobs.


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 3:18pm

    Tax the rich so Obama can appear more generous, when he gives the middle class more government aid? 

    Had Obama done all he could, to assist the millions of Americans whose nest eggs were in their homes, the people wouldn't be dependent upon BIG GOVERNMENT for a handout.

    Middle class.......republican slave or democratic pawn?  


    by Resistance on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 8:05pm