dagblog - Comments for "A STRANGER CAME TO TOWN"

I do think it was partly

Oxy Mora — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:18:40 +0000

I do think it was partly that. It was if they had all just been told that company was coming and they needed to behave. They looked a little disappointed that they couldn't act out.

It seems as if the mixed seating was fairly spontaneous. I hope that it continues.

I thought that the shots of Kerry and McCain were poignant. Strange bed fellows, united in their failed attempts to gain the Presidency.

I saw the reps more as

Verified Atheist — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:14:57 +0000

In reply to Thanks, Dick. He actually

I saw the reps more as individuals, sad sacks and all, and realized each has a constituency which paid for them and voted for them.

Do you think that might be in part due to the decision (who made that decision?) this year to mix the Republicans and Democrats together rather than create "us" and "them" seating areas?

Thanks, Dick. He actually

Oxy Mora — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:08:00 +0000

In reply to You got me thinkin about

Thanks, Dick. He actually said "journey" right at the end of the speech and focused on the "future" the better part of the time.

I would rather have seen a hell fire and brimstone speech in which the reactionary forces were skewered. But I find I am more philosophical about the speech than I am angry at its Republican-ism. Maybe I'm giving up the fight, I hope not.

The entire speech seemed "toned down" and I can't argue with that either in terms of expediency or appropriateness. I had a different reaction to this speech than speeches in the past, maybe because the response was muted throughout. I saw the reps more as individuals, sad sacks and all, and realized each has a constituency which paid for them and voted for them. Each is fighting for his own career and to achieve something to hang his hat on in the short time of a year at best. But none, individually or collectively, will derail this country for very long. There is a future and we are striving for it. A vast audience and purpose lies beyond the scope of these imperfect individuals. Obama was speaking over the heads of the audience in the chamber to the audience beyond, to the country as a whole. That's, imo, what a leader needs to do.

You got me thinkin about

Richard Day — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:12:21 +0000

In reply to A STRANGER CAME TO TOWN

You got me thinkin about this. The journey.

Barry gave a fine speech tonite.

And your mythical town of Mayberry is right on.

So, listening to the SOTU, do

Elusive Trope — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:41:10 +0000

In reply to Thanks, AT. Obama is

So, listening to the SOTU, do really believe that the Repubs have to run a Beck to differentiate Obama from those on the other side of the aisle?

Thanks, resistance! Pretty

SleepinJeezus — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 01:42:58 +0000

In reply to You're on it.....You really

Thanks, resistance! Pretty remarkable to get "shellacked" by an angry electorate, only to double-down on the policies and GOP ideology that got us here in the first place. Bound to be a much more satisfied electorate next time, eh? Maybe if we deprive them of even the pretense of an alternative, they'll fall in line, eh? Wall Street seems to be banking on it.

Yup.

Dan Kervick — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:40:09 +0000

In reply to Sorry to be Destor-downer but

Yup.

This piece suits my thinking

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:21:22 +0000

In reply to A STRANGER CAME TO TOWN

This piece suits my thinking about now; most of you won't hear how far the President is about to 'pivot' toward business. What does everyone think he's done for the past two years?

He'll likely claim to hold SS safe from 'reform'; he reads the polls, and has felt the pressure all the outside groups have brought to bear on him. He can twiddle with the payroll taxes later. And Jeff Immelt and his new team can help ship more jobs overseas, along with intellectual properties, create new un-fair trade deals, and the President can tell of us his plans for a new grand pharmeceutical institute, and maybe some low-tech training for the 99-ers..

The deal he got from President Hu apparently consists of a month's worth of trade imbalane with China. Cool.

http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/2078-goonstruck-the-mysterious-mind-of-modern-progressives.html

You're on it.....You really

Resistance — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:07:57 +0000

In reply to "He is on it?"The Heilemann

You're on it.....You really can tell it, like it really is.

Not so much the questions as

Verified Atheist — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:39:09 +0000

In reply to Do you mean the questions are

Not so much the questions as their implications. Question #2 seems to contain within it a disdain for not balancing the budget (one I share). Question #7 (effectively) cautions against balancing the budget during these difficult times, an opinion I also share. Right now, I side with #7, while realizing that we need to keep #2 in mind. So, it's not that they contradict each other but per se, but rather that helping one hurts the other, and vice-versa. The reality is that we need to keep them both in mind, as you do, but I thought I'd point out their inherent conflicts.