1. Maybe it's just because it was so painful to listen to Bush, but I love listening to Obama's speeches.
2. I have heard lots of people either celebrating or freaking out over the "smack down" that was delivered at that conference. I'm sorry, but I don't see it. Sure, I was impressed by the way Obama stood in front that whole group and attempted to answer their questions. Given today's political climate, I have to imagine that took some guts. But he didn't seem overly confrontational or aggressive to me. I dunno. I guess I was expecting more after the hype.
3. That being said, I LOVED this line (and it could be applied to congressional members on both sides):
"We have to close the gap between rhetoric and reality."
He spoke about political leaders' habits of "demonizing the other side". That demonization is exactly why I can't have a political conversation with my father-in-law. His understanding of what is going on has been so colored by rhetoric and talking points that it's impossible to find the real issue underneath it all. And I'm sure he thinks the same about my point of view. We're just a specific example of what is happening on a national level, and nothing is going to get done unless we can overcome that obstacle.
One last comment:
Toward the end of the speech one of the audience members interrupted with "You're lying to us now." (or something close to that...) Seriously, guys. Don't you remember the uproar that happened the last time one of you did that? Not only are you setting yourself up for another media spanking, it just makes you seem like you have the self-control of a toddler. C'mon. Grow up.
Watch the video or read the complete transcript for yourself.
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5 comments:
Pretty vanilla speech/debate from Obama (shocker). If anything, the lesson the president should have taken from 2009 it's that bipartisanship is useless.
Just on healthcare, we on the left have made concession after concession and still we see -zero- support from the Republicans. I voted for a man who claimed to believe in single payer universal care -- yet I'm sitting here looking at another version of Republican-light just like under Clinton.
What has this gotten Obama? Certainly not political points for being bipartisan, not progress towards universal healthcare, and an opposition party with a vastly disproportionate amount of power when compared to their numbers in congress (and the greater public).
Fuck the Republicans. For 8 years I had to sit and watch those scumbags ram radically conservative bills through congress when they held the tiniest of majorities. Now that the political pendulum has swung towards the Democrats we can't get anything we want because it's not bipartisan? Fuck that.
Grow some balls Mr. President. This kind of "leadership" is what allowed Nadar to hand Bush the presidency in 2000.
Here's what I'm hoping... Obama has been using the "give them enough rope and they'll hang themselves" strategy for the past year. He now has a year of playing nice and attempting teamwork under his belt. Perhaps this speech was the warning shot across the bow. "I tried to work WITH you, and nothing got done." (Even though a remarkable number of things DID get done despite it all.) Now he has the leverage to start doing some of the heavy lifting without their help. I'm hoping that when they come out with "Obama wants to kill the elderly" type BS, the Whitehouse will call them out on it. They've been holding back, but now the velvet gloves are coming off. Or so I hope.
Oh. And our reactions definitely show the differences in our personalities! I'm a "catch more bees with honey, find the common ground, let's all just get along" kind of person. That's all well and good unless the other side doesn't want to get along. Then you end up in a stalemate.
You are a "full steam ahead, analyze the situation and take action, black and white" kind of person. You get things done, but tend to alienate those with different perspectives along the way.
I'm trying to have faith that Obama is somewhere in between the two. Hoping he really is seeing the big picture (and somewhat accurately).
I don't think of myself as a black/white type person at all... This is just a situation where we've been shown over and over by Republicans that they are unwilling to work with Democrats when it comes to "liberal" issues.
The Democrat's response up till now has been to either cower as a powerless minority, or bumble along as a powerless majority, simply because they can't get the Republicans to work with them.
The one positive I can take away from the Bush years is that a party with a hold on congress and the presidency can make radical changes to government policy without the help of the opposition party. It was painful to see when this meant ultra-right wing policies were being signed into law daily -- but now that we on the left hold the reigns of power, we're sitting here waiting for the Republicans to change their mind.
Funny though - one thing I found most disturbing about what Obama said was his support of the "line-item veto". This is a TERRIBLE idea that I didn't support under Bush, I don't support under Obama, and I've seen abused in my home state by the Republican governor to cut public health-care funding. It always seems that whichever party holds the presidency wants to push for the line-item veto, and the other party cries foul. Seems short-sightedness is rampant in both parties.
"Seems short-sightedness is rampant in both parties."
Absolutely!
Mike and I were just discussing the same concerns regarding the line-item veto.
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