Was it just me, or did Nancy Pelosi look like a child on Christmas morning during the speech? I thought the speech was superlative, and the early "chattering class" seems to agree. I got charged up several times, especially parts about the reclamation of our dignity, honor, and our future; The "We will emerge stronger than before" line was the climactic moment of the speech. I enjoyed the redirectioning of America, through the (not so) veiled jabs at the last administration.
Maybe I was hypnotized by Obama's oratory brilliance, but Jindal's tonality seemed odd and distracted me away from his message. After Jindal's slam on the stimulus package and the near unanimous congressional opposition to it, I don't want to hear from Jindal or Republicans about "putting away our political differences" right now.
What did you think about the speech tonight? And Jindal's response?
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5 comments:
Hahaha. Jindal's tone got to others too. Yglesias and Sullivan said that his tone seemed like he was talking to children.
I didn't watch Jindal, but I do know now that if you need something done, you take it to Joe. Because nobody messes with Joe.
I loved the Obama speech. He spoke like a man with conviction and he really put it all on the line. He has taken the state of the country and made it his mission to correct it.
If he succeeds, he will go down as one of the greatest presidents ever. If he fails, he has taken on sole responsibility. Unlike Bush, he isn't leaving the failure for historians to decide, he is leaving it to the voters.
Jindal sucked. Even Fox News said as much. My Dad called and said it reminded him of the scene in Billy Madison with the teacher reading the book at naptime and culminated with Billy saying "you find the f**king dog."
Let me end by saying that I do not relish in Jindal's poor showing. I am a hard-left liberal for sure, but I am me, not the country. I prefer a reasonable, rational opposition.
Darren, You are exactly right. You should want a reasoned opposition because only that kind of opposition can shine a light on the incredible problems that any single position may inherently have. In my lifetime, I have watched both politcal parties come to the position where they thought they were untouchable (liberals in 1994, conservatives in 2008) and the balance is good. I don't trust anyone with a monopoly on policy.
But after watching what was an inspiringly great Obama speech, I feel that I am left like a lot people of both stripes asking too many questions to be comfortable. I heard a number of issues rolled out that sound like they were appealing to both sides of the aisle but mostly, the new economic stimulus package and governmental direction can only be described as definitively socialistic. The government will be in large part in control of both finance and production. The amount of money required for just the initial wave of programs would take three or four generations to pay for. I just don't buy that the top 2% of all wages earners are going to pull this bill (as unfair as that would be) while the rest of us get more of our own money back in incentives.
I truly understand that we are in unprecedented times in need of unprecedented leadership. I honestly want Obama to succeed in correcting what has been the most dire economic recession of my lifetime. But the speech last night left me wondering why so many of the politicians who got us into this mess in the first place are now ecstatic over the new direction. How can Dodd and Pelosi, Grangel and Frank, Lieberman and McCain all love what they hear and me love it too? I don't trust these cats at all.
Maybe the government does need this kind of massive expansion to recover the economy, etc. But Roosevelt showed us that temporary measures are never temporary and spending has to come from somewhere as far as government is involved. I stand concerned.
The President showed what a first class leader he is and will be. He spoke to us as a leader, an adult, and as a person in the know. How refreshing not to be talked down to, to hear the truth unvarnished. We all will have to sacrifice, and the President said not everyone will get all they want, but will get all they need. We will recover with President Obama in charge. Joe Biden, enforcer and chief, put the word out that he works for the President (what a change from before) and he will not just mouth off, he will DO something (also refreshing).
As for Governor Jindal. He failed at his task and reminded us just how out of touch the Grand Obstructionist Party really is these days.
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