Obama's State of the Union Speech

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk






President Obama's SOTU speech may have been a sign that state of the union speeches are not designed for great orators-which Obama apparently used to be. With few exceptions, it might as well have been Gerald Ford up there speaking. All in all, Obama's speech was technocratic, delving into such exotic items as the economy, jobs, and other minutia. I don't see this as an event that will turn Obama's fortunes around. I think within the next few days, it will drag his ratings down lower.

A couple of signs that the speech wasn't going to go well were when Harry Reid was caught on camera in the first ten minutes about to doze off. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) was also caught texting during the speech.

Off topic: If you ask me, that blue carpet on which the President walks down the aisle on his way to the podium should be renamed "Brownnoser Blvd."

And did you get a load of Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden? Memo to White House: Never put the president in front of those two characters. The TV audience had to have been distracted by those two clowns, Biden resplendent in his bright purple tie and Cheshire smile with Pelosi matching in her lavender dress and Cheshire smile. Actually, Pelosi wasn't there. Madame Tussaud sent over a wax effigy with strings attached to pull her up and down Howdy Doody style for the applause lines.

And where was Hillary?

Well, she was over at some conference in London telling the Yemeni government that they need to cut down on corruption. Add that to her list of "accomplishments".

And how many of you noticed as the camera scanned the audience how old and decrepit those faces were? I hate to sound partisan, but the worst were the Dems. Can we say "term limits"?

Remember a few days ago in Ohio when Obama said, "It's not about me"? Well, his speech last night was ALL about him. How many times did he use the words, "I", "me", "my"? How many times did he use the term "invest", which really means "spend"? Did he say something about a partial spending freeze? Yes, he did. How's that gonna work?

He also spoke out against earmarks. Has he forgotten those 9,000 or so that were in his stimulous package?

But the worst was when he called out the Supreme Court for their recent decision against McCain-Feingold. As he scolded them like school children, his Democrat minions stood and applauded while the justices sat silently and sullenly. Sam Alito was actually caught on camera, silently mouthing the words, "that's not right or "that's not true". Alito was apparently referring to Obama's statement that foreign corporations could now contribute unlimited funds into American elections-a totally false claim.

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Or maybe Alito meant, "that's not right what you are doing to us".

Watch for this moment to be talked about nationally until Obama issues some sort of apology, which he should. On the other hand, the Dems are already lining up to condemn Alito. First out of the box is that horse's ass from Vermont, Patrick Leahy, who talked about "when justices stayed out of politics". For crying out loud, Alito didn't say anything. He winced and mouthed it to himself. What's next? Will we watch to see if his eyes contract? The point is that the President did something to my knowledge unprecedented. He castigated the Supreme Court in front of Congress and a national TV audience while they were sitting right there-and mis-characterized the decision to boot. He was wrong and should apologize to the entire court.

Off topic: Speaking of the Supreme Court, did you see Ruth Bader Ginsburg last night? Not looking well.

Obama really gave it a half-hearted effort when talking about the econonmy and jobs. Ditto for national security. While acknowledging that business is the biggest engine for creating jobs, he went right into what the government should do. The truth is that Obama's silly claim to have saved millions of jobs with his stimulus package is bogus. He created or saved GOVERNMENT jobs and did zilch for the private sector. But now he is calling for a JOBS BILL!! Along the way, of course, he attacked the banks, insurance companies, CEOs, and Wall Street. I didn't hear him say anything about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their misdeeds. Did he mention Barney Frank's name? No.

War on terror? We're going to leave Iraq. Nothing about sending top terrorists to New York for federal trials. Nothing about the Justice Department's decision to give the Detroit bomber an attorney and put him into a federal court.

And of course, he indirectly slapped George W Bush around by talking about how horrible things were when he came into office. Well, nothing's changed and he has been here a year now.

What was the classiest moment of the night? That would be when he gave the obligatory salute to the First Lady. Michelle graciously simply smiled and motioned for the crowd to sit down. Classy.

Quite unlike a former first lady I could name but won't. (You know who.)



And Chris Matthews said what????


Somebody please give that man a washcloth.