February 13, 2013

A State of the Union quiz.

Did Obama ever intone the standard phrase "The state of the Union is..." and if so, what word followed "is"? (There's a hint in the tags.)


Yes, he did, and the word was "stronger." Did you notice that "stronger" was a key word? Here are its iterations:
Tonight, thanks to the grit and determination of the American people, there is much progress to report.... Our housing market is healing, our stock market is rebounding, and consumers, patients, and homeowners enjoy stronger protections than ever before.

Together, we have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is stronger....

Our economy is stronger when we harness the talents and ingenuity of striving, hopeful immigrants....

We know our economy is stronger when our wives, mothers, and daughters can live their lives free from discrimination in the workplace, and free from the fear of domestic violence....

We know our economy is stronger when we reward an honest day’s work with honest wages....

Stronger families. Stronger communities. A stronger America.
Coincidentally, just the other day Kelly Clarkson won the Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy for her album "Stronger."

So let's just say Barack Obama wins the Best Pop Political Speech for his SOTU "Stronger."

24 comments:

mikee said...

I missed this speech.

Did our President promise to focus like a laser on jobs while not costing anyone a singe dime? Again?

Known Unknown said...

Every time I see SOTU, my mind changes it to STFU.

Why is that?

Balfegor said...

Und unsere Vereinigung ist starker!

The President's delivery last night seemed kind of strained and shouty. He does that some times, and I don't think it works as well as his usual affect, which is a little more mild.

Nonapod said...

I find it difficult to seriously analyze Obama's rambling bromides and platitudes.

traditionalguy said...

It reminded me of WWF fake wrestling.

It is fake Presidenting done as fictional drama of a pretend fight between good Obama and bad everyone else that his media has carefully demonized for destruction.

Known Unknown said...

Our local rag went with the (AP?) headline: Obama Challenges Reluctant Congress.

Oh how I tire of our sycophantic press.

furious_a said...

Althouse: I thought the answer was going to be:

The State of the Union is ...OOOHKELLYCLARKSON!!

n.n said...

Clarkson is wrong. If something doesn't kill you, but does break you, then you are not stronger.

Perhaps Obama also fails to notice that nuance.

As for the rest, he is the bully, and his assertions must be accepted on faith, despite evidence and observations that contradict his statements. The Middle East, Asia, Africa, Central America, and North America is littered with bodies of people who were sufficiently naive to believe in the anti-bully rhetoric.

Unknown said...

The state of the union is....fucking fantastic!

Tank said...

The word you're looking for is:

Doomed.

Palladian said...

"Who gives a flying fuck about the Union? What matters is the state of Barack Obama. And let me tell you, I'm good. I'm real fuckin' good.

Strelnikov said...

And Leon is getting LARGER.

prairie wind said...

Every time I see SOTU, my mind changes it to STFU.

Why is that?


It's a natural reaction. I think the same thing every time I hear O's voice.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

The state of the Union is ... idle?

Oh, wait. That would be true, and therefore has no place in a SOTU speech.

AllenS said...

The SOTU is... what difference at this point does it make?

Rumpletweezer said...

I told my wife that anything he said after "The state of the union is" would be a lie.

bagoh20 said...

Met yesterday with our health insurance company to strategize for the future. This has been the third meeting this year. The ACA starts in less than a year, and they haven't even established enough of the rules yet to get a clear picture of what will happen just months from now to the entire working population of the country and it's employers. It's clearly a complete clusterfuck, and will cost the U.S. a lot of jobs to foreign competition.

What I do know is that our costs will increase by 100 - 200% regardless of whether we offer insurance or opt out and pay penalties. Here is my question:

Before Obamacare everyone was getting care, even if some got it on the dole, or at the expense of those who did buy insurance. People were not walking the streets with gaping wounds, or dying at bus stops.

After Obamacare, that will not change - everyone will still get the treatment they need and nothing more. Therefore, the cost should not increase. In fact, we were told it would be reduced. You had to be a fool to believe that, especially from Mister Broken Promises, but why would it double or triple just to offer the exact same treatment for the same number of people. All that's changing is the mechanism, and the idea is that more people would be paying in, thus spreading it around.

Where is all the extra money going?

My company's only real competition is Chinese imports. All our domestic competitors decided to go offshore and dump their U.S. employees years ago. I guess they were right, and the Democrats want that to happen. I don't know, maybe they think the Chinese will implement Obamacare too, because of his awesomeness, and that will level the playing field.

My company exists to employ people here, but I feel like my government doesn't want that. I'll be generous, give the Dems the benefit of the doubt, and assume they are just idiots, and not unpatriotic, backstabbing idiots?




Rusty said...

Stronger families. Stronger communities. A stronger America.


Duce! Duce! Duce!

Sam L. said...

Well, his BS was stronger.

Leland said...

Where is all the extra money going?

It's that Keynesian multiplier. For every dollar that would otherwise be spent in the private sector; two to three dollars is needed to be spent for the same activity in the government sector.

Bob R said...

Obama as the Kelly Clarkson of presidents - a mediocre talent who won a cynically manufactured contest against a weak field.

Rick Caird said...

I missed the speech. I preferred to see the thoroughbreds of the Westminster Kennel club to the mongrels in our government.

Aaron said...

"My company exists to employ people here, but I feel like my government doesn't want that"

No, the government is simply clueless. They are all lawyers and bureaucrats. Lawyers never suffer from foreign competition and in fact can create their own demand so they thinks its quite strange how other industries can be crushed by government.

I think it would be more honest if the Dems were against free trade. That would fit more with their plans. But they somehow are okay with free trade. I think their base does not work/works for gov/academia, etc. Thus they like cheap imports.

Wince said...

Larry David in HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (Season 2, Episode 16) brilliantly uses the ambiguity of the word "better" in a joke. He bets an acupuncturist $5000 that he can't make his back better. After several treatments, the acupuncturist asks, "Are you better?". Larry answers that he is "better" and the acupuncturist demands the $5000 for winning the bet. For Larry, his answer "better" only intended to mean "improved but still having pain", but the acupuncturist interpreted the answer as indicating "completely better."