Obama’s Best State Of The Union Speech

[Playinghardball]

With a strong, optimistic beginning and an unforgettable ending, that may have been President Obama’s best State of the Union speech. Apparently none of the commentators who have been saying his presidency is on its last legs bothered to let him know. He opened with a portrait of the country – not an America gripped by crisis or mired in despondency, but a sunny place where unemployment is falling, school test scores are rising, housing prices are recovering, deficits are shrinking and manufacturing jobs are coming home.

the president’s tone throughout the speech was buoyant, not sour. His defense of the Affordable Care Act was an observation that House Republicans’ first 40 useless votes to repeal the law really should suffice. Even when he bludgeoned the GOP over long-term unemployment benefits or the minimum wage, he did it with a smile. His argument for equal pay and family leave? “It’s time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a ‘Mad Men’ episode.” His call for raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10? “Join the rest of the country. Say yes. Give America a raise.”

The end of the speech, a tribute to wounded Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsburg, was an indelible moment. To end with such a powerful story of bravery and resilience gave emotional depth to the overall theme of the speech: America is back. I don’t know how much of his agenda Obama will achieve. But I’m pretty sure the last three years of his presidency won’t be boring.

More here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/01/29/obamas-best-state-of-the-union-speech/

Found on the Obama Diary

[MindMover]

1. Coming from Eugene, everything Obama says is the best ...

[unblock]

2. the "mad men" crack was awesome.

both because republican policies are at least half a century out of date and because their current proponents are indeed, for the most part, "mad men".

[edbermac]

3. I was disappointed.

He said NOTHING in regard to the Justin Bieber deportation.



http://celebrity.yahoo.com/news/petition-puts-justin-bieber-obama-39-basket-173904761.html

[Larkspur]

4. As a progressive critic of Obama, I have to agree with Eugene's analysis of the SOTU

This was Obama's best SOTU speech. He combined his energy and enthusiasm from stump speeches with the stateliness of the SOTU.

This speech is something that Obama and the Democrats can build upon. There are still outstanding issues to deal with like TPP, Keystoner XL pipeline and NSA spying, but that leaves room for progressives to push Obama and the Democratic Party to the left and more sound policies.