Recap / GIFs from the SOTU and the GOP response

Obama’s State Of The Union Address (FULL TEXT) » The President spoke about the policies and issues on which he campaigned AND WON a second term.

PDF from the White House of the policies that the President outlined.

State of the union address: Obama lays down gauntlet »

  • Second term to focus on immigration, gun control, economy
  • Obama: ‘We must pay our bills on time’
  • President announces pullout of 34,000 troops from Afghanistan
  • Calls for increase in minimum wage for US workers


via @Ronc99

Ezra Klein: Imagine, for a moment, that President Obama managed to pass every policy he proposed tonight. Within a couple of years, every four-year-old would have access to preschool. The federal minimum wage would be at $9 — higher than it’s been, after adjusting for inflation, since 1981. There’d be a cap-and-trade program limiting our carbon emissions and a vast infrastructure investment to upgrade our roads and bridges. Taxes would be higher, guns would be harder to come by, and undocumented immigrants would have a path to citizenship. America would be a noticeably different country.


Daily Intelligencer: Joe Biden loved it when Obama suggested that Congress “pass the rest” of his jobs legislation.

“We are citizens. It’s a word that doesn’t just describe our nationality or legal status. It describes the way we’re made. It describes what we believe. It captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations; that our rights are wrapped up in the rights of others; and that well into our third century as a nation, it remains the task of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors of the next great chapter in our American story.” — President Obama, SOTU 2013


via workingamerica

JM AshbyWhile I will praise this announcement, I expect the Far Right will say it’s too soon, and the Far Left will say it’s too late.

President Barack Obama Blows a kiss to first lady Michelle Obama,
  
via obama2016


via krispycrustacean

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And the GOP’s response, courtesy of their best hope (this week) for 2016:


via inothernews


via theatlantic

Full transcript of Sen. Marco Rubio’s response to the State of the Union »

The State of the Hydration, in “slow-mo” (notice Rubio NEVER loses eye contact with the camera):

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via @jedlewison


…said no one but Fox Nation. (via)


via myhappymachine

FACT CHECK: Under President Obama, federal spending has grown at the slowest rates since President Eisenhower » (via occupy-my-blog)

Other:

Twenty-two Congressmen invited people whose lives have been touched by gun violence, in an effort coordinated by Jim Langevin, Democrat of Rhode Island. Counterbalancing those invitees is a Texas congressman who invited Ted Nugent. Nugent was investigated by the secret service after saying that if President Obama were reelected he, Nugent, would end up “dead or in jail.” Turned out the answer was c) at the state of the union. — guardian.co.uk

Photos of Shitty Pants Nugent during the SOTU here and here and here.

Just 537 votes changed the course of American history


Voiceover: ”Five hundred and thirty seven. The number of votes that changed the course of American history.”

Newscast: ”Florida is too close to call”

Voiceover: ”The difference between what was… and what could have been…”

“So this year, if you’re thinking that your vote doesn’t count.That it won’t matter. Well, back then, there were probably at least 537 people, who felt the same way.”

Announcer: ”Make your voice heard. Vote.”

How much do you want to bet that almost every one of those 537 people thought their vote wouldn’t count, that it didn’t matter?

Even if you’re a red state with dedicated electoral votes for president, your vote matters overall (popular vote) but especially down ballot — local, state, and the House and Senate. Throw out the members of Congress who have happily done nothing for the past 2-4 years — all for politics – intentionally harming the country to try and make President Obama a one-term president. 

If you’re able, vote for the other candidate. Clean house.

Mitt Romney isn’t qualified to run U.S. Foreign Policy

When conservatives want to put another version of George W. Bush in charge of U.S. foreign policy:


OFA: In a series of interviews, Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Senator John Kerry, Admiral John Nathman (ret.), and Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy explain why Mitt Romney is not prepared to be commander-in-chief. They each lay out how President Obama’s leadership has made America stronger, safer and more secure while Mitt Romney has nothing to offer except bluster, chest-thumping, and a commitment to endless war. As Monday’s debate will demonstrate, blunder and bluster are no substitute for strong leadership.

And this:

Mitt Romney’s Neocon War Cabinet: “Romney is loath to mention Bush on the campaign trail, for obvious reasons, but today they sound like ideological soul mates on foreign policy. Listening to Romney, you’d never know that Bush left office bogged down by two unpopular wars that cost America dearly in blood and treasure. Of Romney’s forty identified foreign policy advisers, more than 70 percent worked for Bush. Many hail from the neoconservative wing of the party, were enthusiastic backers of the Iraq War and are proponents of a US or Israeli attack on Iran. Christopher Preble, a foreign policy expert at the Cato Institute, says, “Romney’s likely to be in the mold of George W. Bush when it comes to foreign policy if he were elected.”

Happy Birthday to America’s longest war

  

thepoliticalnotebook:

A happy eleventh birthday to the war in Afghanistan, which it rather quietly celebrated on Sunday. (It’s almost a teenager, how time flies.)

Here are a selection of photos from the past month in Afghanistan, from The Atlantic’s In Focusblog.

Photos: French soldiers in their vehicle on their way to an operation in Kabul.  Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty. US Army soldiers based at Zangabad Forward Operating Base in Panjwal on an operation. Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty. A young Pashtun boy watches a joint Afghan-NATO patrol. Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty.

theamericanbear: 11 years ago, Oct. 7th, 2001, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. Thus began the longest war in American history, going on for over 4000 days. This milestone rolled by almost without mention yesterday. Is it possible that we feel shame?*

comic source, david rees, get your war on, Oct. 9th, 2001.

*No.

Bill Maher: “I think this is the week Mitt Romney lost the election.”

Raw Story reports on an exchange between John Feehery and Chris Hayes that I thought was significant regarding reality and Republican talking points:

“Obama just looked cool and smart,” Maher recalled. “And, again, Obama just looks cooler and smarter, ’cause he is.”

One of Maher’s panelists, Republican strategist John Feehery, suggested that “things are just getting started” in this election cycle, since there haven’t been any debates between Romney and President Barack Obama yet, and Obama has yet to poll above 40 percent with voters in “key states,” though he did not mention which ones.

But when Feehery described this week’s outbreak of violence in the Middle East, including the killing of the U.S. envoy to Libya as “all hell breaking loose,” MSNBC host Chris Hayes interjected.

“All hell breaking loose in the Middle East are 4,800 dead Americans in Iraq, and 500,000 Iraqi civilians dead,” Hayes responded. “That is what all hell in the Middle East breaking loose is.”

Watch video

President Obama DNC2012: More war and defense spending, or invest in America again?

“In a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven.  Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq.  We did.  I promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11.  We have.  We’ve blunted the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan, and in 2014, our longest war will be over.  A new tower rises above the New York skyline, al Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and Osama bin Laden is dead.

“[...] So now we face a choice. My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy, but from all that we’ve seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly.

“After all, you don’t call Russia our number one enemy – and not al Qaeda – unless you’re still stuck in a Cold War time warp. You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can’t visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally. My opponent said it was “tragic” to end the war in Iraq, and he won’t tell us how he’ll end the war in Afghanistan. I have, and I will. And while my opponent would spend more money on military hardware that our Joint Chiefs don’t even want, I’ll use the money we’re no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work – rebuilding roads and bridges; schools and runways. After two wars that have cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars, it’s time to do some nation-building right here at home.”

— President Obama, DNC2012

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Romney says he omitted troops from his RNC speech to talk about “important” things

Accidentally revealing

Fox’s Bret Baier queries Romney on why he didn’t mention the troops or the war in his speech at the Republican National Convention.

BAIER: A few more things, Governor. To hear several speakers in Charlotte – and I don’t think this is jump (?) – they were essentially saying you don’t care about the U.S. military because you didn’t mention U.S. troops and the war in Afghanistan in your nomination acceptance speech. (….) Do you regret opening up this line of attack, now a recurring attack, by leaving out that issue in the speech?

ROMNEY: I only regret you repeating it day in and day out. (LAUGHS)

BAIER: Well I mean, what just came from Charlotte -

ROMNEY: Because when you give a speech, you don’t give a laundry list. You talk about the things that uh you think are important.

I’ve cut him off right there, deliberately. Romney would go on to give the lamest of excuses, that he had indeed mentioned the military in his speech, that he’d visited an American Legion the day before, and that he absolutely opposed cuts in military spending, and so on. A better answer — and a better man– would have just owned up to this error, admitted it, and perhaps gotten some props for honesty. But that man wouldn’t be Willard Mitt Romney.

There are two potentially accidental revelations there: 1) that he regrets the media has picked up on this rather embarrassing (I would think) omission of his not mentioning the troops — INSTEAD of regretting he didn’t mention them! And 2) Romney thinks mentioning the troops would be like reading a laundry list instead of talking about important things.

Remember if you elect this guy, he’ll be more than happy to send the laundry list (i.e. YOUR sons and daughters) overseas to fight the GOP’s Forever Wars: Next Stop, Iran!

But honestly, if you support Romney, would you really expect anything less from a “fortunate son” who received years worth of deferments from the Vietnam draft to hide out in a mansion in France? You’ve picked yourselves a real winner there, Republicans.

No mention of war or the troops in “Fortunate Son” Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech

It’s a pretty interesting omission by a Fortunate Son. It’s extra interesting when you consider that Romney-Ryan are ready to start a new war in Iran, shipping off another generation of other people’s loved ones to fight and die in the newest chapter of the GOP’s Glorious Forever War.

Huffington Post: With America embroiled in its longest armed conflict, Mitt Romney became the first Republican since 1952 to accept his party’s nomination without mentioning war. Three election cycles after the 2001 terrorist attacks, neither Romney nor his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, had anything to say about terrorism or war while on their party’s biggest stage.

Steve Benen: Imagine if, in the midst of the longest U.S. war in American history, a Democratic presidential nominee delivered a 4,000-word speech at his convention, and neglected to mention the war altogether. Imagine if that candidate didn’t bother to say a single word about the conflict, the troops serving abroad, or when they might come home. Imagine if that same Democratic candidate ignored the war despite not having any military background of his own, and even managed to skip visiting the troops during a recent tour abroad. I think we know what would happen under such a scenario. McCain, Kristol, Krauthammer, Limbaugh, Cheney, et al, would reach an unavoidable conclusion: there’s simply no way this Democrat has a credible claim to be Commander in Chief during a time of war. And yet, Mitt Romney, who never wore a uniform, delivered his 4,000-word speech, which failed to even acknowledge the war in passing. The word “Afghanistan” was not uttered. There were no references to “veterans” or “troops,” either.


Mitt Romney, during his nomination acceptance speech, on August 30, 2012 in Tampa, Florida.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images) via: The Atlantic

And yet,

Mitt Romney circa 1966, demonstrating in favor of the Vietnam War, even though he avoided the draft himself by hiding in France for 30 months (living in what some described as a palace) as a Mormon missionary.

Huffington Post: His mission lasted 30 months from July 1966 to February 1969, but Romney also was given almost three years of deferment before and after the mission because he was a student.

Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech: NINE issues he decided he wouldn’t talk about

Long on biography but short on policy.

Think Progress lists 9 items Romney either didn’t bring up — or that were mentioned in passing — in his acceptance speech last night. “[F]or a candidate who chose Paul Ryan as his running mate to signal a willingness to take on big challenges, Romney spent precious few — if any — words discussing some of the country’s most pressing problems and even less time explaining how a Romney/Ryan administration would solve them:”

  1. – 0 mentions of Financial Reform: Even as millions of Americans struggle with the effects of the Great Recession caused by Wall Street malfeasance and scores of others continue to deal with the fallout of the foreclosure fraud scandal, Romney has said that he will repeal the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, but has yet to detail what, if anything, he would put in its place.
  2. — 0 mentions of Climate Change: “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet,” Romney said to loud laughter. It’s too bad that he and most of the GOP delegates don’t believe in the very real threat of global warming.
  3. – 0 mentions of Immigration: “We are a nation of immigrants,” Romney said, without explaining how he would help the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Romney has not said if he would rescind Obama’s temporary directive permitting young undocumented immigrants to work in the country, though his advisers have suggested that he would.
  4. – 0 mentions of Romneycare: The convention speakers didn’t tackle Romney’s greatest accomplishment as governor, the enactment of universal health care coverage in Massachusetts. Romney promised to repeal Obamacare, but did not say what he would replace it with.
  5. – 0 mentions of Afghanistan or Syria: Romney did not mention how he planned to address the nation’s largest ongoing wars or one of the most important ongoing humanitarian crises on Earth. This may be because the Romney campaign has been unable to meaningfully distinguish its policies from those of the Obama administration on either of these crucial issues.
  6. – 0 mentions of Social Security: Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, has proposed Social Security privatization schemes that would have cost retirees dearly if they had been in place during the financial crisis.
  7. – 0 mentions of Veterans: Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Romney has ignored veterans issues. After he spoke to the Veterans of Foreign Wars last month, veteran advocates said they were “still waiting for Romney to spell out how he would do better than his opponent.” “We haven’t … heard any specific plans yet from Governor Romney or his campaign,” said Bob Wallace, executive director at the Washington office of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, echoing the sentiment of many advocates.”
  8. – 1 mention of Medicare: Romney criticized Obama for cutting $716 billion cuts from Medicare — reductions that are also included in Paul Ryan’s budget. But did not explain what his own controversial reforms. Under Romney’s “premium support” plan, seniors would have to spend significantly more for health care.
  9. – 1 mention of Housing: Romney did say, “when the realtor told you that to sell your house you’d have to take a big loss” — but that’s all. The Federal Reserve bank of New York anticipates that millions of Americans will face foreclosure this year and next, but Romney has yet to release a housing plan, beyond telling homeowners in foreclosure-battered Las Vegas “don’t try and stop the foreclosure process,” just “let it run its course and hit the bottom.”

Mitt Romney is a firm believer in keeping secrets, which includes his policy plans. Romney has restricted voters to a ‘need to know’ access, meaning they don’t need to know until after they vote for him.

Guessing what a Mitt Romney presidency would look like: foreign policy

Out of Romney’s 24 special advisors on foreign policy, 17 served in the Bush-Cheney administration. If Romney were to win, it’s likely that many of these people would serve in his administration in some capacity — a frightening prospect given the legacy of this particular group. The last time they were in government, it was disastrous. — The Romney-Cheney Doctrine

Worst. President. Ever. (Let’s do it again with Mitt Romney)

Political Wire: “An excerpt of Where They Stand:The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians by Robert W. Merry in Salon suggests George W. Bush will be ranked near the bottom of all presidents: ”Based on the contemporaneous voter assessments, the objective record, and what we know of history, it’s difficult to see him even in middle-ground territory. History likely will view Bush largely as the voters did after eight years of his stewardship. And so it’s probably just as well that he doesn’t care much about the verdict of history.

Consider that Mitt Romney, in actions if not in words, is creating a campaign that seems to be an exact duplicate of the Bush Years, from extending tax cuts for the one percent — who’ve already surpassed all other earners in the country with net income advantages, and who’ve hoarded their wealth gains to the detriment of our entire economy — to a neocon foreign policy platform that’s becoming more “Cheneyfied” by the day. What could go wrong?

Ari Berman: “Of Romney’s forty identified foreign policy advisers, more than 70 percent worked for Bush. Many hail from the neoconservative wing of the party, were enthusiastic backers of the Iraq War and are proponents of a US or Israeli attack on Iran. [...]  Romney’s malleability is an advantage for his neocon advisers, giving them an opportunity to shape his worldview, as they did with Bush after 9/11. Four years after Bush left office in disgrace, Romney is their best shot to get back in power. If that happens, they’re likely to pursue the same aggressive policies they advocated under Bush. “I don’t think there’s been a deep rethink,” says Clemons. “I don’t think the neoconservatives feel chastened at all. As a movement, the true neoconservatives never, ever give up. They will be back.””

Andrew Sullivan: “When you check reality, rather than the alternate universe constantly created by Fox News and an amnesiac press, you find that Bush had a chance to pay off all our national debt before we hit the financial crisis – giving the US enormous flexibility in intervening to ameliorate the recession. Instead, we had to find money for a stimulus in a cupboard stripped bare – its contents largely given away, by an act of choice. I’m tired of being told we cannot blame Bush for our current predicament. We can and should blame him for most of it – and remind people that Romney’s policies: more tax cuts, more defense spending are identical. With one difference: Bush pledged never “to balance the budget on the backs of the poor.””