Althouse: Obama repeats himself in State of the Union speeches.

January 25, 2012

Obama repeats himself in State of the Union speeches.

I hear the ominous chimes, but how bad is this, really? He repeats platitudes. (Via Instapundit.)

46 comments:

paminwi said...: This sums it up for me!

http://i40.tinypic.com/jtt1mw.jpg; 1/25/12, 8:52 AM
Andy said...: He doesn't want to stop fixing crumbling roads and bridges just because Republican obstructionism prevents him from dealing with it previously. Is he not supposed to mention it in more than one year? Same thing with immigration. Is this supposed to be an attack? Is there something wrong with consistency now?

I would be concerned if he gave a State of the Union with some major issues to address and then didn't mention those issues again even though they hadn't been properly handled yet.

Is this some backdoor defense of Romney's flip-flopping by making it seem like a bad thing that Obama has a consistent record?; 1/25/12, 8:57 AM
bgates said...: Greatest orator in the history of sound.; 1/25/12, 9:00 AM
Holmes said...: It's only ominous if you're a person prone to being bored to death.; 1/25/12, 9:01 AM
Anonymous said...: "He doesn't want to stop fixing crumbling roads and bridges .."

President Pothole.; 1/25/12, 9:02 AM
Brian Brown said...: Andy R. said...
He doesn't want to stop fixing crumbling roads and bridges just because Republican obstructionism prevents him from dealing with it previously.

The roads & bridges are not "crumbling" and even if they were, it isn't the federal government's job to "fix" them.

Further, the Republicans have not "stood in the way" of fixing anything.

Where do you get so much misinformation?; 1/25/12, 9:04 AM
Dan in Philly said...: LET ME BE CLEAR!

I didn't watch the SOTU because I was washing my hair. But please let me be clear, I have never heard anything coming from O which struck my as remotely interesting, including when he gave the greatest speech on race since MLK's "I Had A Dream" in which he threw his white grandmother under the bus while apologizing for America being so racist. You remember the praise he got for that, right? We don't have that short a memory, right?

Let me be clear, O is and always has been an ordinary political hack who was picked up by a brilliant campaign because he happened to be in the right place at the right time. This brilliant campaign ran him, and ever since he's bee trying and failing to lead the country. He's been a failure from the beginning because he's been a fraud from the beginning.; 1/25/12, 9:04 AM
pm317 said...: will technology make these bastards better in the future? Make this video go viral.; 1/25/12, 9:04 AM
Brian Brown said...: Who would be surprised that Obama repeats himself given that his first "stimulus" made the economy worse and yet he asked for another one?

The modern left simply has no idea how to reassass their political beliefs. Mainly because said beliefs are based on emotions.; 1/25/12, 9:05 AM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: So this incompetent fool has spent more than any president in the history of the country and he can't even get the roads and bridges fixed?
Maybe he'll get around to it with the next $5 trillion of debt.; 1/25/12, 9:07 AM
F said...: Andy R:

You really miss the point: this president has identified problems he wants to work on yet has failed to do so. You can try to blame it on an obstructionist Congress, but for the first two years of his administration he had Democrat majorities in both houses. It was only after American voters saw he really couldn't deliver that he lost his majority in the House. And members of his own party are criticizing his inability to move his agenda through Congress. His landmark achievement -- Obamacare -- only passed with lots of payoffs and once passed required thousands of waivers to avoid alienating supporters. It's the Chicago way and American voters are showing their distaste for it.; 1/25/12, 9:07 AM
Scott M said...: This isn't groundbreaking news. He's been repeating himself since he had that little impromptu with that plumber, Joe.; 1/25/12, 9:14 AM
KCFleming said...: Let him be clear:

None of this is his fault.
Everyone else is to blame.

Obama is awesome.
Can't you see the beams of light?
Do you not remember the Roman columns?

Soon he will walk on water, then you will believe. But blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.

Do I have to spell it out for you?; 1/25/12, 9:19 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: He's a one trick pony

He's a one trick pony
One trick is all that horse can do
He does one trick only
It's the principal source of his revenue
And when he steps into the spotlight
You can feel the heat of his heart
Come rising through

See how he dances
See how he loops from side to side
See how he prances
The way his hooves just seem to glide
He's just a one trick pony (that's all he is)
But he turns that trick with pride

He makes it look so easy
He looks so clean
He moves like god's
Immaculate machine
He makes me think about
All of these extra movements I make
And all of this herky-jerky motion
And the bag of tricks it takes
To get me through my working day
One-trick pony

He's a one trick pony
He either fails or he succeeds
He gives his testimony
Then he relaxes in the weeds
He's got one trick to last a lifetime
But that's all a pony needs
(that's all he needs)
He looks so easy
He looks so clean
He moves like god's
Immaculate machine
He makes me think about
All of these extra movements I make
And all of this herky-jerky motion
And the bag of tricks it takes
To get me through my working day

One-trick pony, one trick pony
One-trick pony, one trick pony
One-trick pony (take me for a ride)
One trick pony; 1/25/12, 9:23 AM
jrberg3 said...: "making it seem like a bad thing that Obama has a consistent record?"

A consistent record of what? Insisting that this or that idea is imperative and a focus of his only to do nothing and ask for the same thing (in pretty much the same way) the following years?

So basically his record is one of not following through on issues he finds so important. And the ideas he was able to bully through (Obamacare and the stimulus) get nary a mention.; 1/25/12, 9:23 AM
Sofa King said...: So basically his record is one of not following through on issues he finds so important.

And still managing to balloon the deficit, even while failing to achieve the goals he says he wants to achieve.

*facepalm*; 1/25/12, 9:28 AM
Christopher in MA said...: They might as well have loaded the teleprompter with Jake's litany of excuses:

"I ran out of gas. I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts! It wasn't my fault, I swear to God!"

Except for repeated mindless ejaculations of "Bush!," that would have made as much sense as anything else this jug-eared charlatan said last night.; 1/25/12, 9:30 AM
madAsHell said...: Platitudes read from a teleprompter by the smartest man in the room.

Worst.
President.
Evaaahhh!!!; 1/25/12, 9:33 AM
BAS said...: I think they let Biden write his speech this time out.; 1/25/12, 9:35 AM
Andy said...: Obama thinks the DREAM act is a good piece of legislation and tried to get Congress to pass it. It failed after it was block by Republican obstructionism in the Senate, even though it had a vote 55-41 in favor of it.

Should Obama not have mentioned legislation that he supported and that had majority support in both houses in a previous speech. Should he have not pushed it because he knew Republicans would filibuster?

Should he not bring it up again even though he thinks it would be good for this country? I don't understand what the alternative is. Obama can't get what he wants by sheer force of will.

I suspect that eventually something very similar to the DREAM act will pass because I think American wants something like that, and either people that oppose it will be voted out of office or our legislators will eventually realize that they should vote the wishes of their constituents. I think when this happens, Obama will deserve some of the credit for pushing it and building support.

Again, I dont understand what is problematic about this process or why it should be used to attack Obama.; 1/25/12, 9:39 AM
Scott M said...: I suspect that eventually something very similar to the DREAM act will pass because I think American wants something like that

What's his name and how do you know he wants it?; 1/25/12, 9:40 AM
Sofa King said...: Should he not bring it up again even though he thinks it would be good for this country? I don't understand what the alternative is. Obama can't get what he wants by sheer force of will.

Yes, of course, we know: nothing is ever Obama's fault, ever. He couldn't possibly be expected to do anything - after all, no other President in history has ever had to face such an obstacle as a majority in the senate, and managed to get some things accomplished. It's completely unfair to expect Obama to have to employ politics and logrolling to move things through Congress; he's just completely and totally powerless to do anything. Now watch this swing.; 1/25/12, 9:57 AM
Kirk Parker said...: BAS,

On the contrary, I think Obama wrote the speech himself this time. Behold the awewsomeness of the Smartest President Ever!; 1/25/12, 9:57 AM
edutcher said...: This is an Administration that had one set of ideas. They were tried and failed.

Now all it has is the buzz words and they keep hoping that will reignite Hopenchange. Problem is, when you've lost The Nation, you've really run out of road.

PS That video shows who the unserious, joke candidate really is.; 1/25/12, 10:07 AM
TMink said...: "Where do you get so much misinformation?"

They think up the lies, then they test them on focus groups, then they decide on the most effective lies, then the tell the lies, then they repeat the lies, then they call people who disagree with their lies liars.

I am missing the misinformation.

Trey; 1/25/12, 10:13 AM
TMink said...: Pogo wrote: "None of this is his fault.
Everyone else is to blame."

I blame the secretive oil billionaires.

Trey; 1/25/12, 10:15 AM
FWBuff said...: My deepest sympathy to the poor Republican staffer who had to sit through all three of Obama's SOTU addresses (again!) to put this clip together. . .; 1/25/12, 10:17 AM
cubanbob said...: Andy R. said...

The economy is in the toilet, things are getting dicy in the Middle East and you are ranting about the DREAM Act? I'm curious, what Atomic Bomb Strength Stupid Pills do you take in the morning? Such stupidity isn't naturally occurring.; 1/25/12, 10:22 AM
bgates said...: He doesn't want to stop fixing crumbling roads and bridges just because Republican obstructionism prevents him from dealing with it previously.

You mean Republican obstructionism now prevents him from having done it previously, so he's going to continue to do the work he hadn't done in the past?; 1/25/12, 10:23 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: "... Obama thinks the DREAM act is a good piece of legislation and tried to get Congress to pass it..."

I think the DREAM Act sucks and glad it was blocked. Here is a novel concept. Enforce the laws.currently on the books and tell prospective immigrants that we have a legal process for obtaining citizenship in this country and everyone regardless of national origin must follow it. If you don't you will be deported and forfeit any chance of being granted citizenship in the future.; 1/25/12, 11:41 AM
coketown said...: I guess it's no sin to repeat platitudes. But, to borrow Obama's favorite metaphor, doing so gives the impression of a car stuck in a ditch with the wheels just turning and turning--and no matter what methods of propulsion are used (punching the gas/tax cuts, pushing from behind/stimulus) the car (America) stays put, year after year. To use the same platitudes each year is to say the problems, and of course solutions, are the same as last year and the year before. Which then makes one wonder: what the hell have you been doing these last three years?; 1/25/12, 11:56 AM
Brian Brown said...: Andy R. said...
Obama thinks the DREAM act is a good piece of legislation and tried to get Congress to pass it

If it is so great, why didn't he pass it in 2009 or 2010 when Democrats controlled Congress?; 1/25/12, 12:21 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Blessed are those who believe with the sound muted for their ears are preserved and they shall inherit the nation. For awhile.

Blessed are those who find other things to do during State of the Union addresses for their priorities are sorted.

Blessed are those who learn which commenters to simply skip for given the amount of output the savings in time is remarkable.

Blessed are those who bear with the stupid for they probably make pretty good pet owners.; 1/25/12, 12:49 PM
shirley elizabeth said...: Where are these crumbling roads and bridges he keeps talking about? Maybe I'm just spoiled here in AZ.; 1/25/12, 1:08 PM
Revenant said...: He doesn't want to stop fixing crumbling roads and bridges just because Republican obstructionism prevents him from dealing with it previously.

That's hilarious. What "fix roads and bridges" bill have Republicans blocked? Name it.

Obama just signed an extension to to highway bill last September. Want to know why an "extension" was needed? Because back when they had filibuster-proof control of Congress, the Democrats let the previous highway bill expire. Roads and bridges weren't important back then, I guess; they had pork to distribute to favored constituencies in Detroit and Wall Street.; 1/25/12, 3:42 PM
Beorn said...: You guys should take it easy on Andy.

He's still working on the whole "hat thing." Once he gets that straightened out, he'll sort out his politics.

One thing at a time...; 1/25/12, 4:16 PM
TheCrankyProfessor said...: I like the young unexpelled illegal young people who are going to staff our research labs and start new businesses year after year.; 1/25/12, 5:42 PM
Paul said...: Well don't blame Obama for the repetitions.

They had to somehow lengthen the speech to fill the time alloted.

So they they they decided decided decided to add more and more and more repetitions to fill up the time.

To fill up the time.

I say to fill up the time but I repeat myself.; 1/25/12, 6:49 PM
Gene said...: Dan in Philly: He's been a failure from the beginning because he's been a fraud from the beginning.

It's always a shock to hear the truth spoken so well and plainly (mainly I suppose because the mainstream media does it so rarely).; 1/25/12, 10:11 PM
Willys said...: Christ, I hope you people realized the fraud before the '12 SOTU. I missed the acceptance speech at the cheesy greek columns in '08 but caught Peggy Joseph's comments after. That's all I needed to hear.

Obama may single handed turn the U.S. into a solid scarlet red nation by November. Better be careful what we wish for.; 1/25/12, 10:33 PM
Anonymous said...: I haven't called him Captain Platitude since the summer of 2008 for nothing.; 1/25/12, 11:10 PM
Hyphenated American said...: "He doesn't want to stop fixing crumbling roads and bridges just because Republican obstructionism prevents him from dealing with it previously."

Your president dumbass Obama spent 800 billion dollars in the stimulus package with the explicit promise to fix those crumbling roads and bridges - and yet, they are still crumbling. I think dims need to find themselves smarter than Obama, cause this guy makes your entire party look sto-oo-pid.; 1/26/12, 12:11 AM
Will said...: I believe he wrote the speech. I liked the part about grapes and Apes.; 1/26/12, 7:16 AM
Peg C. said...: Congrats to Dan in Philly for being quoted by Instapundit last night. I could not agree more!; 1/26/12, 7:45 AM
SoulStraw3 said...: Leave to racist a-holes like Dan in Philly to be quoted by racist turds like Instapundit! They cant stand having a blackman as President the resort to name-calling andpathetic rethortic!

Let ME be clear! I'm conviced anyone who hates this man is a racist. The proof is in the pudding!

There is a main reason for repeating these statements, the GOP has so far not helped. They are the party of "no" can do, on anything at any time. Even bills that have been introduced by them in the past, and approved by them again, they turn around and say "no" to. WHY? Because the president agrees with them...they can't have that - no way, Jose. They do want to sound like they
agree on anything.

Check on the comments of the video. They are not falling for you crap anymore. They KNOW republicans are to blame, and they WANT Ron Paul to be President!

Anyone who calls Obama a fraud is nothing but a racist!; 1/26/12, 2:53 PM
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