Howard Fineman: Obama State Of The Union 2011: "LOVE TRAIN IN THE HOUSE"

[kpete]

WASHINGTON - It wasn't Kumbaya, it was more. We have finally witnessed it: "Love Train" Moment in the capital.

The president almost made John Boehner cry by praising him as a working class hero. That was to be expected. But in his tour-de-force of good fellowship Tuesday night, Barack Obama went further.

For an hour or so, he shrewdly (and in his own interest) ended the anger of our politics, even though he had been a full-throated participant in some of its mayhem minutes in the last two years.

Instead, when he was done delivering his feel-good, oh-so-sensible and sotto voce State of the Union address, I expected the sound system in the House to begin blasting the O'Jays' classic--and to see the members dancing in a conga line in the aisles, Coors Light in hand.

Early polls showed that the speech was one of the most well-received he has ever given.

MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/25/obama-state-of-the-union-love-train_n_814068.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. Huh. I read here that it was an absolute disaster. Funny.

[RufusTFirefly]

2. Unifying both sides of the aisle under a single banner

[Lorien]

3. Bingo. nt

[patrice]

4. Unifying? The speech was received by Reps/Dems with distinct coolness on the average.

We'll see who's unified, eventually. And if it turns out to be the American people who go for this "deal", I'm FOR that, because it still gives the authentic Left room to rise and stand on it's OWN two feet, as soon as they give ordinary non-ideological Americans concrete reasons to support and back them in doing that. There's nothing that competes with TPB like a job.

[patrice]

5. Unifying? The guy WAS talking about DEFICIT REDUCTION. Tell us how that unifies, please. wow.

[RufusTFirefly]

6. Corporations like deficit reduction

That's because it usually translates to privatizing public services. Public services that we will lose and probably never get back.

Furthermore, deficit spending is generally a GOOD THING in tough economic times like these because it creates jobs and stimulates the economy.

[patrice]

9. Political parties say they do, but when it comes down to whose ox is going to get gored, the don't.

I'm in favor of certain kinds of deficit reduction that get's more out of our tax dollars. The President mentioned this last night relative to "Health" "Care", one area of deficit reduction that COULD lead us at least one step closer to strong public option health care.

Another area of deficit reduction is Military spending; that does bear close watching for further privatization, though.

Which brings up: deficit reduction on the backs of an immature, passive, ir-responsible, mis-lead, dishonest electorate will only perpetuate our problems. An intrinsic factor in what happens is "Us". Yes, that's a big gamble, but we ARE part of the problem and that's one of the reasons that I object so strongly to mis-characteriztions of our situation that focus waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much on Obam and not enough on "our" active, longitudinal, authentic commitment and follow-up.

[patrice]

10. BTW, discussions of whose ox is getting gored will be good for us. nt

[RufusTFirefly]

12. Perhaps, but I'm wary of imposing too stringent an economic model on public services

The Post Office is under fire for not being profitable. Should it be?

Many of our public services play a major role in contributing to the profitability of other businesses and -- even more importantly -- to improving the overall quality of life. But when viewed through the narrow lens of their own profitability they will rarely be deemed successful.

Take public transportation, for example. It is rarely if ever profitable. Yet it has a major impact on the success of a society and the health of the environment. And yet if it is subjected to a framework of profitability, it is almost certainly doomed to be branded a failure and a waste of money.

That's what concerns me about this ill-timed interest in cutting the deficit, especially now when Keynesian economics would seem to support deficit spending.

[patrice]

13. WITH you on that, soooooo, this means that, of those "entrepreneurs" who step forward to

help create a "new" (ha!) economy, we should be careful about what areas are available for their investments.

Wont' Medicare Reform be the prototype for that kind of discussion? And education? Giving us an opportunity to talk about what, exactly, is basic, fundamental to America, and universally supported by our taxes.

I understand there are some test attempts at defining "value added" in education in some areas. That would seem like a useful discussion, especially in health care, if those adding the value have an appropriate role in those definitions. To me, that means unions that protect what is useful in the status quo and advocate honestly in open community discourse for and against new economic proposals.

[Smashcut]

8. Exactly right

[Enrique]

7. the anger is still out there

with 9.4% unemployment...

[texshelters]

11. The speech was quite

successful, even when it didn't say much and was mostly a pep rally for America.

More analysis here:
http://texshelters.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/the-presidents-address-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[patrice]

14. Facilitating process is a good thing. Helps people define their own roles. nt

[GeorgeGist]

15. Wait till they get the bill.

Early polls showed that the speech was one of the most well-received he has ever given.

[jenmito]

16. I'm in the 92% of those who approved of Obama's proposals. n/t