{"id":4213,"date":"2015-01-22T06:13:31","date_gmt":"2015-01-22T11:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4213"},"modified":"2015-01-22T06:28:23","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T11:28:23","slug":"sotu-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4213","title":{"rendered":"sotu 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/FullSizeRender5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4253\" src=\"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/FullSizeRender5-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"FullSizeRender\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/FullSizeRender5-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/FullSizeRender5-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/FullSizeRender5.jpg 1224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a>While it\u2019s true that the Food Network\u2019s \u201cChopped\u201d and \u201cFriends\u201d reruns vied for my attention Tuesday night, once again I watched the State of the Union address. With all due respect, allow me to share my initial emotion regardless of who is speaking for this long, with this lengthy of a list, with this much use of the pronoun \u201cI\u201d after a full\u00a0day: yawn.<\/p>\n<p>I mean no disrespect. I\u2019m interested in what our leaders have to say; I just don\u2019t always find partisan initiatives combined with political theater\u00a0particularly interesting. Hence, I decided to share a few other thoughts&#8230; some mine&#8230; some yours&#8230;. each who felt called to\u00a0share their creative, editorial insights&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Nice ties, Joe &amp; John. \u00a0Well-coordinated, I might add.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Lookin&#8217; good, Michelle. \u00a0Michelle Obama always looks good &#8212; especially when she&#8217;s smiling.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The first SOTU by George Washington only lasted 5-7 minutes. \u00a0I&#8217;m thinking contemporary leaders could learn a thing or two.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The question here is relevance. How can this President remain relevant his last 2 years in office?\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>&#8220;Aisle hogs&#8221;&#8230; you know who they are&#8230; always have to be right on the row&#8217;s edge. See Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u00a0Any tickets for this up on Stubhub?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Will James Taylor be singing?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Obama looks grayer to me. Life must be a little stressful.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Saluting the troops is right on.\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Does the Supreme Court know how to clap?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><i>I think every President accepts too much credit and too little blame.<\/i><\/li>\n<li><em>&#8220;Middle class economics&#8221;? \u00a0Who came up with that term?\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Not being able to pay for college is not a new circumstance.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>What&#8217;s the message here to Hillary?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>I&#8217;m realizing even the intelligent blur\u00a0the line between\u00a0&#8220;wants&#8221; &amp; &#8220;needs.&#8221;<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Seems like he&#8217;s trying to tug on my heartstrings.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Did he just say\u00a0&#8220;sl_ts&#8221; instead of &#8220;slots&#8221;?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>How&#8217;s he going to pay for all this?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Tax wealth &#8212; not income. \u00a0Otherwise we&#8217;re talking socialism.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Reducing the deficit is\u00a0great, but don&#8217;t ignore\u00a0the increasing debt.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>John Boehner, blowing your nose while the President&#8217;s talking isn&#8217;t all that attractive.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Remember that &#8220;free&#8221; doesn&#8217;t mean free; it means using\u00a0our tax dollars to pay for it.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Love it when they ALL stand! Then it feels a less like a Patriots&#8217; game.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>[via Chris Rock] &#8220;With obesity at record levels, Republicans should set a good example and stand up once in a while.&#8221;<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>So if I get free internet, will my taxes go up or stay the same?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>If you like Obama and like a lot of free stuff, you&#8217;ll like this speech.\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Instead of taxing the\u00a0richest 1% more, could we eliminate their Social Security checks?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>No use of\u00a0the word &#8220;Islamic.&#8221; No use of Al Qaeda either.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>I have great fear about where we are heading.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Not sure if the laughter\/sarcasm here is appropriate. Snarkiness\u00a0never goes over well.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Sen. Diane Feinstein, interesting pink and purple combo.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Not sure climate change is our biggest challenge and not comfortable as the Intramuralist says about omitting God from the conversation.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>We can speak to issues that still need improvement and we could point out that Obama may not have played a significant role in any of these improvements. But can&#8217;t we at least pause for a moment to acknowledge the positive?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>With all the veto threats, you have to wonder if persons will perceive you as\u00a0someone\u00a0who\u00a0can be worked with.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Strong on domestic policy. Weak on foreign policy.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Under Obama&#8217;s leadership, he mentions how some say we&#8217;re more divided than ever. I wish that wasn&#8217;t true. Each of us needs to look at how we play a role in that. That includes Obama. That includes the media. That includes me.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>I hear a conciliatory tone as the President closes. Maybe that would have been wise to use the whole time.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Bill Clinton&#8217;s SOTU&#8217;s sounded very Republican; George Bush&#8217;s sounded very Democratic; both seemed to be reaching out to the other side, where Obama doesn&#8217;t seem to make any attempt to reach out and gives a very partisan\/Democratic speech.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>An appropriate Republican response? \u00a0Balance the budget. Period.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The Republican response comes next &#8212; this year via Sen. Joni Ernst. No disrespect, Senator, but haven&#8217;t we listened long enough?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Sen. Ernst, the first female, combat veteran elected to the Senate&#8230; impressive. She&#8217;s even wearing camouflage heels.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>I like the fact that Ernst worked the farm and the Hardee&#8217;s biscuit line;\u00a0now that&#8217;s hard work.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Keystone pipeline\/jobs bill. Republicans and Democrats support it. The State Dept. supported it. But administration says they can&#8217;t sign it yet. Not sure what the truth is there.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Simplify the tax code &#8212; please!<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Too much dysfunction in Washington. Yep.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>4 times as many people will be watching the Super Bowl next week than the number who watched this tonight. Shocking.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And then on Tuesday, this semi-humble observer turned on &#8220;Chopped.&#8221; \u00a0Did I mention my yawn?<\/p>\n<p>Respectfully&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>AR<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While it\u2019s true that the Food Network\u2019s \u201cChopped\u201d and \u201cFriends\u201d reruns vied for my attention Tuesday night, once again I watched the State of the Union address. With all due respect, allow me to share my initial emotion regardless of who is speaking for this long, with this lengthy of a list, with this much &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4213\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;sotu 2015&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[496],"class_list":["post-4213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event","tag-sotu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4213"}],"version-history":[{"count":57,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4271,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4213\/revisions\/4271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}