State of the Union 2011

[Cephalopod]

It's tonight. Some references to help:



The State of the Union Drinking Game (http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/01/the_state_of_the_union_address.html)

• For every minute that passes before “the state of our union is strong,” take one drink.

• Take one drink for each appearance of a trademark Obama rhetorical tic: “Let me be clear...,” “Look...,” “There are those who...,” “Make no mistake....,” “The road ahead will not be easy... .”

• The dream of bipartisanship is laughably invoked. (One drink)

• Bipartisanship is mentioned, accompanied by a closeup of a Democrat sitting next to a Republican, uncomfortably. (One additional drink)

• Bipartisanship is mentioned, accompanied by a closeup of a Democrat and Republican sitting next to each other, a little too comfortably. (Two additional drinks)

• When Obama starts talking about deficit reduction, use the lull to visit the bathroom or replenish the supply of snacks and beverages.

• Flaccid promise to get tough with Wall Street. (One drink)

• Completely anecdotal entrepreneurial success story used to advance questionable claim that the economy is really turning around. (One drink)

• “I'm reminded of people like (name of Average American, followed by Inspirational Story).” (One drink)

• Take a drink when Obama lays out plans to address budget shortfalls with careful reductions in military spending and...just kidding, that will never happen.

• In his token reaction shots, John McCain is not paying attention (one drink), is scowling (two drinks), is grinding his teeth (three drinks), is texting (four drinks), is sleeping (five drinks) or is eating a giant sandwich (six drinks).

• Nancy Pelosi is shown blinking aggressively. (One drink)

• John Boehner weeps uncontrollably the entire time for no apparent reason. (Drink continuously)

• Obama utters the phrase “new era of civility” with a straight face.

• Shout-out to Keith Olbermann. (Two drinks)

• Chug during every ovation, standing or otherwise.

• One drink for each offensive hand gesture by Supreme Court Justices Alito and/or Scalia.

• Take a drink if Vice President Joe Biden blows off the speech.

• Take a drink if Biden arrives late and tries to slide into his chair unnoticed.

• Do a waterfall if Biden arrives wearing a ponytail.


Other drinking game variations:
Esquire (http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/state-of-the-union-drinking-game-2011-5022792)
SF Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/durst/detail?entry_id=81535)
Foreign Policy (http://rothkopf.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/24/state_of_the_union_score_sheet_and_drinking_game)

Also, an interesting way to view the SotU: complete with accompanying White House propoganda (http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2011)!

[g++]

Its hard enough getting PB to show up to raid sober as it is asshole.

[ClydeR]

The important things to watch are who sits with whom and which supreme court judges show up.

John Thune and Kirsten Gillibrand, the two prettiest senators, are sitting together. Eric Cantor asked Nancy Pelosi to sit with him, but she appears to be hesitating. I don't know what she's waiting on. She'll never do better than Cantor.

Judge Alito went to Hawaii so he won't be there. But which judges will show up? Will the conservative judges boycott it since Obama complained last year about the campaign finance decision?

Also will be interesting to see the new "enhanced" state of the union that the White House is putting on the internet to show a stream of charts and graphs and other things while Obama talks.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

It's gonna be just like this...

http://cdn.ihatethemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/anigif_obama-makes-it-rain-with-surprise-9371-1236962397-4.gif

[Deathravin]

http://rlv.zcache.com/you_lie_hat-p148086315296149006qz14_400.jpg

[Parkbandit]

Its hard enough getting PB to show up to raid sober as it is asshole.

True... but with those rules, I don't think my keg has enough beer.

Hell, I don't think my keg has enough beer to take a drink everytime Obama mentions spending.. er I mean "investing"....

And PS - I probably won't be on tonight.. pretty big storm hitting here.

[Cephalopod]

The second item (Obama rhetorical tics) will kill you at almost any Obama speech if you follow these rules.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

I normally don't play but if McCain is eating a giant sammich, I'll do the 6 shots.

[TheEschaton]

Now I want a giant sammich.

[~Rocktar~]

True... but with those rules, I don't think my keg has enough beer.

Hell, I don't think my keg has enough beer to take a drink everytime Obama mentions spending.. er I mean "investing"....

And PS - I probably won't be on tonight.. pretty big storm hitting here.


These rules will kill me for sure, no way I can play using them. And I am pretty sure you could back up an event truck to an average home of 4 and not have enough beer by these rules.

[4a6c1]

Cool.

Why does Hilary always look like she just got done getting her foot kissed by some dude? Am I the only one that sees it? Yay Hilary!

http://egamer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/hillary_vader2.jpg

Who else clapped at the tv when obama was like 'so we argue but at least we arent communitts!!'. I did. I totally did. And almost fell off my treadmill.

I wonder if he is actually going to do any of that stuff.

Highlights:

Furniture lady mouthing the words, "Thats me" when he was talking about her.

Generals not standing with the mention of DADT repeal.

McCain the only one standing at the mention of no earmarks.

The two black ladies at opposite ends of the chamber wearing the same exact disgusting shade of green. WHY OH WHY.

The guy with the drill that saved people is kind of hot.

Obama looks older than usual.

Colorblind CNN reporterdude befuzzeled by the color of Speaker Bainors tie.

I think thats it.

[ClydeR]

McCain the only one standing at the mention of no earmarks.

Obama made a political mistake in saying he would veto any bill with earmarks. He's surely going to get some big bills that he wants to sign but that have one or two little earmarks in them. Then he will either have to veto them or break his promise, or he can try to change the definition of "earmark."

[ClydeR]

I made word clouds on wordle.net to compare Bush's third state of the union speech to Obama's third state of the union speech. First Bush then Obama.

Bush
http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo166/rmi08a/bush3.jpg


Obama
http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo166/rmi08a/obama3.jpg

[Back]

I made word clouds on wordle.net to compare Bush's third state of the union speech to Obama's third state of the union speech. First Bush then Obama.

Bush
http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo166/rmi08a/bush3.jpg


Obama
http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo166/rmi08a/obama3.jpg

Well done sir. Well done.

[Back]

Highlights:

Furniture lady mouthing the words, "Thats me" when he was talking about her.

Generals not standing with the mention of DADT repeal.

McCain the only one standing at the mention of no earmarks.

The two black ladies at opposite ends of the chamber wearing the same exact disgusting shade of green. WHY OH WHY.

The guy with the drill that saved people is kind of hot.

Obama looks older than usual.

Colorblind CNN reporterdude befuzzeled by the color of Speaker Bainors tie.

I think thats it.

I can add to that list...

Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s sexy spider woman gloves and posture.

All the Stars of David adorning the aisles. Hmm...

After a crowd shot coming back to the president to see Biden and Boehner laughing. You know Joe make some off color remark that Boehner could not resist laughing at.

The line “I’ve heard it gets even more complicated after you smoke them.”

How Boehner made it through all that without shedding a tear is beyond me.

[4a6c1]

The line “I’ve heard it gets even more complicated after you smoke them.”



That was so funny! I took it literally and it broke my brain for five whole minutes so by the time I got done thinking of applicable smog laws they were talking about something totally different.... Thats when I started laughing.

Holy crap did anyone watch the Tea Party response??

The message? RESIST TOTALITARIANISMS.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs9/i/2006/021/6/9/Darth_Vader_at_Iwo_Jima_by_hitokirivader.jpg

[Androidpk]

I made word clouds on wordle.net to compare Bush's third state of the union speech to Obama's third state of the union speech. First Bush then Obama.

Bush
http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo166/rmi08a/bush3.jpg


Obama



http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo166/rmi08a/obama3.jpg


You shouldn't plagiarize other people's work, it isn't nice.

[Back]

That was so funny! I took it literally and it broke my brain for five whole minutes so by the time I got done thinking of applicable smog laws they were talking about something totally different.... Thats when I started laughing.


It got me to tinkin bout the Jamacain cook on that failed Friday show. “Do we fry it? NO NO NOOO NO. Do we broil it? NO NO NOOO NO. Do we smoke it? YEAH YEAH YEAAAAAAAAHHHHH YEAH!”

[Parkbandit]

The line “I’ve heard it gets even more complicated after you smoke them.”



I was glad to see him pull that joke off, after his jet plane one bombed so badly it forced me to feel sorry for him.

[Back]

I was glad to see him pull that joke off, after his jet plane one bombed so badly it forced me to feel sorry for him.

Awww. PB actually likes our president. Thats pretty remarkable.

Very actually.

[Stanley Burrell]

I made word clouds on wordle.net to compare Bush's third state of the union speech to Obama's third state of the union speech. First Bush then Obama.

Bush
http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo166/rmi08a/bush3.jpg


Obama
http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo166/rmi08a/obama3.jpg

That looks pretty cool actually.

[Stanley Burrell]

http://img806.imageshack.us/img806/563/2wbyx4j.jpg

[Rucca]

http://img806.imageshack.us/img806/563/2wbyx4j.jpg

Hmm...I read that as spanking, not speaking.

[4a6c1]

It got me to tinkin bout the Jamacain cook on that failed Friday show. “Do we fry it? NO NO NOOO NO. Do we broil it? NO NO NOOO NO. Do we smoke it? YEAH YEAH YEAAAAAAAAHHHHH YEAH!”

WHOA. you win

[EasternBrand]

tl;dw?

[Stanley Burrell]

Hmm...I read that as spanking, not speaking.

Oh, no. It definitely says speaking (I re-read it, though, since I just woke up, and thought it said spanking after you mentioned it! ... Brings me back to too late in my childhood, heh.)































Now: Present to me your sweet, sweet buttcheekz so that I may commence to leaving true Stanley Burrell-trademarked hand stamps. Yo, I'll wear a velvet glove and still lay down the unclenched iron fists on that ass. Bam. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. I'll tell you when you've been a good enough girl to earn a brief respite. Sheeeeit.

Ma'am.

Whatever this thread was supposed to be about, good job everybody.

[Parkbandit]

Awww. PB actually likes our president. Thats pretty remarkable.

Very actually.

Unlike you, I can seperate the man from his political beliefs. I've always said that Obama is a very personable man.

It's his policies that are destroying the fabric of our country, the fabric of our traditions and even the fabric of time and space!!!!11111oneoneeoneoneoneoen

[Parkbandit]

Pretty good article on Yahoo this morning:

WASHINGTON – The ledger did not appear to be adding up Tuesday night when President Barack Obama urged more spending on one hand and a spending freeze on the other.

Obama spoke ambitiously of putting money into roads, research, education, efficient cars, high-speed rail and other initiatives in his State of the Union speech. He pointed to the transportation and construction projects of the last two years and proposed "we redouble these efforts." He coupled this with a call to "freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years."

But Obama offered far more examples of where he would spend than where he would cut, and some of the areas he identified for savings are not certain to yield much if anything.

For example, he said he wants to eliminate "billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies." Yet he made a similar proposal last year that went nowhere. He sought $36.5 billion in tax increases on oil and gas companies over the next decade, but Congress largely ignored the request, even though Democrats were then in charge of both houses of Congress.

A look at some of Obama's statements Tuesday night and how they compare with the facts:

OBAMA: Tackling the deficit "means further reducing health care costs, including programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which are the single biggest contributor to our long-term deficit. Health insurance reform will slow these rising costs, which is part of why nonpartisan economists have said that repealing the health care law would add a quarter of a trillion dollars to our deficit."

THE FACTS: The idea that Obama's health care law saves money for the government is based on some arguable assumptions.

To be sure, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated the law will slightly reduce red ink over 10 years. But the office's analysis assumes that steep cuts in Medicare spending, as called for in the law, will actually take place. Others in the government have concluded it is unrealistic to expect such savings from Medicare.

In recent years, for example, Congress has repeatedly overridden a law that would save the treasury billions by cutting deeply into Medicare pay for doctors. Just last month, the government once again put off the scheduled cuts for another year, at a cost of $19 billion. That money is being taken out of the health care overhaul. Congress has shown itself sensitive to pressure from seniors and their doctors, and there's little reason to think that will change.

___

OBAMA: Vowed to veto any bills sent to him that include "earmarks," pet spending provisions pushed by individual lawmakers. "Both parties in Congress should know this: If a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it."

THE FACTS: House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has promised that no bill with earmarks will be sent to Obama in the first place. Republicans have taken the lead in battling earmarks while Obama signed plenty of earmark-laden spending bills when Democrats controlled both houses. As recently as last month, Obama was prepared to sign a catchall spending measure stuffed with earmarks, before it collapsed in the Senate after an outcry from conservatives over the bill's $8 billion-plus in home-state pet projects.

It's a turnabout for the president; in early 2009, Obama sounded like an apologist for the practice: "Done right, earmarks have given legislators the opportunity to direct federal money to worthy projects that benefit people in their districts, and that's why I've opposed their outright elimination," he said then.

___

OBAMA: "I'm willing to look at other ideas to bring down costs, including one that Republicans suggested last year: medical malpractice reform to rein in frivolous lawsuits."

THE FACTS: Republicans may be forgiven if this offer makes them feel like Charlie Brown running up to kick the football, only to have it pulled away, again.

Obama has expressed openness before to this prominent Republican proposal, but it has not come to much. It was one of several GOP ideas that were dropped or diminished in the health care law after Obama endorsed them in a televised bipartisan meeting at the height of the debate.

Republicans want federal action to limit jury awards in medical malpractice cases; what Obama appears to be offering, by supporting state efforts, falls short of that. The president has said he agrees that fear of being sued leads to unnecessary tests and procedures that drive up health care costs. So far the administration has provided grants to test ideas aimed at reducing medical mistakes and resolving malpractice cases by negotiation, but has recommended no change in federal law.

Trial lawyers, major political donors to Democratic candidates, are strongly opposed to caps on jury awards. But the administration has been reluctant to support other approaches, such as the creation of specialized courts where expert judges, not juries, would decide malpractice cases. In October 2009 the Congressional Budget Office estimated that government health care programs could save $41 billion over 10 years if nationwide limits on jury awards for pain and suffering and other similar curbs were enacted.

___

OBAMA: "The bipartisan Fiscal Commission I created last year made this crystal clear. I don't agree with all their proposals, but they made important progress. And their conclusion is that the only way to tackle our deficit is to cut excessive spending wherever we find it — in domestic spending, defense spending, health care spending, and spending through tax breaks and loopholes."

THE FACTS: Obama's fiscal commission did not simply recommend cutting excessive spending; it proposed that the deficit could only be tamed by cutting $3 for every $1 of new revenue raised — in other words, a painful mix of spending cuts and tax increases. Instead, Obama proposed an overhaul of the corporate tax system that would eliminate loopholes and tax breaks but also reduce tax rates. The net effect would be neutral; it would not reduce or raise any revenue. Obama has yet to sign on to any of the ideas, even though he promised when creating the panel that it would not be "one of those Washington gimmicks."

___

OBAMA: "To put us on solid ground, we should also find a bipartisan solution to strengthen Social Security for future generations."

THE FACTS: With that comment, Obama missed another chance to embrace the tough medicine proposed by the commission for bringing down the deficit. For example, he ruled out slashing benefits or partially privatizing the program, and made no reference to raising the retirement age. That left listeners to guess how he plans to do anything to salvage the popular retirement program whose trust funds are expected to run out of money in 2037 without changes.

___

OBAMA: As testament to the fruits of his administration's diplomatic efforts to control the spread of nuclear weapons, he said the Iranian government "faces tougher and tighter sanctions than ever before."

THE FACTS: That is true, and it reflects Obama's promise one year ago that Iran would face "growing consequences" if it failed to heed international demands to constrain its nuclear program. But what Obama didn't say was that U.S. diplomacy has failed to persuade Tehran to negotiate over U.N. demands that it take steps to prove it is not on the path toward a bomb. Preliminary talks with Iran earlier this month broke off after the Iranians demanded U.S. sanctions be lifted.

___

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, giving the GOP response: "Whether sold as 'stimulus' or repackaged as 'investment,' their actions show they want a federal government that controls too much, taxes too much and spends too much in order to do too much."

THE FACTS: The economic stimulus package passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress in February 2009 didn't raise taxes. Instead, about a third of the package — nearly $300 billion — was made up of temporary tax cuts. The biggest was Obama's Making Work Pay credit, which provided up $400 to individuals and $800 to married couples. There were dozens of other tax cuts, including a more generous child tax credit, a tax credit for buying a home and a sales tax deduction for buying a car. Many, but not all, of the tax cuts have since expired.

Obama's health care law imposed new taxes, including a penalty for some people who don't get qualified health insurance, starting in 2014. But Obama extended Bush-era tax cuts that were due to expire at the beginning of the year. He also enacted a new one-year cut in the payroll tax for 2011 for just about every wage earner.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110126/ap_on_re_us/us_state_of_union_fact_check_5

[Androidpk]

Hmm...I read that as spanking, not speaking.

Calm yourself girl ;)

[Warriorbird]

Successfully running the Politics folder through Wordle would be awesome.

[Back]

Successfully running the Politics folder through Wordle would be awesome.

If it had an RSS feed it would be possible.

I copied and pasteded the first page of threads.

http://www.zendada.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Picture-4.png

[NocturnalRob]

Clyde, you made it!

[NocturnalRob]

For anyone that missed it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl2g40GoRxg

[ClydeR]

You shouldn't plagiarize other people's work, it isn't nice.

You think that was so impressive that I must have copied it from a professionally done website? I'll take that as a compliment!

[~Rocktar~]

Pretty good article on Yahoo this morning:



Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, giving the GOP response: "Whether sold as 'stimulus' or repackaged as 'investment,' their actions show they want a federal government that controls too much, taxes too much and spends too much in order to do too much."

THE FACTS: The economic stimulus package passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress in February 2009 didn't raise taxes. Instead, about a third of the package — nearly $300 billion — was made up of temporary tax cuts. The biggest was Obama's Making Work Pay credit, which provided up $400 to individuals and $800 to married couples. There were dozens of other tax cuts, including a more generous child tax credit, a tax credit for buying a home and a sales tax deduction for buying a car. Many, but not all, of the tax cuts have since expired.


I agree, good article, though I have to take umbrage with the above commentary and state that their liberal bias is showing. When they and other news organizations speak of the Bush tax cuts they call it spending, yet in this passage, they berate Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for calling Obama tax cuts spending. Pot, meet kettle. And not the 2009 package of pork did not raise taxes, it simply borrowed money that will have to be repaid some day nd require tax money from some different bill.

[NocturnalRob]

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lflyx6j0Bk1qzpwi0o1_500.png

[Cephalopod]

I have to be honest, I didn't actually watch more than about 5 minutes of the speech. I'll read it and watch the responses sometime today. I flipped over to watch the new Spartacus mini-series, which takes place before SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND TITS.

I'm pretty sure this 'Troll SotU' graphic summarizes everything, though:
http://i.imgur.com/pTyEU.png

[IorakeWarhammer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw

The Obama Deception

[ClydeR]

For anyone that missed it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl2g40GoRxg

The enhanced version was pretty neat, but the writing on the charts was too small for me to read it. The charts needed to be bigger than the video.

[NocturnalRob]

The enhanced version was pretty neat, but the writing on the charts was too small for me to read it. The charts needed to be bigger than the video.
Full screen. Get glasses. Get a larger monitor.

[Back]

Obama and Biden were really trying hard to make him shed a tear.

[Latrinsorm]

But the administration has been reluctant to support other approaches, such as the creation of specialized courts where expert judges, not juries, would decide malpractice cases.Are people actually considering this idea??

[~Rocktar~]

Are people actually considering this idea??

Already done in drug courts and a lot of other cases.

[~Rocktar~]

I have to be honest, I didn't actually watch more than about 5 minutes of the speech. I'll read it and watch the responses sometime today. I flipped over to watch the new Spartacus mini-series, which takes place before SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND TITS.

I'm pretty sure this 'Troll SotU' graphic summarizes everything, though:
http://i.imgur.com/pTyEU.png

Gotta say, that picture is damn funny and 100% win. Oh, and having watched the thing, pretty damn accurate.

[Warriorbird]

Archival Politics Folder Post Titles

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5017/5390167927_7fde193a24_b.jpg

[NocturnalRob]

Obama and Biden were really trying hard to make him shed a tear.
Fist pump, bro!!

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfn9poIKrx1qzpwi0o1_250.gif

[Deathravin]

I think the bi-partisan seating actually seemed to help the habit of the president's party giving a standing ovation after every single sentence. The word to applause ratio was better than last year, but not nearly as low as it should be.

Do they even have to applaud? Why can't they all just sit there and let the guy talk... I dunno... I think if it were me, I'd walk in, no glad-handing, tell everybody to save their hands til the end, then walk out like a BOSS with none of the glad-handing and autograph signing. Be in and out in 45 minutes, and we can all get back to our families.

[Showal]

I would have been introduced to Hulk Hogans old theme song because I am a real American.

[NocturnalRob]

I would have been introduced to Hulk Hogans old theme song because I am a real American.
Rick Derringer, fool!!

[Showal]

Rick Derringer, fool!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2OR6Kjo5m4

But this one would be more accurate for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF8h9qYCq2Q

[Kuyuk]

I would have been introduced to Hulk Hogans old theme song because I am a real American.

I would vote for any politician if they did this.