Brief thoughts on the State of the Union Address ('scuse me while I stick this in yer eye)

Lest anyone think I'm a sycophant for this, my Democratic President:

1) The President proposed last night we should take away tax credits that took manufacturing "off shore" and give them, instead, to companies that create more manufacturing jobs here in the US.

Well, duh.

Questions that seem obvious to me: a) Why is this a big revelation? b) Why did no one propose this before? (This occured to be YEARS ago) c) How could anyone be against this? (unless they're Republican and they just don't want this guy to succeed, for fear of creating another FDR and his legacy of Democratic rule for, oh, what? another 40 years?);

2) When the President compared us-a couple of times-to France and Germany and India and China, I got the feeling that, all of a sudden, the US is not only realizing its "catch up" status, but we're acknowledging it. It's a not too subtle shift, I think, from the last 200 years, when we virtually always assumed we were the best, the "top of the heap", so to speak;

3) The President called for more nuclear power plants and "clean coal". Wow. What a disappointment. What a letdown. What a sellout. Way to give in to the Right and the corporations:

4) He proposed doubling American exports.

Really? To where? What country is ready to buy more from us? Oh, and shall we crush some other, Third World country's production, just so we can sell more? Explain this, Mr. President, please;

5) I swear, at one point, I thought he was pushing for international trade wars so we could push our products more;

6) The President called--again, as he should and had to--for health care reform. AND THE REPUBLICANS SAT ON THEIR HANDS;

7) There was one cool, new shot of the chamber, from what I assume was the peak of the celing. Very cool. And another down the aisle he had originally come down. It was very cool, too. Nice to see the camera person was being creative;

8) Here's another easy one he threw out there--doing away with "earmarks". Could we not have that, like, yesterday, please?;

9) This took guts but it'll never happen--the President proposed killing the tax cuts for oil companies (and people making $250,000.00/year). Leave aside the 2nd part--this is a terrific idea. The oil companies are making billions in profits. We shouldn't need to give them tax cuts.

And it has about as much chance of happening as me growing wings;

10) The President's idea of forming a bipartisan commission to balance our budget is a good one. You could also look at it as a way for him to get to share the blame for the budget with the Republicans but hey, you have to start somewhere. We aren't going to solve these problems with only one political party's input;

11) Bringing back the "pay-go" provision should be a no-brainer, too. The Repubs did away with it (thank you very much, you chowderheads) while they were in office. Now that they're out, I'm hoping they'd like to shackly the Dems w/ it;

12) Okay, there's no getting out of pointing out that the President REALLY stuck his thumb squarely in the Republican's eye, in a matter of speaking, with this speech and that's the biggest "takeaway" I have on it afterward. To begin, he blamed Bush and his party for the last 8 years, which is fair, since we're in such a big mess, but do you want them to work with you or not? (Note to Republicans: both demi-god Reagan and Bush did this same thing, in their SOTU speeches, at times). Then he mocked them, on this huge, public forum, for not supporting the American people and for giving tax cuts to the rich, instead. Then he pointed out that that was what got us in the mess we're in today, to paraphrase.

The President didn't make any friends this night, except warming to his own, stalwart base. The Repubs are going to come out swinging today, this week and here on. Just wait until Rush and Glenn and Bill and Sean speak out on this one;

13) Question: Were Joe Biden's shoes bothering him or something?;

14) Twittering is now, officially, clearly ingrained in our culture. You can tell it when you see so much of an audience with their heads down during this speech, punching away furiously at their little machines. It was both funny and sick, at the same time. We can't do one thing any more--we have to make 140 character (or less) notes on it, too;

15) I wish the cameras would have shown the Republican side of the chamber when the President called for the repeal of the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. I feel sure they were sitting on their hands again but they would not/did not show it to us. That really frustrated me;

16) Joe Lieberman looks like he is perpetually reacting sarcastically, even when he's not talking. Since I don't like him and his traitorous, self-serving ways, I'm good with that;

17) The side view shot of VP Biden and Ms. Pelosi, while original, was not attractive. Note to cameraman: don't do it again;

18) Side/final note: looking at the Capital, on the outside, at the end of the speech, can you imagine how strict and tight the security is in Washington when this speech is given, annually? Can you imagine how busy Andrews Air Force Base is this night? Yikes.