More on the State of the Union

In the end, the State of the Union address was a long speech about how government is the way to address all of the many problems facing our country. I would have preferred Obama to say that "We are strong, we are resilient, we are American," and that the "spirit of determination and optimism" of Americans means they need less, not more, government "help". Basically, more of this, this, and this would have been better, and far less of the obvious, two-faced contradictions ("I will not give up on trying to change the tone of our politics", followed later by "let's put aside the schoolyard taunts" -- comparing your opposition to children is not going to improve the tone in Washington).

This is what I like least about the SOTU - it begs you to judge the speaker, not on policy and ideas, but on things that are immaterial to the well-being of the country, like reading words other people wrote from a teleprompter, and that are open to vastly different interpretations:

Example 1: To Richard Cohen in the Washington Post, Obama was "moderate", had "poise", "self-confidence", and "seemed the only adult in the room." "He conjured up a Washington where things once worked."

Example 2: To Jonah Goldberg in the NY Post, Obama had "supreme arrogance", a "distinctly unpresidential whine " while arguing "anyone who feels differently hasn't heard or understood the president's explanations." "Aside from a few throwaway lines of self-deprecation, whenever he grew passionate, it was to blame others."