"We Don't Quit, I Don't Quit"

Stirring words from President Obama who reminded me of candidate Obama in 2008.  Where has he been hiding for the past year?

I watched the whole thing last night, but was too buzzed from the SOTU Drinking Game to write about it until now.

He did a good job of laying out the positive things he's done for the economy, although Harry Reid really should have stifled that yawn on the "2 and a half million Americans are working today thanks to the stimulus." line.  He also did a good job of reminding Americans that he inherited this shit from those bozos sitting on their hands.  I was a bit surprised by the new commitment to nuclear energy and the proposed spending freeze feels like a stunt and a capitulation to failed Reaganonics.

I liked his shaming of the Republican culture of no.  "Don't delay or obstruct on every single thing just because they can."  "Just saying no is not leadership."  Of course, Mitch McConnell kept a Dubya-style smirk on his face the whole time and Boehner, as usual, looked like he overdid the Mary Kay.  Several times, McCain and his BFF Lindsay Lohan Graham gabbed like schoolgirls. 

It was interesting that the GOP sat on their butts without applauding anything at the beginning.  They didn't applaud tax cuts, sticking it to the banks, or any obvious Republican-bait.  Toward the end, however, there was some scattered applause from their side, here and there, as Obama became more and more inspiring.  I don't think this signals a new Republican shift into bi-partisanship, but maybe their iron discipline isn't quite as solid as I thought.

Certainly the big news for us was the announcement that he will end Don't Ask/Don't Tell. 

"This year I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are — it’s the right thing to do."

Great words.  Glad to hear it.  I've heard it before.  I'll believe it when it happens.  Americablog pointed out that he gave us a timetable, "this year" and that he said "repeal" instead of "change."  Maybe this is progress?  I'm cautiously optimistic. 

Joe from Joe.My.God noted that the Joint Chiefs sat there stone faced when the announcement was made.  Of course, it's appropriate for them to avoid reacting to the President's speech.  The military is supposed to be scrupulously non-partisan, right?    Here they are:

   Now, here they are when the President got tough with Iran's nuke program:

Oops.  Forget your military bearing, gentlemen?

I thought it was completely inapproprate for the President to criticize the Supreme Court before the American people.  It showed disrespect for the Court and for separation of powers.  It was also inappriate for Samuel Alito to react to it, shaking his head and mouthing "not true."

If you missed the speech, here's the whole thing.