I'm with Zach Wendling when it comes to the state of the union address - a completely pointless hour of interrupted TV programming at best. I can't imagine why anyone takes such an address seriously. It's an hour of empty words that no one in their right mind believes the President has any intention of following through on, interrupted 4297447 times by Pavlovian applause at idiotic catchphrases by people who really ought to know that they're listening to words with less substantive content than sugar free jello. Oh, and let's not forget about the inevitable pundit parade on every news channel for hours afterward, breaking down the President's commencement speech cum best man's toast as though it was the Zapruder film. And in reality, nothing is said. It reminds me of the old Barry Crimmins line about political stump speeches - "I'm in favor of good things and against bad things. What courage."
I'm sorry, but I just have an allergy to vacuousness and inanity. I can't bring myself to watch this kind of thing. It's worse than what Malcolm McDowell went through in A Clockwork Orange. I'd rather be tied to an anthill naked and covered in honey. I'd sooner host a Steve Guttenberg movie marathon. I'd rather be stuck in a room with Davis Hasslehoff and Celine Dion singing duets. Okay, that's probably going a bit too far.
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This is exactly why I desperatly flip through the channels, play video games, or pop in a movie whenever this comes on. What the hell am I listening to?! Basically, the president tells us the State of the Union is good, then proceeds to tell us anything except for WHY it's good! It's really hollow and achieves nothing, except to make the president feel like a champ with all the applause.
It's all part and parcel of the weird way American political discourse trivialises the things that really matter and takes foregrounds the frippery. There's almost no substantive policy analysis during debate or in the media, it's all either partisan grandstanding or personality clashes.
I didn't watch - I can't stand the sight of the guy...thekeez
I didn't watch it either, but I heard a really funny bit today. When the President whined that congress did not enact his Social Security "reform", the democrats clapped wildly.
I can't be the only one who watched the ski-superpipe finals of the Winter X Games?? And there was some decent basketball on as well. Alternatives to SOTU abounded; i never once had to cross a network that was carrying it. I must salute the cable broadcasters for this lack of faith in the power of what is left in the Office.
Yeah, but you can play great drinking games to it. A shot for every time he says "terror" or "Iraq." Double shots for "nukular" ... and so on.
The applause truly is ridiculous. It's literally after every sentence. It's difficult to follow what the president is even saying due to the constant interruptions.
It is really amazing how many different people in different Area codes have cell phones with the number 429-7447. Random searches like this are interesting, thanks for the ##