So I just finished watching the State of the Union Address. I had just finished reading part of The Argument Culture, so I was already in that mindset.
Obama said a fair amount about how the Democrats and Republicans need to work together, and how we need to be united. I thought this was a good strategy, because of the recent election. He needs to get at least one Republican vote from the Senate, so by saying that rejecting an idea completely just because it came from the other party was a terrible idea was a smart move. We read about that in the first chapter of the Argument Culture. While saying that we needed to be more united, he also pointed out some of the things the Republicans did wrong. "Lets try using common sense."
Obama also made his speech into a competition when talking about America's global situation. He repeated several times that the United States would not be number two, that we would settle for nothing less than being the best in the global market.
So, do you think his speech was convincing to pass all the bills he wanted? What do you think will happen?
Posted by Elizabeth Bush
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I have no idea about politics and to be honest, I despise the fact that we had to watch this. I cannot stand politics!
ReplyDeleteReally, my watching this address was more about seeing the kinds of body language every person present showed. It was absolutely astonishing, and hilarious -- I noted the delayed nodding done by Biden, who appeared incredibly uncomfortable with his constant shifting and frowning. By the way the army men reacted to Obama's suggestion that homosexuals join the force with blank statue-stares, and how the Republicans hardly clapped at all, I can only imagine how well the Republicans and conservatives will respond to Obama's ideas.
Pelosi's blinking was distracting. And CBS's hilarious comment about Michelle and Biden wearing purple as a symbolic gesture of unity was amazing. It might have been true, I'm not sure. But it certainly was interesting.
I kind of think that Obama's continuous mentioning of what this country was like before he entered office may not have been the right way to go about it. If he doesn't live up to the expectations we have for him and those that he has for himself, he's going to go down in history as a huge disappointment.
This State of the Union address was quite hilarious.
But I still don't want to watch another one.\
By: Melanie Pawlikowski