I read the President's speech and thought it was pretty good. But

I really don't get the praise of Salazar who did nada. and the government accountability wasn't enough. And personally, I thought the religious overtones were overdone. But so it wasn't a perfect speech, he did address a lot of the issues. I am glad he spoke.
But now we need real solutions. I hope we are going to take other nations up on the offers of help and I am sorry to say but the region is never going to be whole again. But kudos to the Pprez for taking the reparation money out of BP's control. Now I want to see who he does get to control it.

I never really paid that much attention to it, but my kids were the right age to watch them, and I heard them imatating Beavis and Butthead sooooooo many times.

My two boys used to do segments from Beavis and Butthead dialog.

The prototype for Hank Hill of King of the Hill was a character on that show, too.

This is one of those speeches that was a lose/lose situation but he needed to make it anyway. If he came on and gave lots of details about what should be done his opposition would say he is micromanaging something he knows nothing about. If he dealt more in generalities and the big picture they are going to say he didn't really say anything. I agree he could have toned done the religious references but I think his choice to discuss the problem in more general terms and point out a few things he has done and where he believes the country should go was a pretty good balance.

al qaeda crap.

I ask that as a serious question.

If it didn't change anything, then it's merely words in support of supporting the status quo. And again, that's not meant to be facetious redundancy.

Did Obama say anything as concrete as "Until the leak is stopped and/or brought under control, all of BP's profits will go into an escrow account against cost of clean-up and settlement of pending and future legal actions."

Did he say anything as specific as, "I knew when I applied for this job that it was going to be mess and difficult and, yes, complicated. I knew that my predecessor had left a few things in, to put it politely, disarray. I have been in office for almost 18 months and I failed to put the house -- YOUR house -- in order. Beginning tomorrow, after I accept Secretary Salazar's resignation, I will seek the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to examine the operations of the MMS. What happened on the Deepwater Horizon should never have happened, and we already know some of the reasons why it happened: lax enforcement of existing regulations. Anyone who is found to have violated existing regulations in the MMS will be fired. Period. No one who contributed to or benefited from this culture of corruption will continue in my administration or any branch of my administration. And anyone who is removed from their position, or resigns prior to being found to have violated existing regulations, will be barred for life from any lobbying position whatsoever or other government employment."

Did he say anything as succinct as, "The moratorium on new deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is hereby extended indefinitely by Executive Order."

Did he say anything as transparent as, "Effective immediately, BP will be relieved of all onshore supervisory operations, including but not limited to controlling access of the media to areas affected or potentially affected by the spill. There will be NO prohibiting of credentialed media from affected areas except as necessary for safety and environmental protectiobn. This includes lifting of any and all bans on airspace intrusion, again except in the interest of normal safety."

Did he say anything as direct as, "We have received numerous offers of assistance from other nations and we have been remiss in not accepting that assistance. We have put our pride in American ingenuity, American know-how, American can-do spirit, and even in the myth of the American rugged individualist all before our communal interest. Yes, there are laws on our books that 'prevent' us from taking blanket offers of assistances, and yes, those laws were cited when justifying our refusal of aid from other countries. The letter of the law was observed, but the spirit of the law was not. Effective immediately, we will graciously and humbly and enthusiastically welcome any and all nations who are willing to assist us in this most devastating catastrophe."


My sig line is an epigram from Spanish poet Antonio Machado. El ojo que ves no es ojo porque tú lo veas -- es ojo porque te ve. Translated -- The eye that you see is not an eye because you see it. It is an eye because it sees you. In other words, things have their own being and their own identity and their own existence independent of our perception of them. Whether we insist that the object of our affections returns that feeling simply because we want her/him to even though all the evidence indicates they've long gone on to another relationship, or we insist that someone we placed our political faith in has let us down, we do best when we step back from our own desired perception and look at the evidence.

I don't give a rat's ass about how presidential a man or woman looks or how well they deliver a national address. I care about what they do. Actions speak so much louder than words. And if the words I'm imagined or suggested above are, after all, just words, they imply action, specific directed targeted action.

I didn't see or listen to the speech tonight because I'm supposed to be working. But if Obama's words didn't suggest that the situation and the actions in regards to the situation in the Gulf are going to change, then his words were indeed just words. Words do have meaning, but without action they are nothing.



Tansy Gold

and thus may have bought him some confidence from the less well informed.

The question is what he does with it.

It seems he wanted to avoid being accused of taking political advantage of a crisis.

My reaction was "weak" but I felt that way after the first debate with McCain, whereas other viewers seemed to have gained confidence on an emotional level which I wasn't tuning.

If all Obama delivered was "feeling," we could do just as well with a Golden Retriever in the oval office.

And if he's so afraid of being accused of taking political advantage that he ultimately does nothing, then he's catering to the opinions of his (and our) enemies and that's not a leader at all. That's an insecure teenager who will do anything, anything at all to be liked.

Funny thing -- My sig line comes from high school Spanish, taken lo these many years ago. I still have my third year text book -- "Leer, Hablar y Escribir," copyright 1963, a marvelous compilation of articles and cartoons and other material from Spanish and Latin American magazines. Each of the nine "editions" of the synthesized magazine that comprise the book includes a Peanuts comic strip, titled "Carlitos" in Spanish.

In the first, Charley Brown and Lucy are talking, and Lucy asks Charley, ¿Te molesta que no le gustes a nadie, Carlitos? (Doesn't it bother you that no one likes you, Charley?)

And Charley Brown yells back at Lucy, ¡Claro que me molesta! ¿No te molestaría si no le gustaras a nadie? (Of course it bothers me! Wouldn't it bother you if no one liked you?)

A thoughtful Lucy replies, ¡Creo que no . . . No me importa si no le gustara yo a nadie. . . (I don't think so. It's not important to me if no one likes me. . . )

And in the final panel she concludes, . . .Mientras sea popular! (As long as I'm popular!)


Or as the late Chicago Daily News sportswriter Bill Furlong once said, 'Tis better to be honest and hated than corrupt and despised.



Tansy Gold

Nothing profound is going to happen without the support of a commanding majority of the public, and 50% approval isn't going to cut it.

he already holds AND gained more if he had delivered an action-directed speech instead of merely delivering platitudes or reading the phone book "with feeling"?

I'm not dismissing the importance of "feeling." But if that's ALL he had, if the meanings of his words lacked power, then it's all just warm fuzzies and gold stars for effort and nice penmanship.

The time for making nice-nice with everyone is long gone. It's time to roll up the sleeves and fucking DO SOMETHING.




Tansy Gold

My reaction was "weak"... But I have become aware that not every cognitive type is the same.

I'm ALWAYS writing for the lurkers.



TG

Excellent

"Did it change anything?"

That is the correct question, definitely.

anything is the action taken. A speech is just that - a speech. Now, we'll see what happens. That's the only measure of the effectiveness of what President Obama said last night. We won't know that for a while.

Much will depend on the meetings, Congressional action, and other factors that can't be predicted. I though it was a clear, rational, reasoned speech. Nothing was promised that we all know can't be delivered. A promise to act, however, was made. Now, we will see if that is fulfilled.

The inspiration and we will lick this thing could have been done earlier and tonight laid out a little more concretely, but oh well. In the final analysis a speech is not going to change the crisis either way.

....Salzie.

That speech was actually a violation of the Constitution.

Also, there was NOTHING about any plans for energy independence at all.

That speech was as airy fairy as it could get-especially when gawd was brought in like the oil gusher was gawds will! :puke: :grr:

:yourock:

:yourock:

for moving away from our reliance on petroleum. I heard it. I read it. It was there. So, you just can't say there was nothing about that in the speech. As for the prayer, President Obama is a Christian. Like almost all Presidents, he asked the God he believes in to bless the nation. I'm an atheist, but I don't mind if a Christian President invokes the deity he believes in. It does no harm.

Now, what other parts of the speech did you miss?

Read this OP for the truth:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8569047

Obama's speech had very little on substance and everything to do with trying to keep people from flipping out about what really is going on.

He told us all to pray. That should have woke everyone up.

I'm agnostic and I don't want to hear prayers-I don't want to be coddled or bullshitted. I want the truth and I want solutions.

"A man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest."

Oh, well...

Spare me your denial and excuses.

And spare yourself too. Because you have to live with it and eventually look yourself in the mirror.

from my younger years. As for sparing you, I don't feel a great deal of urgency about that. I believe that I'll just continue to post as I choose, thanks.

Oh, yeah, * would never have made that speech. I heard every one of his speeches. He wasn't capable of such a speech.

I'm happy with the conditions he set up with BP today and was very happy to hear the $20 billion is a 'start' and neither a cap or a floor.

Hoping we see some more vigorous cleanup efforts but am glad we have now accepted the help from the Dutch which they offered early on.

K & R