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A SOTU Over Before Its Begun
Townhall.com ^ | January 20, 2015 | Hugh Hewitt

Posted on 01/20/2015 11:21:52 AM PST by Kaslin

When George W. Bush and the GOP got "thumped" over the conduct of the war in Iraq in November 2006, 43 responded to the will of the people, made changes, announced the Surge, and graciously welcomed Nancy Pelosi as the first woman Speaker at the start of his 2007 State of the Union Address. Not much else is remembered from the next two years, except victory in Iraq and a market panic in the fall of 2008 brought about by the popping of the housing bubble. That panic brought us President Obama.

Tonight President Obama will give a speech few Americans will watch much less remember, and it will lack even a gracious gesture such as Bush's appreciation of Pelosi. "Petulant" has been the tone of the past ten weeks, and while Bush acted within his constitutional authorities to dispatch troops to Iraq in 2007 in sufficient numbers to secure victory in Iraq, and while President Obama has acted within his constitutional authority to begin the return of those troops after his withdrawal of them gave terrorism new life and force can in the rise of ISIS, most of the news now is about a president acting domestically far beyond any established precedent in order to try desperately to stay relevant even as his Class D set of advisors manage to miss the moments --like the march in France-- that could make extend President Obama's shelf life as a force on the world and national stage.

In truth --the hard, cold political truth-- President Obama is a spent force in American politics. Capable, of course, of creating more mischief and of obstructing urgently needed repairs brought about by his epic incompetence, but spent. Like a zoning board packed with no-growthers after an earthquake, President Obama can veto rebuilding, for a time. His inactivity and inane decrees can make a terrible situation worse on the health care front, and can accelerate the collapse of care even as meaningless numbers march out of the mouths of his advisors. His EPA can continue its job killing assault on every industry that employs high wage blue collar workers. He can continue to deliver nonsense speeches about his Harvey-the-rabbit programs he expects Congress to pass.

President Obama can, in short, pretend all is well and major initiatives are afoot. But Washington is a hard place for such posing. Everybody knows, and increasingly, everyone is laughing out loud.

Valerie Jarrett is the president's closest advisor, and appears set upon enjoying her last two years of giving extraordinarily bad advice, aware she is doomed to rough treatment by the waterfall of memoirs that will spill out and by historian's judgments. Her appearance last week on CNN with Wolf Blitzer was, well, a bit other-worldly as Blitzer tried to get her to say something relevant about terrorist arrests and gun battles in Belgium while Jarrett clung to talking points about paid sick leave. The most powerful woman in America turns out to be, well, vacuous. Rasputin, without an idea of what to do other than be Rasputin and dine out.

So watch if you will, and pity the poor network anchors who are going to have to try and fill a couple of hours after Senator Ernst finishes up with talk about what the president can and cannot do via executive order, all the while knowing that any executive order can be undone on the first day of the next presidency. Mitt Romney's 15 minutes on the Midway Friday night had more relevance to the next 24 months than the president's hour plus tonight.

The president might have been relevant to the next two years had he signaled anything except contempt for the people's decisions this past November. Perhaps he will turn towards engagement still, but the slight rise in his polling probably looks to him like an oasis rather than the mirage it is. Expect instead of engagement more pettiness mixed with promises he cannot deliver, and the steady deterioration in conditions abroad. We already know that these two years could be as bad as Bush's last six months because the crises ahead are with killers, not share prices.

He is out of ideas and out of gas, and the country is out of patience with the in-over-his-head president and his D Team of short-timers, already pocketing matchbooks and other souvenirs. A lock to finish last in presidential polls for the balance of his life, his name anchored to a law that is sinking the health care realities of millions, and the man who threw not just his allies under political buses, but millions into the hands of ISIS, The Taliban and Boko Haram while systematically undermining constitutional government --this is the president as he begins his last lap. Perhaps he has some kick left and won't just limp on in, but that kick could only come from working with the very people he has spent ten weeks insulting, and by appealing earnestly to voters to whom he has been messaging indifference since they pummeled him in the fall.

Don't expect much from tonight, or from all of 2015 and 2016 except one grand GOP nomination scramble. Put your hope in the French and the Israelis, and a veto-proof majority in favor of imposing sanctions on Iran, and watch as the country experiments with an all-but empty Oval Office for two years.


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: hewitt; hughhewitt; residentbarack0bama; sotu; stateoftheunion
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1 posted on 01/20/2015 11:21:52 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

by Hugh “Mittster-Shill” Hewitt.


2 posted on 01/20/2015 11:23:37 AM PST by Uncle Miltie (Bush / Clinton 2016! Clinton / Bush 2020! Uniparty Rules!)
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To: Uncle Miltie

IOW, I can’t read or listen to the guy anymore. He’s a one-note wonder. Totally in the tank for Mitt. Bring up a topic, say the weather, and he’ll point out how great it is for Mitt. Blech. Un-listenable, un-readable.


3 posted on 01/20/2015 11:24:47 AM PST by Uncle Miltie (Bush / Clinton 2016! Clinton / Bush 2020! Uniparty Rules!)
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To: Kaslin

All that’s left to do is the James Taylor solo and Obama doing selfies with some illegal alien senoritas. Oh..and the three interviews with the three morons with the most Youtube hits. The one with the woman wearing the green glitter lipstick should be a real hoot.


4 posted on 01/20/2015 11:28:16 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (When the hell do I get MY white privilege? I'm tired of busting my @$$ for a living.)
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To: Kaslin
So watch if you will, and pity the poor network anchors who are going to have to try and fill a couple of hours after Senator Ernst finishes up Assuming the networks even air the GOP response
5 posted on 01/20/2015 11:28:20 AM PST by GeronL
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To: Kaslin

The leaked SOTU has Yemen as a success story.

Yemen apparently just suffered a coup, though...

http://twitchy.com/2015/01/20/reports-yemen-presidential-palace-taken-over-shots-fired-at-us-embassy-staffers/


6 posted on 01/20/2015 11:29:14 AM PST by ltc8k6
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To: Kaslin

Not enough gullible to jump on the Extortion-Care scam, so time to target real citizens, with another Exempt Ones’ scam.

First the proposal.

Then the “bi-partisan” target on the socialized-security-numbered in their WorkCamp.


7 posted on 01/20/2015 11:31:50 AM PST by Varsity Flight (Extortion-Care is is the Government Work-Camp: Arbeitsziehungslager)
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To: ltc8k6

It never fails.
Obama praises someone or something and then it goes bust..............


8 posted on 01/20/2015 11:32:54 AM PST by Red Badger (If you compromise with evil, you just get more evil..........................)
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To: ltc8k6

Posted moments ago:

WhiteHousePressCorps @whpresscorps 6m6 minutes ago

RT @BV: Feinstein want US embassy in Yemen evacuated ASAP. @joshrogin - http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-01-20/feinstein-evacuate-u-s-yemen-embassy-now

FR Yemen “success” thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3248808/posts


9 posted on 01/20/2015 11:34:04 AM PST by maggief
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To: Kaslin

I hope Joe Wilson is warming up his vocal chords, getting ready for tonight.


10 posted on 01/20/2015 11:35:44 AM PST by Veggie Todd (The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. TJ)
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To: maggief
The helicopters may be at the embassy by the time of the SOTU.

Which network will have the stones to do a split-screen?

11 posted on 01/20/2015 11:37:45 AM PST by AU72
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To: Uncle Miltie



12 posted on 01/20/2015 11:42:15 AM PST by MeshugeMikey ("Never, Never, Never, Give Up," Winston Churchill ><>)
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To: AU72
Does anyone but me think the pResident has an odd speech pattern? He talks funny. His pauses are in unlikely places. His inflection is somehow off. Is it because English is not really his first language? Is it perhaps a regional dialect that I find unfamiliar? Perhaps it is racist.
13 posted on 01/20/2015 11:44:56 AM PST by cotton (one way, one truth, the life.)
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To: maggief

I saw those right after I posted.

Barry’s reverse Midas touch...


14 posted on 01/20/2015 11:46:08 AM PST by ltc8k6
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To: AU72

Obama has already outdone Jimmy Carter as the worst president. And now he’s competing for worst traitor with the Democrat congress that left our Vietnamese allies out to dry after the Vietnam War.


15 posted on 01/20/2015 11:49:53 AM PST by AZLiberty (No tag today.)
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To: Kaslin

If President Cruz carries on this idiotic, totalitarian tradition of the STFU Speech, then I will know that HE DOESN’T GET IT AFTER ALL.

I would like to see a movement build for the abolition of this disgusting, childish spectacle.


16 posted on 01/20/2015 12:03:14 PM PST by Arthur McGowan
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To: Kaslin
I just can't make it and I was so looking forward to the speech.

Something on the Food Network I have to watch, how to make a peanut butter and jelly or something.

17 posted on 01/20/2015 12:07:29 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: Arthur McGowan

Yes...it’s more the state of our government overlords...and the IRS is cheering


18 posted on 01/20/2015 12:09:08 PM PST by goodnesswins (2015)
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To: Kaslin
SOTU

I always laugh when I see this abbreviation in print -- I think that "STFU" is more appropriate.

19 posted on 01/20/2015 12:10:55 PM PST by Cincinatus (Omnia relinquit servare Rempublicam)
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To: colorado tanker

I’m going to suck it up and watch hoping for a “Not True” or “You Lie!” moment.


20 posted on 01/20/2015 12:12:25 PM PST by AU72
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