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Posted on 01/21/2015 7:24:56 AM PST by SeekAndFind
First, let it be known that I am on the record many times declaring the tradition of the State of the Union and the State of the Union response as the worst monsters of democracy. I swear I would vote for anyone who promised to go back to sending a letter to Congress.
If the SOTU is a dry, boring, laundry list of impossible goals and partisan cheap shots, the SOTU response is an even bleaker task. It has famously tripped up many a comer—Republicans more than Democrats, not because Democrats are any better but because the press is much less interested in obsessing over a Democratic response’s shortcomings when they can focus on a Republican president’s. The response is the home of Sen. Tim Kane’s wandering eyebrow, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s sing-songy delivery, Sec. Kathleen Sebelius’ zzzzzzzzzz, and Sen. Marco Rubio’s water sip that shook the world. Pretty much the best a response can offer is being “fine.” Rep. Paul Ryan’s was solid and a bit outside the box with his charts and what-not. Sad to say now, but Gov. Bob McDonnell’s was decent, mostly because he delivered it in front of a live audience. He’s now in jail, but the two are unrelated. I’d demand that set-up if I were going to give such a speech. The live audience not the jail cell.
ABC pundits, who run the gamut left-leaning to RINO-y declared Ernst “fine,” and I think that’s about right, and that’s about all that’s needed. She has moral authority on foreign policy, as a veteran, and Obama skipped much of the fight against Islamist terror in his speech, so I would have liked to have heard more from her on that front, maybe earlier in the speech. Her personal story was interesting, but the stilted nature of the venue just doesn’t do anyone any favors. That being said, I thought she connected with the camera more than some commentators thought.
Ronan Farrow tweeted this insight, which would be declared the Most Sexist Thing Ever Said if he were a conservative TV host and she were a Democrat:
#thingsonlyliberalmencantweetaboutRepublicanwomen RT @RonanFarrow: Joni Ernst delivering response in the style of an in-flight safety video.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) January 21, 2015
It’s not the end of the world, but how fast would this have become, “My, that strong, woman veteran who is a United States Senator sure does remind me of a sweet stewardess I once met in Milwaukee,” in the hands of the media had roles been reversed. Anyway, I’m not outraged, but I do like to point out the double standard.
Here is the text of Ernst’s speech. The part on the Islamist threat:
Some of it will occur where I stand tonight, in the Armed Services Committee room. This is where I’ll join committee colleagues — Republicans and Democrats — to discuss ways to support our exceptional military and its mission. This is where we’ll debate strategies to confront terrorism and the threats posed by Al Qaeda, ISIL, and those radicalized by them.
We know threats like these can’t just be wished away. We’ve been reminded of terrorism’s reach both at home and abroad; most recently in France and Nigeria, but also in places like Canada and Australia. Our hearts go out to all the innocent victims of terrorism and their loved ones. We can only imagine the depth of their grief.
For two decades, I’ve proudly worn our nation’s uniform: today, as a Lt. Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard. While deployed overseas with some of America’s finest men and women, I’ve seen just how dangerous these kinds of threats can be.
The forces of violence and oppression don’t care about the innocent. We need a comprehensive plan to defeat them.
We must also honor America’s veterans. These men and women have sacrificed so much in defense of our freedoms, and our way of life. They deserve nothing less than the benefits they were promised and a quality of care we can be all be proud of.
I’ll let you guys talk while I wait for video to export. Sorry for the delay and false advertising, but I figured better to get this up.
Instead of red meat we got baloney! Ernst campaigned like a bulldog but looks like a RINO now.
I’d prefer to see Dennis Miller give the rebuttal.
What a thoroughly useless woman.
Those cute campaign ads and quotes were mainly from the primary against other Republicans.
Palin’s endorsement have people convinced she’s TEA Party even though her money and manpower came from Romney, the Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers. She replaces Tommie the Commie Harkin and the alternative to her was Bruce Braley.
It’s true that she’s not really what we need, but she might be the best we could get from Iowa.
She's barely had an opportunity to cast a vote yet and the grubs are our for her!
None of her detractors have or likely ever will accomplish half as much as she has.
Jealousy is a corrosive thing to anyone's spirit.
If any one of her detractors thinks they can do better, then I challenge them to run, to win and to demonstrate their mettle.
But that's hard work, you see. It's too easy to just sit back and flick the boogers.
So they do.
FReegards!
“If any one of her detractors thinks they can do better, then I challenge them to run, to win and to demonstrate their mettle.”
I have no horse in this race. I tuned in just to hear her but left the room before she was half through.
You know what Dennis would have been great. :-)
Yep. Well said. They don't believe in us, the American people. They don't believe in our intelligence, they don't want to risk offending any of us simpletons.
Because they don't believe in us -- they believe in the results of cheated fraudulent elections, and they believe that the MSM isn't limited to representing only the MSM.
Cruz and Palin, like Reagan did, believe in the intelligence and goodness of the American people. Democrats and the GOPe have contempt for it -- that's why they will cheat to gain power, and that's why they want to see government controlling everything from health care to how people freely, peacefully, civilly interact with open homosexuals in society. Democrats and the GOPe lack the faith in Americans to do right, so they work to make sure government is there to force us to "do right" by its own lights.
To hell with them, Republican or Democrat. If they don't believe in Americans first and foremost, then they can look for somebody else to vote for them. From now on, I'm only voting for someone who respects the intelligence and goodness of the American people and whose goal is to REDUCE GOVERNMENT TYRANNY.
The GOPe never misses an opportunity to step on it's collective whang, and it's a shame they sent Sen. Ernst out there to fire a torpedo at herself. They should have sent one of the doddering old cronys like McCain out there to underwhelm.
Mr. niteowl77
Instead you whine and cry and use ugly coarse metaphors of "flicking boogers" at someone for saying what YOU have refused to hear or understand.
Talk about a gas bag, Agamemnon! You describe yourself!
Just mush. That's all these GOP-E speeches ever are. Mush.
I was hoping( dreamer that I am) that the rebuttal would point out some of the grievous lies Zer0 was spouting.
But alas, Repubs underwhelm, again.
I really like Joni, hope she can overcome this minor blemish.
She gave a fine rebuttal speech.
Ernst was good enough for Palin and a host of other Tea Party supporters to endorse and to work for to get elected, but somehow she's still just not good enough for the lot of you.
Think you are more accomplished than she is? Fine, then prove it.
Think you can do better? Then get in the ring and do it.
If you can't, or (more likely) simply won't, then just go on, keep picking your nose, if you must, and keep your worthless, hopelessly malcontented pontificating to yourself.
This is a representative cross section of the narrow self-validating cabal of FReepers who routinely show up to trash those who actually get into the fray to advance conservatism, even as they just sit back, twiddle their thumbs and snipe.
They're never happy about anything and mistakenly think their mal-contentedness somehow lends heft to thought processes incapable of rising higher than the brain farts that spawned them.
FReegards!
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