Who is going to watch the State of the Union tonight? Who is actually expecting a difference?

Drinking Game!

Whenever he says "I" you have to take a shot.....

Might as well call in sick now.

a reply to: LSU0408

Most politicians do very little thinking for themselves anymore, and if put on the spot, they would all sound like Josh Earnest.

now back to the topic at hand:

I am not surprised that so many people responded with negative comments about Obama and the current state of America, but I am surprised no one has yet said they will watch and have high hopes for a good speech.

Does no one that has faith left in Obama wish to comment? Will no one defend him?

Anyway, I do appreciate the candid responses from all of you, even those I disagree with. Most people so far seem to think this speech will be a bunch of back-patting and self-acknowledgement from a president that would best be described by my own personal ATS moniker.

originally posted by: jtrenthacker
Should be called the State of Obama Address. How many times will he say "I", "Me", and "Myself" during this speech? I'm going with 40+.

Lol...I've read, here on the intertubes, that many do a "drinking game" on key words used by POTUS (Bush, Republicans, NRA, talk radio) some words (I, me, my, and the generic "folks") are disallowed as alcohol poisoning (prob NOT covered by ObamaCare) would ensue due to their preponderance of use.

All that said...the SOTU is now the Golden Globes for the homely political class. Many have office minions positioned RIGHT NOW in aisle seats (to get to 1. Be on camera; and 2. Shake hands/hug/touch the hem of Obama.). Others (upon the POTUS exit) will jockey for position, Sharpies in hand, for (I kid not--I've seen it) AUTOGRAPHS from Obama. I'm half tempted to do a search tomorrow on eBay.

All that said a new level of "being seen" has been added to the Award Show "feel." It's "Bring A Special Guest" time!!! Woo hoo!!! From token Muslims, Little Sisters of the Poor, immigrants, LEOs, those who feel victimized by LEOs, a few more immigrants, and Kim Davis (how any and all Kardashians were over looked is a travesty) it's political theatre. The speech is just the excuse for the surrounding festivities.

For me....meh. It's a hockey night where i live.

a reply to: hubrisinxs

Not I. I don't want to listen to the programming script.

Rumor has it that it'll basically be a shameless plug for Hillary 2016.

a reply to: Glinda

All that said a new level of "being seen" has been added to the Award Show "feel." It's "Bring A Special Guest" time!!!...

The speech is just the excuse for the surrounding festivities.

I was reading about some special guest coming to the event this morning, and the comments that were made immediately made me think of an Award Show. The idea that the SOTU has become a glam show for political people to get seen is what saddens me the most. The idea of the SOTU was to connect the president's ideas/policies to the will of the people, but now it has become no better than the Emmys or Golden Globes because it's all about being seen in your fancy clothing next to the president.

I not sure, but I bet E does a coverage of style at the SOTU.... so sad.

a reply to: hubrisinxs

I plan on watching. I am not an obama supporter but I do want to know what our dictator in chief plans to do unilaterally prior to leaving office.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: hubrisinxs

The State Of The Union in 5 seconds.

Everything going well, is because of Obama.

Everything going bad, is because of Bush.

*drops mic*

bush????......the republicans have been in charge of 31 out of 50 state governments, the U.S. supreme court, the house since 2010, and the senate in 14......if something is going bad....it seems the anger should be directed at the people that actually have the power.......

a reply to: avgguy

I really, really hope not. In fact, I hope Obama leaves the 2016 election alone.

Do you have any sources for that rumor?

I would watch it tonight if I wanted a creative way to get drunk. Every time Obama says I or me, take a drink. Of course, it would be problematic whether or not I would pass out before achieving alcohol poisoning.

a reply to: hubrisinxs

I read a blurb about it on CNN yesterday.

Here's the link:

www.cnn.com...

originally posted by: howmuch4another
Drinking Game!

Whenever he says "I" you have to take a shot.....

Might as well call in sick now.

I'm coming out of retirement, your on!!! I will bring the drinks if you don't mind it coming from a jar


Other than that I'm watching I need a good laugh.

a reply to: hubrisinxs

Well, if I happen to still be awake at two o'clock in the morning, and have the mental faculty required to process and filter the event for the inevitable BS that will be present, from all quarters, then sure.

Chances are though, that I will be asleep and letting the antibiotics I had to take earlier, do their infernal magics upon whatever horrid, microscopic bastards have taken over my body over the last two weeks. Seriously, mucus from the everywhere... You do not want it, put it that way.

Its a shame, because that would be the exact thing I would normally stay up to watch.

a reply to: TrueBrit

First off, I do wish you a speedy recovery and hope you are feeling better soon.

Second off, you can be like me and catch it later on the youtube. After reading many of your post I have a respect for your ideas and love the non-American perspective you give on American politics. When you do get around to watching the SOTU let me know what you thought, would love to read that.

Most appreciated and well wishes.

originally posted by: jtrenthacker
Should be called the State of Obama Address. How many times will he say "I", "Me", and "Myself" during this speech? I'm going with 40+.

I am going with 172.


"This is not about me."

OK Barry.

a reply to: hubrisinxs

Thanks very much for the well wishes hubrisinxs!

I will give it a watch at the nearest opportunity, and throw my thoughts at it.

Cheers once again!

originally posted by: hillbilly4rent

originally posted by: howmuch4another
Drinking Game!

Whenever he says "I" you have to take a shot.....

Might as well call in sick now.

I'm coming out of retirement, your on!!! I will bring the drinks if you don't mind it coming from a jar

Other than that I'm watching I need a good laugh.

Well if it's coming out of a jar let's include "we" and neither of us will make it to the end.

a reply to: stosh64

After seeing that video, I decided to check and see if some other presidents used self-references as much.

First I went to my favorite address by any President, Dwight D. Eisenhower Farewell Address

I used control+f to search for "I", Eisenhower says it just 21 times.
For "me", just 20 times
and not once does he say "myself"

Next I went for JFK, cause he had to mention himself right:John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address

He uses "I" only 4 times
and "me" only 10 times
and no use of the reflexive pronoun "myself"

well now I moved on to more modern presidents, Here is a loot at William J. Clinton's 1st State of the Union

Slick willy used "I" 85 times
he used "me" 79 times
still no reflexive pronouns

lastly, I looked at George W. Bush's last State of the Union

Little W uses I only "49" times
and "me" 34 times
and still no use of myself...

JFK seemed the best at not mentioning himself directly, perhaps this is because he was a writer before he was president and knew a bit about writing a good speech himself.

Obama seems to model his SOTU strategies after Clinton, who is himself a shameless self-promoter. Clinton mentioned himself 168 times during his SOTU, which was actually more than the 132 for Obama.

It seems that recent presidents are more concerned with promoting their own ideas and not addressing the will of the nation. Though I hope not, 172 seems reasonable, unless of course that CNN article mentioned early is right that this SOTU will be little more than a selfless plug for Hilary Clinton.

Great find with the video, thanks

And it starts now.

Good gracious. Every time he says something, it's like the crowd gets a neon sign that reads "stand and clap." They all stand and clap and suddenly stop all at the same time. Lol. Then Biden sees them clap so he claps. Heh, what a joke. Paul Ryan's expressions probably represent about 80% of Americans that are watching. I can't help but laugh at the synchronized standing and clapping and the sudden stop.