Not watching SOTU last night was surprisingly refreshing
A field trip away from the asylum.
I didn’t watch Obama’s State of the Union address last night. Unlike prior years where I had live feeds and extensive coverage.
Instead, I listened to IN-A-GADDA-DA-SOTU.
I did peek at Twitter a couple of times, but not long enough to turn into a pillar of salt.
Reading the headlines and tweets today, there aren’t any of them that couldn’t have been written before the speech.
Not watching was surprisingly refreshing. A field trip away from the asylum.
Amazing, actually.
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I don’t think anyone watched it.
Yep! Settled in for a classic commercial free movie on TCM.
I did catch the Republican responses though and now have a fuller understanding why the GOP is their own worst enemy…
Put Mike Lee’s response alongside the official GOP response, and consider the strange fact that Mike Lee is the kind of Republican that the GOP establishment wants to clean out of Congress and Ms. Rodgers is the kind they want to keep.
And they wonder why people distrust them.
You weren’t the only one Professor. I can guess the message was the same as every other rehashed speech:
1) We’re not where we want to be.
2) If only I could do more without those pesky Republicans.
3) We must all share in the burdens I am placing upon you….
4) …Except of course for me and mine.
I skipped it too. For the first time in many years. I enjoyed NOT watching it. I’m not sure why anybody would have watched it. I’m sad for my country.
Didn’t listen, sat out a snow storm while listening to another concept album, Thick As A SOTU, by Jethro Tull.
I wouldn’t give him one minute of my time. I agree with Peggy Noonan – No one’s listening anymore.
OT here, but I would love to some of you knowledgeable folks go school the idiots at this celebrity gossip blog bleating about Palestinian rights. Apparently Scarlett Johanssen’s SodaStream ad might get pulled from the Super Bowl. Not sure whether Pepsi or anti-Israel forces are behind it, but those people are almost all pro-Palestinian.
http://www.celebitchy.com/346950/why_was_scarlett_johanssons_sodastream_ad_banned_from_the_superbowl/
Barb the Evil Genius
http://barbtheevilgenius.blogspot.com/
I read yesterday that the ad will air but without the invidious reference to Coke and Pepsi at the end. In this case, it’s about keeping the big ad accounts, not about Middle East politics. But kudos to Ms. Johanssen for having a backbone on the political angle.
Very refreshing. Btw, here is an interesting post via John F De Leo from another site.
Here’s a fascinating piece that was forwarded to me at work. Haven’t had time to dig to find out who the author is, and I hate passing on articles without attribution, but it’s too interesting not to share. Depressing stuff, but a splendid analysis.
—————
What ObamaCare is Really About
I’m a 54 year old consulting engineer and make between $60,000 and $125,000 per year, depending on how hard I work and whether or not there are work projects out there for me.
My girlfriend is 61 and makes about $18,000 per year, working as a part-time mail clerk.
For me, making $60,000 a year, under ObamaCare, the cheapest, lowest grade policy I can buy, which also happens to impose a $5,000 deductible, costs $482 per month.
For my girlfriend, the same exact policy, same deductible, costs $1 per
month. That’s right, $1 per month. I’m not making this up.
Don’t believe me? Just go to http://www..coveredca.gov/, the ObamaCare website for California and enter the parameters I’ve mentioned above and see for yourself. By the way, my zip code is 93940. You’ll need to enter that.
So OK, clearly ObamaCare is a scheme that involves putting the cost burden of healthcare onto the middle and upper-income wage earners. But there’s a lot more to it. Stick with me.
And before I make my next points, I’d like you to think about something:
I live in Monterey County , in Central California .. We have a large land mass but just 426,000 residents – about the population of Colorado Springs or the city of Omaha .
But we do have a large Hispanic population, including a large number of illegal aliens, and to serve this group we have Natividad Medical Center, a massive, Federally subsidized county medical complex that takes up an area about one-third the size of the Chrysler Corporation automobile assembly plant in Belvedere, Illinois (see Google Earth View). Natividad has state-of-the-art operating rooms, Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging, fully equipped, 24 hour emergency room, and much more. If you have no insurance, if you’ve been in a drive-by shooting or have overdosed on crack cocaine, this is where you go. And it’s essentially free, because almost everyone who ends up in the ER is uninsured.
Last year, 2,735 babies were born at Natividad. 32% of these were born to out-of-wedlock teenage mothers, 93% of which were Hispanic. Less than 20% could demonstrate proof of citizenship, and 71% listed their native language as Spanish. Of these 876 births, only 40 were covered under [any kind of] private health insurance. The taxpayers paid for the other 836. And in case you were wondering about the entire population – all 2,735 births – less than 24% involved insured coverage or even partial payment on behalf of the patient to the hospital in exchange for services. Keep this in mind as we move forward.
Now consider this:
If I want to upgrade my policy to a low-deductible premium policy, such as what I had with my last employer, my cost is $886 per month. But my girlfriend can upgrade her policy to the very same level, for just $4 per month. That’s right, $4 per month. $48 per year for a zero-deductible, premium healthcare policy – the kind of thing you get when you work at IBM (except of course, IBM employees pay an average of $170 per month out of pocket for their coverage).
I mean, it’s bad enough that I will be forced to subsidize the ObamaCare scheme in the first place. But even if I agreed with the basic scheme, which of course I do not, I would *never* agree to subsidize premium policies. If I have to pay $482 a month for a budget policy, I sure as hell do not want the guy I’m subsidizing to get a better policy, for less that 1% of what I have to fork out each month for a low-end policy.
Why must I pay $482 per month for something the other guy gets for a dollar? And why should the other guy get to buy an $886 policy for $4 a month? Think about this: I have to pay $10,632 a year for the same thing that the other guy can get for $48. $10,000 of net income is 60 days of full time work *as an engineer*. $48 is something I could could pay for collecting aluminum cans and plastic bottles, one day a month.
Are you with me on this? Are you starting to get an idea what ObamaCare is really about?
ObamaCare is not about dealing with inequities in the healthcare system. That’s just the cover story. The real story is that it is a massive, political power grab. Do you think anyone who can insure himself with a premium policy for $4 a month will vote for anyone but the political party that provides him such a deal? ObamaCare is about enabling, subsidising, and expanding the Left’s political power base, at taxpayer expense. Why would I vote for anyone but a Democrat if I can have babies for $4 a month? For that matter, why would I go to college or strive for a better job or income if it means I have to pay real money for healthcare coverage? Heck, why study engineering when I can be a schlub for $20K per year and buy a new F-150 with all the money I’m saving?
And think about those $4-a-month babies – think in terms of propagation models. Think of just how many babies will be born to irresponsible, under-educated mothers. Will we get a new crop of brain surgeons and particle physicists from the dollar baby club, or will we need more cops, criminal courts and prisons? One thing you can be certain of: At $4 a month, they’ll multiply, and multiply, and multiply. And not one of them will vote Republican.
ObamaCare: It’s all about political power.
I have no idea on those numbers, but indeed the huge cost of funding illegals has to be paid by either taxes or skyrocketing insurance rates on the responsible (in effect a huge middle class “tax”, separate from Judge Roberts’ penalty/tax).
This was known and planned, as Rep. Lewis knew. Just recently Leno was complaining that the problem was one Republican yelling “you lie” five years ago, but he failed to recognize that all Democrats were indeed lying their asses off. A huge scam involving our health care system is not the problem, it is that Lewis yell.
The problem is the vast left wing conspiracy keeps people misinformed via Leno, Stewart, and the MFM journolists.
We’ve turned off DISH Network so we now have only Blu-ray movies and Roku download. No more TV.
Sometimes it sucks but not often.
Tonight, this chamber speaks with one voice to the people we represent: it is you, our citizens, who make the state of our union strong.
… this is as close as Obama got to stating in clear terms the “state of the union” … why not just say the “state of the union sucks” and ObamaCare didn’t help ?
I don’t know anybody who watched this, ex. one couple who emailed me and said how easily the president lies and patronizes. Megan did a good 1 hour wrap up which was not flattering to Prez. All I needed to know.
IL 16th Dist, U.S. Rep Adam Kingzinger talks to Bruce & Dan at Chicago’s WLS890 about SOTU
http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=1201&c=5751&f=2367623
I watched some of the inane pre speech commentary. Then when I saw Obama enter the chamber and our elected officials treat him the way that teen age girls treat Justin Beiber – by falling all over themselves to try to touch the guy – I just couldn’t take it any more. I decided to spend my time more productively. I flipped to an episode of “The Waltons”, which probably first aired on TV about 40 years ago.
The Waltons were pretty distressed that they had not heard from John Boy after he was sent to Europe to write about WWII for “Stars and Stripes”. Ma and Pa decided to visit some person in authority to see if that person could somehow assure them that John Boy was safe. They didn’t want any special treatment, mind you, but if he could somehow assure them that John Boy was safe it would really help put them at ease. Then after supper Jim Bob went out to the barn and found the dog was sick. When he threw a stick and the dog wouldn’t go fetch it we all knew it was pretty serious. Luckily, Jim Bob remembered they had some medicine left over from the last time the dog was sick, so he went to try to find it. It was pretty harrowing while we waited. We were all pulling for the dog. Talk about suspenseful. I could go on, but I think you can see why I think it was a more productive use of my time than watching the SOTU spectacle.
I adore the Waltons. However, the late stories aren’t as good as the early episodes. Love Ellen Corby and Will Geer, plus Ralph Waite when he was sober. Who knew I’d grow up to be a little like Corabeth….
I didn’t watch it either. Had to file my nails, surf eBay & watch I Love Lucy reruns. Fact. Period. At the end of the day. 😉
I haven’t watched it since 2009 because it upsets my dogs too much when I constantly yell “Liar!”. I also fear I might throw something at the TV and I really can’t afford a new one.
Thanks for the laugh.
I…. don’t believe she’s joking.
I’m not. They are very protective and quite tuned into me as pack leader. Whenever I get agitated at some idiot on the TV or over the phone all three of them start to sniff around and under everything in the house, looking for an intruder.
Hope and Change flatlined during Obama’s SOTU speech.
I couldn’t watch it, either. I skipped it last year, too, but then broke down and watched it online the next day. This year . . . no, thanks.
Didn’t watch Buraq Hussein. We rented and watched a DVD of “Kick Ass II”. Yeah, it was cheesy, but at least there were some laughs in it; unlike the SOTU. Part of the decision tree on that was the fact that with one or two exceptions who would not be speaking; not one of the people there were MY government, nor do they care a whit about Country or Constitution. None of us have any influence on anything they do, and the only rational goal we can have is to minimize what they can do to us.
I resolved right after the 2012 election not to listen to another word of another speech by Obama, and fortunately, I’ve adhered to that resolution pretty well — my only lapses have been when I’ve heard/seen excerpts online/in the media — and I try to avert my eyes/ears!
Get rid of the TV. No time for it. I won’t give OB one second of my attention. I won’t even give one more word in complaining about him.
(But I appreciate Ike1’s (see previous) story to show how Obamacare is so hurtfully unbalanced.)
Really, why should we suffer from liars or fools. What can Obama say that can be believed. I have better things to waste time on, like video games. At least I enjoy them. He has no credibility and I have lost all respect for Obama. I don’t even believe that he desires to make things better for America, but instead, he seems to wants to drag us down as a people and a country.
i scheduled a haircut during SOTU, then to the store to buy ingredients for a new recipe. Sat down at the TV right after Obama finished.
Darn, I missed the whole thing. Much more interesting to hear reactions without any preconceptions.
I’m pretty sure Cabellas sells out of ammo after every one of his SOTUs.
It’s not watching Obama and Biden as president and VP that’s so nauseating anymore — it’s watching that idiot John Boehner as GOP speaker.