In a couple hours, our illustrious leader, Barack Obama will address both houses of Congress and the American people. I still have not decided whether or not I am going to watch it or not. Right now, I am probably leaning against it. I have two reasons to not watch, and two reasons to watch.First, I am really tired tonight and might just want to go to sleep a little earlier than usual. I had a really bad day at work today. Traffic to and from work was particularly bad, so I got to work late and got home late. We also got some "not so good" news in regards to compensation and benefits. Like a lot of companies, they are cutting back in some areas because of the economy, but at least nobody is losing their job.
Second, I really can not stand to hear the man's voice. Every time I hear him speak I find myself shouting at the television or radio. After the day I had today, why would I want to pile more aggravation on top of all that?
When the election was over and I expressed some of my concerns about where Obama would take the country, my friend UBM tried to assure me that Obama was too smart to govern from the left and would govern from the center. I wonder if he still feels that way, because there has been nothing in the first five weeks of his presidency that I would even remotely agree with.
For instance, let's take Obama's stance on getting off our addiction to foreign oil. I am all for doing that, but let's be realistic. Alternative energy is not anywhere close to being developed enough to provide for all our energy needs. They need to be explored and developed, but until they are viable, we need to also take advantage of the oil in ANWAR and in the continental shelf. We also need to explore increasing our use of nuclear power. Neither of those options seem to fit in with Obama's plan.
About the only compelling reason that I have for staying up to listen to the speech is that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is giving the Republican response to the speech. Everything that I have heard from him has been impressive. It would be nice to hear everything for myself instead of just soundbites and commentary through the media, but I really am leaning towards hitting the sack early.
UPDATE:
In all fairness to President Obama, if there is anybody's voice I can't stand more than his, it would be Nancy Pelosi. Oh, and Harry Reid pretty much sucks as well.
UPDATE #2:
Like a fool I have been watching it. Right now it is about 9:45. Is it just me or does Joe Biden look pissed every time that ignorant bitch Pelosi stands up to applaud? (I actually wanted to use a stronger description of her, but I edited myself.)
Dude, you need a tall Bourbon! So do I. First and foremost, I'm glad to hear that you guys aren't dumping any jobs. And here's hoping that you'll be secure in the future. While I think I still have a job, we, unfortunately, after 8 years of corporate greed and excess are putting folks on the streets in a very unfavorable job market. And my feeling is - it's gonna get worse before it gets better. I do hope I'm wrong but all of the indicators are there. - Market psychology is such that people aren't spending money. They're holding onto whatever hope of financial security they may have left. The result of that is increasing unemployment which will further strain our economy, etc..... Fortunately, Oil prices are down (go figure) and interest rates are low. There's just no liquidity or credit. Maybe Bush was right. Americans need to go shopping and spend some money. But try to tell that to someone who just lost their job. I'm sure they'd rather see the government spend money.... I'm irritated to say the least at where some of this money is ending up though. Have you seen the latest reports on Northern Trust and how they spent some of the money they received last October? They claim they weren't distressed and didn't ask for the money. Once again, figure that one out. How and why did they get one penny of Bailout money and why were they allowed to blow it as recently as last weekend. These are tough times for sure. I suppose I'm glad the nation isn't depending on me to come up with the right answers. I'd be interested in hearing whether you watched or not and what your opinion is/was after the speech. Maybe you'll have a follow-up post. It seems like public opinion moved positively in favor of Obama. I missed a portion of it but it sounds like he's sticking to his guns. Following through on many of his campaign promises (whether we agreed with them or not). It's hard for me to be too critical this early in his Presidency knowing that he fell into some ugly stuff. I wasn't overly impressed with Governor Bobby Jindal. He seemed a bit over -rehearsed and less sincere. But that's a whole new topic. Thanks for the post and sharing your views!
ReplyDeleteDude, I need more than a tall bourbon, thought I am more of a red wine or beer kind of guy. I have been through the fun of getting laid off of a job through no fault of my own. I spent 21 years with Safeway before they centralized my job to California. It wasn't much fun, though I did get to sleep in for a few months until I started working again. It took me a year to find a full time job. So I can definitely commiserate with anyone that loses a job these days.
ReplyDeleteI did end up watching the speech and I ended up yelling at the TV. Especially when he talked about energy, and cap and trade plans. Plus the more I watched it, the more Nancy Pelosi aggravated me. I swear, I thought Joe Biden looked aggravated every time she stood up to get BO an ovation.
I was angry with W for the first bailout. Then I watch all the spending in the first 30 days of BO's administration and it bothers the hell out of me. There hasn't been a POUS since Reagan that has made me proud, and it seems they just keep getting worse and worse.
To mean it just doesn't make sense, you blame the previous administration for getting us in a deficit that is the cause of the current economic state, and then you go an build up an even bigger deficit with more spending. The same with his energy policy. He wants to get off foreign oil, but he won't allow domestic drilling. It is just infuriating.
Please forgive my sense of humor but - You said....
ReplyDelete"I did end up watching the speech and I ended up yelling at the TV."
That made me laugh out loud. Let's have some brewski's the next time I'm in your neck of the woods. Hopefully we'll both still be working and not still yelling at the television. Then we'll discuss whether this astronomical spending has helped or exacerbated the situation. On the Oil thing..... more drilling is inevitable in my opinion. But I have a different take on that. And it involves national security and the strength of our economy. And that's a whole different topic. Thanks for the discussion. I've enjoyed my visit to your blog.
oh you are absolutely correct on the national security and economic issues of oil. On the spending, I do not believe we can pay for it, and I don't think most of it will be beneficial. You are on for brewskis next time you are out here, maybe some French Onion Soup
ReplyDeleteYou got a deal!
ReplyDeleteYou can't stand to hear Obama's voice and love to hear Jindal.
ReplyDeleteDickster's Random Thoughts.
Maybe Random but surely not thoughts.
I did not say I loved Jindal's voice. I said I wanted to hear what he had to say. As for Obama, he always seems to come off as preaching and condescending, neither nice to listen too
ReplyDeleteOh,and Mitchell, I guess you must be a liberal. After all, your comment is pretty much a typical liberal response to someone with a different viewpoint than you. Surely somebody that disagrees with you must not have a brain in their head so go into a personal attack.
ReplyDelete