He Brought Everything To the Table

++ED Kilgore liked how he put together the middle class initiatives with panache. He also notes that President Obama used the Pentagon as authority on the effects of climate change and the need to deal with it now. Kilgore was surprised that President Obama suggested the need for a new Authorization to Use Force against ISIS. I am glad of this.

++The Democratic reactions were summed up with the line,"He brought everything to the table." Democratic Underground comments suggested this was President obama's best State of the Union speech ever. The constant dissenting note was one about the trade pacts. 

++Consensus best line,"I know because I won both of them", referring to President Obama's response to the Republican app;wise he was not running again.

++First time, "lesbian","Bisexual" and "transgender" used in a State of the Union Speech. 

++The Daily Kos kept its eyes on the Republican responses. It noticed no applause on Obama talking about bringing the deficit down. The only standing ovations on the GOP side were when the President mentioned veterans. No response to the President on his statement about Americans fighting Ebola,after all that was their mid-term issue. It noticed the lull with Iran. Ed Kilgore thinks Obama was holding back news about a breakthrough. That's why he said war was a last resort.

++Joni Ernst regaled us with her upbringing on an Iowa farm and gave comedians some openings. She painted a story of people struggling, losing their health insurance and having to struggle with Obamcare. She also mentioned the Keystone XL pipeline as a total infrastructure project. She called it a jobs bill. Observers said that Joni Ernst looked like a Stepford Wife but at least didn't have the crazy eyes of Michelle Bachmann. The GOP message is of gloom and doom . It seems Reagan's sunny disposition has long been forgotten.

++There were also four other alternative state of the unions. Even Rand Paul of his own YOUTUBE channel.

++What tomorrow will miss is President Obama's emphasis on women, equal pay, child care and choice. Even the "liberals" in the media will neglect it.
But expect Hillary Clinton to seize on this when she announces.

++ I was surprised by his vow to veto attempts to water down the regulations governing banks and Wall Street. He already let the regulations on derivatives slide.

++I don't expect much from Congress on any of these things. I agree with Andrew Sullivan that President Obama laid out a Democratic platform for the future. He also warned that he would take measures to prevent the GOP from reversing the progress made.