SOTU Thoughts

--So much of the time I was saying to myself, "I'll believe it when I see it," especially the promise to repeal DADT.

--I really like the student loan proposals. They would make life so much easier for millions of students and open up the span of their career options. Their first thought in college should be "What do I want to do with my life?" not "How am I going to pay back this huge loan I took out to pay this huge tuition bill?" Unless he fights for it, I don't see how it will survive Congress and the lobbyists.

--I was impressed that he told the Supremes to their faces that they made the wrong decision on corporate money in politics. I could be wrong, but I think that is unprecedented.

--I was impressed that he told Republicans in the Senate that if 60 votes are now required to pass anything, then they bear a measure of responsibility for governing.

--I notice the priority "jobs" now takes over healthcare reform. He says "don't give up," but I think what ever comes out the other end of the Congressional sausage factory (if anything comes out) will hardly be recognizable as reform at this point.

--I noted the tack to the right on offshore drilling and nuclear power.

--I liked the public scolding of the banks and the financial industry, but I would have liked to have seen something more substantive in terms of permanent regulatory reform.

--I agree with Mimi that he's in fantasy land when it comes to Afghanistan. I was listening to Thomas Ricks, author of Fiasco, America's Adventure in Iraq yesterday on the radio point out that our biggest problem there is not the Taliban, but Karzai and his government of bandits and druglords. He quoted an Afghan villager who said that the difference between the Taliban and Karzai's forces is that every time the government soldiers come into his village, they rape the little boys.

--In the end, Mimi said it best, "I want to live in the country that Obama talks about. How can I get there?"

--My message to the Prez and all the Democrats; You have big majorities in Congress. Use 'em or lose 'em!

--Is it just me, or is the House Chamber really ugly? The chamber was rebuilt several times. Its current form was created in the late 1950s. Neo-Classicism meets Art Yucko.