Andrew Sullivan, who recently wrote a cover story for Newsweek about how dumb all of the criticisms of the President are, had some criticisms for the President:
I was hoping for a vision. I was hoping for real, strategic reform. What we got was one big blizzard of tax deductions, wrapped in a populist cloak. It was treading water. I suspect this will buoy liberal spirits, but anger the right and befuddle the independents. It definitely gives the Republican case against Obama as a big government meddler more credibility. I may be wrong - but the sheer cramped, tedious, mediocre micro-policies he listed were uninspiring to say the least.
We voted for Obama; now we find we got another Clinton. The base will like this. I'm not sure independents will. As performance, he did as well as he could with the thin material he had in his hands. As a speech, I thought it was the worst of his SOTUs, when he really needed his best.
NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco was concerned about Speaker Boehner's tweets and demeanor during the speech:
@SpeakerBoehner Just read some of your tweets and you seem pretty angry kind sir. I can see you on tv but you're not smiling. Hope you're ok
Former George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer sure got plenty of zingers in:
The president praises Steve Jobs and Apple, but his tax proposals would punish them.
Ken Layne at Wonkette is keeping his hopes up for the Revolution after this mild setback:
So Obama says how we are such a kick-ass country that can kill anybody and even make kids go to high school. And then Mitch says Obama *actually* said America is in decline, the world is too weird, etc. No, that's what bloggers and leftists and anarchists say, because it's true. Obama says a bunch of patriotic bullshit talking points.
The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza was one of the rare people on Earth to get something out of this speech:
Given the success of his rhetorical pivot, it's no surprise that President Obama largely stuck to it during the State of the Union. While this was not the same speech he would give to a group of Democratic activists and donors, it was also far from the ideals-only addresses that he delivered with regularity on the campaign trail in 2008.
This is Obama version 2.0: Harder, more cynical but perhaps also more effective. This is the Obama that will run for a second term this November - an Obama ready to give at least as good as he gets in the bare-knuckled brawl that is American politics.
Obama told a spilled milk joke. How did DC indie rock performer Ted Leo like it?
That was literally the worst joke I've ever heard. #SOTU
National Review people thought Obama's speech was dumb, as is their job, but boy oh boy did they like that boring word salad from Mitch Daniels afterwards. Why won't he save America?
Jefferson "trembled for" our country when he reflected that "God is just." We must do the same when confronted with the contrasting speeches tonight of Barack Obama and Mitch Daniels. That our best leaders, such as Mitch Daniels, who tonight delivered the finest response to a State of the Union ever, have chosen not to serve, leaves the country to the second-raters. And if we are led by second rate people, we will become a second rate country.
All in all, it was a great night for America.
[Image of Obama with retiring Rep. Gabrille Giffords via AP]
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