President Obama's speech

[Penn]

Richard, ZD, Sigaba, collectively, thank you for the smile you brought to my life this morning; and Richard before wear out that movie over the next four years , send me a copy.

[Pete]

If you take 50 Billion out of Defense programs I guess you'll have some money to hire a few more troops. Might have to arm them with M1842s.

[Penn]

Gen. Eric Shinseki
"We need to have enough forces on the ground to deter and hold crises where they are. You can't fall into the trap of organizing for specific missions and then being unable to perform other missions when the conditions change very quickly — and in places like Kosovo, they can change in 20 minutes. You may find yourself having to go very quickly, intellectually and physically, from what was a peacekeeping mission to fighting a war — and preparing the troops for this [shift]. And with the missions multiplying, you cannot go on fighting a 12-division war with only 10 divisions Army."

I believe the DOD is now recognizing the General was right Again, as they are in the process of adding two divisions to the force!!! We’ll have to wait and see what part of the DOD budget is being affected.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by RichL025

No, unfortunately it's sad experience

"...than most QPs." is still an assumption...based solely upon your sad experience...but my not so sad experience over the last 40 years gives me a different 'opinion.' Give it time; the breadth of experience changes many things.

Richard's $.02

[swpa19]

Whyzzit, that when "The Annointed One" wants to motivate the public, he adopts a Republican/Conservitive stance. Even his press sec. said that he would approach this speech with a "Reaganesque" point of view.

And his remarks that he's a "Union kinda guy". And quotes a 1930s act (Davis-Bacon)(Herbert Hoover) that promises workers the "Prevailing Rate". An act whose true purpose is still being debated.

Just some questions floating around in a FOG foggy mind.

[Kosta]

I don't believe it's been linked on this site, and I don't know how the QPs view Jeb Bush, but I was intrigued by a proposal he made in this article. Namely, his desire to transform K-12 education into a credit system like college. Too often I saw people skating by on what Mr. Bush calls "seat time" while students who would have benefited from more intensive instruction (myself included) were bored senseless. It wasn't until I was able to take AP classes as an upperclassman in high school (AP classes are classes taught at a college level which most colleges award credit for, assuming one scores well on the accompanying standardized test) that I found material that was truly engaging, and my sister is experiencing the same difficulties. As such, Mr. Bush's plan is one that I wouldn't mind our current Messiah to adopt, given his large amount of political capital and ability to sell sand to a Bedouin.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Kosta

I don't believe it's been linked on this site, and I don't know how the QPs view Jeb Bush, but I was intrigued by a proposal he made in this article. Namely, his desire to transform K-12 education into a credit system like college. Too often I saw people skating by on what Mr. Bush calls "seat time" while students who would have benefited from more intensive instruction (myself included) were bored senseless. It wasn't until I was able to take AP classes as an upperclassman in high school (AP classes are classes taught at a college level which most colleges award credit for, assuming one scores well on the accompanying standardized test) that I found material that was truly engaging, and my sister is experiencing the same difficulties. As such, Mr. Bush's plan is one that I wouldn't mind our current Messiah to adopt, given his large amount of political capital and ability to sell sand to a Bedouin.

MOO--AP (College Board) is a for-profit business and one doesn't need to take a 'class' to challenge an exam (similar to a CLEP). As far as 'true' challenge, a number of schools allow their motivated and capable students to modify their schedules and take dual-credit (HS + college credit) at a local college. In Texas, this is free and also earns a motivated student the privilege of 'tasting' college expectations, creating a 'transferable' college transcript, and beginning college as a 2nd semester freshman, sophomore, or even a junior. Here in Texas, many public and private high schools don't use the program (I did because of its benefit to students) because it affects their ratings by the state ed agency (TEA) or takes $$ away from the school who generally earns more for a fuller class load.

Just something to consider in the plan mentioned.

Richard's $.02

[csquare]

BHO does alot better at these staged speeches then the townhall meetings he has held in the past month. I'm still holding my breathe to see if any of this will work.
The most disturbing thing about his speech was Pelosi sitting behind smiling and cheering at his every word. It reminded me of the parent louding cheering for their kid in right field, who instead of racing over to catch the fly ball, was too busy sticking grasshoppers up their nose to care about the game......

[bandycpa]

Originally Posted by csquare

The most disturbing thing about his speech was Pelosi sitting behind smiling and cheering at his every word. It reminded me of the parent louding cheering for their kid in right field, who instead of racing over to catch the fly ball, was too busy sticking grasshoppers up their nose to care about the game......

I think that killed me during the speech. The prevailing attitude (at least to me) was "We won. It's our turn now. Sit there and like it!". The sight of Pelosi orgasmically clapping for everything the Anointed One said absolutely made it hard for me to hear what was he was actually saying.

Actions speak louder than words. Last night, the actions said "It's our time now, Republicans. Get used to it!".



Bandy

[morolen]

I liked it for the most part, regardless of intent, since its far too soon to be judging him on what he can actually do, as he has done nothing yet really, but atleast he is a good orator. As for the content, well, some good, some bad,some ugly(like pelosis rabbiting), I'm still very wait and see on Saint Barry, so I guess I will do more of that.

[Richard]

I think many people are merely overcome by the Dopeler Effect when confronted with such effluvial pandering to an adoring crowd.

Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

We have some preachers down here in Texas who are experts at using it to fill their faux temples with believers and pocket books with their believer's donations. Washington, DC, seems to attract the same crowds.

Richard's $.02

[Richard]

Here's how his other band of community organizers viewed the speech last night--as a green light to push ahead.

Richard's $.02

Dear MoveOn member,

Wow. Did you see President Obama's speech? Last night he laid out a bold and ambitious agenda to totally transform our economy. As he said, "it begins with energy."

Think about what Obama's vision would mean for our country: solar panels on our roofs. Wind power in our heartland. Thriving communities. Millions of people put back to work building our future.

If we want it, we need to build a grassroots movement to make it happen. Even with Obama making clean energy a priority, it's going to be tough. Big oil and coal companies are already preparing to block real reform and conservatives want Obama to fail.

We've got to show an overwhelming public mandate for this change. So we've launched a huge new campaign to make it happen. We'll triple our organizing capacity and send top-notch organizers to key states and congressional districts, run hard-hitting new ads on television and radio, and mobilize hundreds of thousands of new MoveOn members.

But we need to raise another $250,000 this week to get started. Can you chip in $15 a month to make it happen? Our system makes it easy and you can cancel at any time:

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/green_...62-XDaSsOx&t=3

We've never done anything like this before. It'll be a $3 million year-long program. To win a huge victory, we'll need to:

* Build diverse coalitions of small-business owners, green-collar workers, faith communities, and many more to show widespread support for a clean-energy economy.
* Organize locally to make sure members of Congress hear our message everywhere they go.
* Combine creative grassroots and paid advertising efforts to grab the attention of local and national media.
* Hold a massive wave of local events where MoveOn members will reach out to neighbors and involve them in the campaign.
* Partner with innovative groups like Green for All and the Apollo Alliance who have led the way on this issue. They've worked for years to let Americans know that a good economic policy is based on a new energy economy.

It's an unprecedented commitment. But that's what's required to break through the status quo and enact bold change.

And we've got no time to waste. As President Obama said last night, "now is the time to act boldly and wisely—to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity."

It won't happen unless all of us stand together. Can you help out with a donation of $15 a month?

[Sigaba]

Originally Posted by Richard

Here's how his other band of community organizers viewed the speech last night--as a green light to push ahead.

Richard's $.02

Dear MoveOn member,

Sir--

Would it be possible to give an alert when a post is going to include "information" from moveon.org? That way, I'll know to put on my tin foil hat before reading on.

Those guys...

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Sigaba

Those guys...

I view MoveOn.Org as just another example that the bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating.

Richard's $.02

[nmap]

It's better to know what Moveon.org is up to than to be surprised.

That said - they're doing an effective job of advancing their agenda. They're also providing free lessons on how to do so. To change the present path, perhaps we need to study their methods, improve on them, and start winning in the marketplace of ideas.

Let's single out this statement: "Think about what Obama's vision would mean for our country: solar panels on our roofs. Wind power in our heartland. Thriving communities. Millions of people put back to work building our future."

It's a vision that many will support. To fight that vision, either some counter-vision must be created, or their vision must be subsumed.

As for the speech...clearly, he communicates effectively. He also knows how to appeal to the vast majority of the voters. He is offering ideas and programs that will appeal to many. The speech itself did the job he seems to have wanted it to do. But although promises may win friends, it is performance that will keep them. I think it is still very early in the game.