Freewill
Platinum Member
- Oct 26, 2011
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Both sides at fault and what do we do? Reward them with reelection. We doom ourselves.
Dana Milbank: State of the Union and Mardi Gras ? what a coincidence - The Washington Post
There is something entirely appropriate about holding the State of the Union address on the same day as Mardi Gras.
One is a display of wretched excess, when giddy and rowdy participants give in to reckless and irresponsible behavior.
The other is a street festival in New Orleans.
There is, thankfully, less nudity in the House chamber for the presidents annual address, and (slightly) less inebriation. But what occurs beneath the Capitol Dome is as debauched as anything on Bourbon Street.
The State of the Union ritual is by now familiar to most Americans. President Obama leads the Democratic side of the chamber to a series of standing ovations for proposals that everybody knows wont become law. Republicans show their seriousness of purpose by smirking or making stony faces and by inviting as guests to the speech people such as rocker Ted Nugent, who has called the president a piece of [excrement] who should suck on my machine gun.
But this spectacle, unlike the one in Louisiana, is not all harmless fun. Obama made clear that he is not entertaining serious spending cuts or major entitlement reforms. Republicans, in their responses, repeated that they are not budging on taxes. The hard choices will have to wait for another day.
Dana Milbank: State of the Union and Mardi Gras ? what a coincidence - The Washington Post
There is something entirely appropriate about holding the State of the Union address on the same day as Mardi Gras.
One is a display of wretched excess, when giddy and rowdy participants give in to reckless and irresponsible behavior.
The other is a street festival in New Orleans.
There is, thankfully, less nudity in the House chamber for the presidents annual address, and (slightly) less inebriation. But what occurs beneath the Capitol Dome is as debauched as anything on Bourbon Street.
The State of the Union ritual is by now familiar to most Americans. President Obama leads the Democratic side of the chamber to a series of standing ovations for proposals that everybody knows wont become law. Republicans show their seriousness of purpose by smirking or making stony faces and by inviting as guests to the speech people such as rocker Ted Nugent, who has called the president a piece of [excrement] who should suck on my machine gun.
But this spectacle, unlike the one in Louisiana, is not all harmless fun. Obama made clear that he is not entertaining serious spending cuts or major entitlement reforms. Republicans, in their responses, repeated that they are not budging on taxes. The hard choices will have to wait for another day.
