A few quick reactions to President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight:

  • This was the Barack Obama I voted for in November 2008.   This Barack Obama got lost somewhere in the White House.   Now that he’s been found, I hope he stays a while.   This was Obama fired up and ready to go and was a reminder of how good he can be when he tries.   Now that he’s drawn the blueprints, he needs to ensure his plans are built correctly.   He said he doesn’t quit.   We must hold him to his words and we can’t quit either.
  • Several points in his speech were significant co-opts of Republican policies (all the talk about small businesses, nuclear power, off-shore drilling).   How can the party of “no” oppose these?   If Obama is serious about these proposals, he’s forced the GOP to work with him, not against him.
  • As he said, the idea that no matter what you think about global warming, a robust energy policy for the sake of efficiency and creating jobs is something we all can and should agree upon.
  • I was both saddened that he had to and pleased that he did play the role of angry parent scolding his two children who can’t play nice: the GOP who oppose his policies for the sake of opposing them, and his fellow Dems who don’t have the balls to govern.
  • Obama said, “In the 21st century, one of the best anti-poverty programs is a world-class education.”   I fully agree.   Education can be the silver bullet to many of society’s problems if only it were treated as such.
  • Justice Samuel Alito had tonight’s Joe “You Lie” Wilson moment.   Obama called-out the Supreme Court for their recent decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and the supposed-to-be-impartial-at-a-political-speech Alito visibly showed his distaste for the president’s words and appears to have mouthed “not true.”   Watch the video at about the 0:38 mark.   Alito was the only justice of the six in attendance to react.
  • Any time these types of events roll around, I always enjoy seeing how many Washington faces I can name.   I’m getting pretty good.

With his State of the Union address, President Obama seems to have reinvigorated himself and likely many straying supporters.   Let’s see if he can keep the fire going and deliver on his calls to action.   Our future is waiting.   The status quo simply doesn’t work anymore.