Live blogging da speech

We’re done. Let the jibberers begin their jabber.

10: 12 “Our destiny remains our choice . . . the state of our union is strong.”

10:09 “As messy as our democracy can be, there isn’t a person here who would trade places with any other nation on earth.” Orgasmic O’s . Of course. Kind words for Joe B and for Boehner – he was pleased.

10:07 “Enlist our veterans in the great task of building our own nation.” Another fine line. “And, yes,  some of them are gay.” Wow.

10:05  South Sudan – we supported; we did good. We stand with the people of Tunesia. Good luck brothers. Soldiers good again. Applause again. Long applause.

10:02 We’re controlling bad weapons – gettin’ those nukes. We’re forgin’ alliances in the Americas.

Is he going to say ‘State of the Union is strong’ or something?

10:00 “Reform, responsibility and innovation”.  Soldiers – applause.   Muslims are Americans too – standing O.  Tough fighting ahead. Iraq finished; Afghan, well, lot of words, but ya’ know . . . .

9:56 I will veto any bill with earmarks inside. Got that?

Boehner is still looking detached. Still orange though. I was kind of hoping he’d cry – I find I’m becoming fond of that eccentricity of his. Really.

9:55 Winding down now. “Win the Future’ again. Competent government. Efficient government. The last major reorganization of government happened in the age of black and white tv.  (Smoking joke) Administration will submit a proposal.

9:53  Strengthen Social Security. Don’t subject it to the whims of the stock market. Must end tax cuts after the two years. Simplify the tax code.

Kathleen Sibelius has nice hair.

9:52  Annual domestic spending is 12% of budget. It’s not enough. Need to cut more. Defense, health care, tax breaks and loopholes. Malpractice reform  – yes, I’m down with that.

FREEZE DOMESTIC SPENDING FOR FIVE YEARS – $400 billion over a decade. Painful cuts. Defense will cut. Community programs. But let’s not cut on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens.

9:50  Debt. Worst of recession is over. Time to deal with it.

9:48  “So instead of refighting the battles of the last two years, let’s fix what needs fixing and let’s move forward.” Great line.

9:46  Ordered a review of gov’t regs but will enforce safeguards.   HEALTH REFORM – just got first ‘mixed’ standing O – half up, half down. Then he made a joke. I’ll work with you – we can start with some corrections – applause. 

I wasn’t going to do this – I’m tired already.

9:44  Corporate tax rates – big guys get out of paying, little corps pay high high rates – fix the tax code! Standing O on that one.

9:42  Connect every part of America to the digital age. Expand wireless around the country.

9:40  High speed rail and high speed internet!!! Whooo!!! Our infrastructure used to be the best. Our nation’s engineers gave us a D on today’s infrastructure.  But he’s not asking for money that I can tell.  Give 80% of Americans access to high speed rail – in five(?) years!!

9:38 Illegal immigration. Camera to John McCain. He is, thankfully, awake. Stop kicking people out after we educate them.

9:38 John Boehner looks bored, keeps looking into his lap. I sure hope he’s not tweeting.  

9:37  Still education – this is important. Community colleges good. Raise expectations. Give the kids a chance.

9:34 Still talking schools, education. Keep it up Barry! “We want good schools.” In South Korea, teachers are known as ‘nation builders’ (second standing O). “become a teacher, your country needs you. ” Extend tuition tax credit – please.

It’s kind of nice to hear a speech go forward without those constant interruptions for partisan applause. This is a good thing. George Will was right! (I hate to say that.)
9:30   We’re falling behind in education and we can’t. Have to change this. Just got first standing ‘O’ – celebrate winner of science fair as well as winner of superbowl. 

9:28 Cut oil subsidies! Invest in clean energy – the fuels of tomorrow, not yesterday. Hmmmm, he’s saying ‘clean energy’ – he be talkin’ coal, what they ‘call’ clean coal. Not so good.

9:26  “We’ve begun to reinvent our energy policy. We’re not just handing out money – we’re issuing a challenge.” Lots of science talk – a good thing!

9:25 New budget – we’ll invest in biomedical technology, information technology and clean energy.”

9:25 Sputnik. NASA. “we unleashed a wave of industries”. Our Sputnik moment.

9:23  “In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives; it is how we make our living.” Okay, that was cool.

9:22  “Winning the future”. How to get there. Here we go.

9:21 “the future is ours to win”. We can’t stand still. (It’s our turn to [dare I say] invest?)

9:21   Saying how great we are (applause), the ‘but’ will be the heart of the speech I imagine.

9:19  China is now home to the world’s fastest computer(!) – investment talk begins – I hope.

9:18 “Proud men and women who feel like the rules have changed in the middle of the game. They’re right. The rules have changed.”

9:17 “challenges that have been decades in the making” Good line.

9:15 That was a really strong start. Cut right to the reality. We’re bigger than party.

9:11 Boehner just introduced the Prez. Very brief, the usual words, but spoken in an oddly detached way.

9:08  Just a brief glance at the First Lady’s box, but did I see Lt. Chu up there? (The West Pointer Iraq commander who ‘came out’ last year.)

8:58 Is CNN still covering the Tea Party response?

8:52  Most egregious aisle hogs – Sheila Jackson Lee and Vern Buchanan. So far.

8:50  Fun watching who’s chatting up who. Best so far – Rand Paul and Al Franken, laughing – a lot. Wonder if they’re each other’s date tonight? Odd seeing so many Senators whose faces are new to me.

8:45  CSpan covered the magisterial moment when 100 Senators leave their chamber and ‘cross the aisle’ to the House, where they are welcomed, much as the President is when he enters. Nice.  Never saw that before.