Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address

I listened to Obama's State of the Union Address last night. What technology has wrought! I watched it online. Here are the comments I wrote down at the time, mostly with a sense of outrage.

• Corrosive doubts apply to how government works—and are well-founded. True transparency can help, such as publishing all earmark requests online.
• Cutting taxes was mentioned, but what did it do for me?
• Obama, you decided jobs were not first in 2009. You screwed us. Jobs have been a problem since 2008, if not earlier.
• You talked about building infrastructure in your campaign. Why aren't those projects rolling?
• I like your intention to slash tax breaks to corporations who employ offshore workers. The sooner the better.
• You said "I do not accept second place for the U S of A." America needs to get over the notion that it is first in the world.
• You spoke about American innovation—why shouldn't this happen in government?
• No! Nuclear power plants are not "safe, clean"!! Neither are offshore gas development and clean coal (an oxymoron if there ever was one).
• And then you said America must lead the global economy. Well, given that we've fucked up our own economy so badly, it's hard to see the moral basis for global leadership. Maybe by "lead" you meant force other countries to buy our products. Oh wait, what products? We no longer manufacture. Did you mean force European countries to buy goods made in China with American brands on them?
• You stated a desire to export more goods. Which you claim means more jobs. Duh. Exports only equate to real jobs if the products are actually made here, otherwise only sales clerks will be busy.
• You spoke about defending our nation from terrorists who threaten it. Will we ever get beyond terror and terrorists? There will always be someone out there sufficiently angry and inspired to threaten us. Endless belligerence on our part can only aggravate those folks. Yes, we can and should protect our borders, but offshore offensives like the so-called wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will work against us in the long run, if not the short run too. Our financial situation is a real and serious threat that needs enlightened and innovative attention.
• When you got to talking about Iraq, you said American combat troops will be out of Iraq by 8-31-2010—"this war is ending and all of our troops are coming home." Seeing is believing. The track record on withdrawal is non-existent.
• And then you said about the war in Afghanistan "we will succeed." Huh? I am willing to bet what is left of my retirement savings that we will not succeed. We need to get over the concept of not withdrawing without first succeeding. It's called cut your losses.
• You spoke about reducing nuclear arms. Nice idea, but what are the real odds of this happening? Talk is cheap. You also talked about securing nuclear stockpiles so they do not fall into terrorist hands. I doubt we can completely keep terrorists out of the stockpiles, from a practical angle.
• "America must always stand on the side of freedom and human dignity." What you failed to add was "when profits are at stake." We have a dismal record of looking the other way when it suited us. Let's start standing inside America—there are lots of opportunities at home to defend freedom and human dignity.
• Are values central to America? I don't think so.
• "We don't quit." Yes we do, but we don't admit it. We quit helping the residents of New Orleans who were dispossessed by Hurricane Katrina.