I do not think we should even waste time with pundits. They are possibly being manipulated by wealthy media owners to sway public opinion in the favor of the wealthy owners of the media outlets these pundits work for. We need to have media outlets regulated by the government to a certain extent as they were before Ronald Reagan became President of The United States. The government needs to balance 1st amendment rights of media organizations with reporting factual information to the general public. The media organizations have no right to disseminate false and misleading information to the general public. The 1st Amendment to the US Constitution was to enable people to share what is true and what the people in power do not want to be disseminated but needs to be shared with the general public anyway.
Just today the Canadian military shot down one of their own, crazy flying object that is. But so far this one poses a different dilemma. No one can identify what it is or more appropriately what it was. Reports are coming in that the pilots in the attack aircraft, whose job it was to shoot this thing down, saw no means of propulsion or no evidence of how in the hell it stayed at the elevation where it was spotted. There are a couple of answers that need questioning. What was it if professional pilots can't identify the thing? They said it was no balloon. Ok, I can understand that but the rest baffles me. If this object could maintain a high-altitude flight path with no visible means of why it was even up there, leaves me to wonder why an attempt to acquire it intact wasn't made. To me, it had some level of technology we might have been interested in, that is before governments blew it to pieces. Wouldn't it be terrible to contemplate a first-contact effort by a benevolent advanced race from some distant galaxy attempting to just say Hi, as we destroyed their emissary? Only one chance to make a first impression. Anyway, good shooting guys.
The house of congress has devolved into watching a sporting game. With boos and yells of liar from committee chairs towards POTUS. A speaker who cannot control his members. Republican house and senate members booed lowering drug costs, lowering our dependence on oil, creating new jobs, expanding housing needs and banning AK15 assault weapon.
I am scratching my head what do they stand for? Giving tax breaks to corporations and billionaires, limiting voting rights, creating more racial division and banning books to educate American children. Anyone believing that there is a chance for bipartisanship is not paying attention. If you know history you understand that after the civil war the Lincoln and the congress capitulated to the southern states to alleviate the wounds of the war. We are still living with the same division of the civil war 158 years later. The only resolution for today is another civil war. We are now living on the precipice of another war and last night’s SOTU address was proof that neither side is blinking.
The entire Republican Party needs to be vetted before we allow them to ask for citizenship. As for MTG "he" needs a vasectomy before we can feel safe when we are around "him."
What I write many find objectionable and without relevance. I see things differently, being an American wasn't about the things I believed in it was more about attacking the negative elements that endeavored to undermine and supplant our way of life. This country is under attack by our own people, members of our society have fallen prey to the lies spread by the antics of one corrupt individual who took advantage of life itself in order to gain personally from the misfortune of others. There were toys in my youth called Weeble-Wobbles. These funny little guys couldn't be tipped over, no matter how hard you tried to upend them they always returned to an upright position. Our country, our society, our very Democracy is under attack by elements attempting to upend everything we've lived and died for since our Republic's conception. I am no soothsayer, but I can tell you this, there is no way we won't find the strength to regain our upright position and put this country back on track. Negativity breeds failure, there is only one path forward, we must strive to follow the truth. What is necessary for success lies in our own ability to trust in one another the way we always have in the past. We the people will rise above the turmoil caused by a handful of minds lost in the past with no vision of the future. One step at a time.
Yes, that was brilliant! However, I don't expect the repubs to stand by that. They'll just lie and say they never said that, even though the proof is there on video. It's what they learned from trump.
People are doing the killing and the guns, no matter what the type, are the instruments these maladjusted social misfits have chosen to accomplish the task. I personally have owned dozens of weapons, from pop guns to big boomers. My family's roots came from hunters and that tradition was installed in me as I grew up. As a result, I taught my wife to shoot as well as all my children. Each one of us had a shotgun, a hunting rifle, a pistol, and a 22. Throw in the black powder fun guns and we as a family of 5 had a good number of firearms. I also had the weapons that were handed down to me from deceased family members. Add in about 10,000 rounds of ammunition and as far as a group goes we were well-equipped. My kids were competitive shooters that loved the outings we spent as a family deer hunting every year. I dearly understand the relevance of gun ownership in this country but something has to change. The world is in shock by what they see happening here. I'm no miracle worker but it doesn't take a genius to see, as a society, we must address the gun violence that takes place in this country almost on a daily basis. We need to form a committee composed of a bipartisan group of thinkers whose job it will be to determine the outcome of gun ownership. No matter how painful we view this effort, our citizenship is dealing with the grief we feel each and every day directed to the families who have lost loved ones. Change is the substance that creates progress. It's time to face that fact and fix the problem. We have far too many guns in this country, and we must restrict their availability to the general public, plain and simple. Weapons change drastically from generation to generation, what we currently have at our disposal will pale in comparison to what's on the horizon, the merchants of death are never satisfied. If left alone the horrors of the situation will be upon us before we have the ability to deal with the results these new weapons will have on our once-great nation. It's time to take a stand and swallow the pill that's so tough to get down. In the end, after the dust has settled, life will again be peaceful for everyone.
Thank you for that thoughtful and informative comment. The truth is, no one is trying to take away guns; as you stated, gun reform laws are needed. This republican talking point that the democrats are coming for your guns has to stop. Not only is it untrue, but it causes anger among an entire group of people who swallow the rhetoric without question. Of course, this is what certain Republicans want. I truly appreciate you sharing your take on gun ownership. I'm not a gun person myself, but i absolutely support the right to own guns. You're a shining example of what gun ownership should be. It should never have become political. It's a personal choice. You've shown how it goes beyond that to a positive family experience. We need more stories from responsible and caring people like you. Blessings to you and your family.
It was a good speech delivered well. I think he managed the right tone, played all the songs I care about. I didn't even mind the fish he threw to the seals who are learning to perform... didn't smell up the room too much. What say you, fellow discussion friends?
He did a great job with the petulant toddlers in the room. I'm guessing his time raising his boys prepared him well for this situation. Those brats sure didn't pull anything over on him. And MTG can yell all she wants: sticks and stones, right?
I watched a news briefing given by a Pentagon official dressed in a full military uniform, I only saw it once, making me believe what he had to say was way more than he was supposed to reveal. He stated the balloon was being effectively jammed so as to render it unable to conduct any surveillance activities. He also stated the balloon had self-destructive capabilities. You can't trust the Chinese government, they want to gain first-strike information that would render our nuclear retaliatory weapons useless. Their use of bacterial weapons leaves open the question of whether or not they would consider adding canisters of bio-weapons to the payload being carried by the balloons. If shot down the pathogens would filter down to the population centers below. Our military might have entertained this thought which would have led to the decision to allow the craft to pass over our mainland and shoot it down only after it was no longer a threat to the people below. The decision to many was the wrong one but the minds in control took the safest possible steps the resolve the problem in a way that was the best for everyone concerned. Naturally, the Republicans would find fault with any effort offered by the Biden administration. There are minds in our government that believe a war with China is a very real possibility in the near future. The catalyst might just be how we respond to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Communist China wants nothing to do with a Democratic form of government alive and well just off of their coast. As it stands it would be difficult for that country to deploy a ground force large enough to offer much of a threat. If entertained, that idea would start with an invasion of some sort in Alaska which would involve the Canadian military as well. I think they would settle for the false hopes gained from a first strike, reminiscent of what the Japanese envisioned by their bombing of Pearl Harbor at the onset of WWII. This effort would involve taking out our missile slows scattered across our northern tiered states. What they aren't considering is the destructive capability of our submarine force. That alone could wipe out life in that part of the world. China has no answer to that threat.
Biden said two fresh and needed promises tonight. The first was America would support Ukraine " to the end". That is a huge and necessary promise. Putin will have a difficult time accepting the situation Russia is now in. Russia is doomed to become a failed state. Secondly, Biden made it abundantly clear that he would use presidential veto authority without hesitation. That will have annoyed the Republicans.
As you said, the right time. He didn't promise anything that couldn't be accomplished. I liked the way he questioned the Republicans from the podium about not cutting Social Security and Medicare. My favorite lines, both of which were repeated, were 'FINISH THE JOB' and 'LOOK IT UP', using the latter when he got a few boos from that side.
Yes…I think about that often, and did so long before I became an elder. In a culture that values youth above all other life stages, being on the older end of the lifespan is not advantageous, to say the least. Ageism is real, and sets in earlier than one might expect—especially in the working world. And, of course, the presidency is a job.
Something like:" As people elected to govern for those who elected us, we have a question to ask ourselves, "' are we here, committed to serve or fight for our own self-interests.'"
First and foremost, will you be watching? Do you always watch? Yes. I will watch or at least listen. I am not looking forward to seeing some elected officials behave like unschooled baboons, so it may just be listening, and I always print out the transcript and read it at my leisure. I want to make up my own mind about what he said rather than be told what to think by one media channel or another.
What do you want Biden to say? What might you want him not to say? I want him to tell us matter factory of all that has been accomplished since he took office. I am so relieved to have him as our leader as President for all of us, he is real and has suffered losses in his personal life like most of us; he is not a bombastic coddled and cruel reality tv star.
What do you hope his tone will be? That of a statesman and world leader. Strong, factual, benevolent, far thinking. Not whining, lying or openly vengeful like the former guy.
What should he say to the Republicans, who now have a majority (albeit a very slim one) in the House of Representatives? We must work together for all of the citizens of our nation, regardless of wealth.
If you were giving the speech, how would you describe the state of the union today?
" We must work together..." that is what the Republicans will sneer and jeer at. They are counting on Mr. Nice. Putin loves gentle souls too. The time for nice is long over.
I do watch [reluctantly]. I fervently hope that the President speaks forcefully but compassionately... somehow generating connections rather than more divisions. We are a shattered nation, fragile and vulnerable to dysfunction or even dissolution. If we could, even momentarily, acknowledge our mutual dreams, there is every possibility that this Union would survive.
ACTUAL FAKE NEWS Someone had probably made a witty remark which got passed along out of context. President Trump didn't hold the bible upside down. See "Did Trump Hold the Bible Upside Down?" Snopes, 6-25-20. This may be the only fake news that he complained about that really was fake. (This is a reply to Zoe Dantin, four comments before. I used the "Reply" tab but it didn't post connected.)
STREAMING SOTU People without a television and those who dislike commentators can stream "State of the Union" at Whitehouse. gov, 9:00 pm ET, 6:00 pm PT. It will also be posted on YouTube afterward by wh.gov.
Love President Biden! Disgusted with the filthy show of disrespect and ignorance from the Republicans.
The state of the Union, does that vary depending upon what skilled trade you're referring to?
I do not think we should even waste time with pundits. They are possibly being manipulated by wealthy media owners to sway public opinion in the favor of the wealthy owners of the media outlets these pundits work for. We need to have media outlets regulated by the government to a certain extent as they were before Ronald Reagan became President of The United States. The government needs to balance 1st amendment rights of media organizations with reporting factual information to the general public. The media organizations have no right to disseminate false and misleading information to the general public. The 1st Amendment to the US Constitution was to enable people to share what is true and what the people in power do not want to be disseminated but needs to be shared with the general public anyway.
Your welcome 😁👍👋
I am so glad to hear all the programs that Bernie wanted us to have
Were implemented ..starting in 2018 .. when we got the house ..and had to wait till we had the full senate to pass bills ..YES!!! THANK YOU..
Who knows.
Donald Hodgins <silencenotbad@gmail.com>
7:45 PM (0 minutes ago)
Just today the Canadian military shot down one of their own, crazy flying object that is. But so far this one poses a different dilemma. No one can identify what it is or more appropriately what it was. Reports are coming in that the pilots in the attack aircraft, whose job it was to shoot this thing down, saw no means of propulsion or no evidence of how in the hell it stayed at the elevation where it was spotted. There are a couple of answers that need questioning. What was it if professional pilots can't identify the thing? They said it was no balloon. Ok, I can understand that but the rest baffles me. If this object could maintain a high-altitude flight path with no visible means of why it was even up there, leaves me to wonder why an attempt to acquire it intact wasn't made. To me, it had some level of technology we might have been interested in, that is before governments blew it to pieces. Wouldn't it be terrible to contemplate a first-contact effort by a benevolent advanced race from some distant galaxy attempting to just say Hi, as we destroyed their emissary? Only one chance to make a first impression. Anyway, good shooting guys.
The house of congress has devolved into watching a sporting game. With boos and yells of liar from committee chairs towards POTUS. A speaker who cannot control his members. Republican house and senate members booed lowering drug costs, lowering our dependence on oil, creating new jobs, expanding housing needs and banning AK15 assault weapon.
I am scratching my head what do they stand for? Giving tax breaks to corporations and billionaires, limiting voting rights, creating more racial division and banning books to educate American children. Anyone believing that there is a chance for bipartisanship is not paying attention. If you know history you understand that after the civil war the Lincoln and the congress capitulated to the southern states to alleviate the wounds of the war. We are still living with the same division of the civil war 158 years later. The only resolution for today is another civil war. We are now living on the precipice of another war and last night’s SOTU address was proof that neither side is blinking.
""Blink👍😁👊👋💙💖💚♾☮☯️⚕
Yes we can talk to the sane ones ..the. rest ..are spending their time arguing with each other.. 😰😰🤪😂👉
The entire Republican Party needs to be vetted before we allow them to ask for citizenship. As for MTG "he" needs a vasectomy before we can feel safe when we are around "him."
I listened to the SOTU. I always do. I especially liked the the way Biden prompted the GOP to agree not to cut Social Security and Medicare.
Donald Hodgins <silencenotbad@gmail.com>
4:53 AM (8 minutes ago)
to Substack
What I write many find objectionable and without relevance. I see things differently, being an American wasn't about the things I believed in it was more about attacking the negative elements that endeavored to undermine and supplant our way of life. This country is under attack by our own people, members of our society have fallen prey to the lies spread by the antics of one corrupt individual who took advantage of life itself in order to gain personally from the misfortune of others. There were toys in my youth called Weeble-Wobbles. These funny little guys couldn't be tipped over, no matter how hard you tried to upend them they always returned to an upright position. Our country, our society, our very Democracy is under attack by elements attempting to upend everything we've lived and died for since our Republic's conception. I am no soothsayer, but I can tell you this, there is no way we won't find the strength to regain our upright position and put this country back on track. Negativity breeds failure, there is only one path forward, we must strive to follow the truth. What is necessary for success lies in our own ability to trust in one another the way we always have in the past. We the people will rise above the turmoil caused by a handful of minds lost in the past with no vision of the future. One step at a time.
Yes, that was brilliant! However, I don't expect the repubs to stand by that. They'll just lie and say they never said that, even though the proof is there on video. It's what they learned from trump.
Donald Hodgins <silencenotbad@gmail.com
Donald Hodgins
People are doing the killing and the guns, no matter what the type, are the instruments these maladjusted social misfits have chosen to accomplish the task. I personally have owned dozens of weapons, from pop guns to big boomers. My family's roots came from hunters and that tradition was installed in me as I grew up. As a result, I taught my wife to shoot as well as all my children. Each one of us had a shotgun, a hunting rifle, a pistol, and a 22. Throw in the black powder fun guns and we as a family of 5 had a good number of firearms. I also had the weapons that were handed down to me from deceased family members. Add in about 10,000 rounds of ammunition and as far as a group goes we were well-equipped. My kids were competitive shooters that loved the outings we spent as a family deer hunting every year. I dearly understand the relevance of gun ownership in this country but something has to change. The world is in shock by what they see happening here. I'm no miracle worker but it doesn't take a genius to see, as a society, we must address the gun violence that takes place in this country almost on a daily basis. We need to form a committee composed of a bipartisan group of thinkers whose job it will be to determine the outcome of gun ownership. No matter how painful we view this effort, our citizenship is dealing with the grief we feel each and every day directed to the families who have lost loved ones. Change is the substance that creates progress. It's time to face that fact and fix the problem. We have far too many guns in this country, and we must restrict their availability to the general public, plain and simple. Weapons change drastically from generation to generation, what we currently have at our disposal will pale in comparison to what's on the horizon, the merchants of death are never satisfied. If left alone the horrors of the situation will be upon us before we have the ability to deal with the results these new weapons will have on our once-great nation. It's time to take a stand and swallow the pill that's so tough to get down. In the end, after the dust has settled, life will again be peaceful for everyone.
Thank you for that thoughtful and informative comment. The truth is, no one is trying to take away guns; as you stated, gun reform laws are needed. This republican talking point that the democrats are coming for your guns has to stop. Not only is it untrue, but it causes anger among an entire group of people who swallow the rhetoric without question. Of course, this is what certain Republicans want. I truly appreciate you sharing your take on gun ownership. I'm not a gun person myself, but i absolutely support the right to own guns. You're a shining example of what gun ownership should be. It should never have become political. It's a personal choice. You've shown how it goes beyond that to a positive family experience. We need more stories from responsible and caring people like you. Blessings to you and your family.
Well stated.
Yes that was great...!!! Repubs never agree with the other side ...Say they will ...and they will say we wont...lol gotcha 😂😂😂😂👉👋👊😁👍..BOOM
It was a good speech delivered well. I think he managed the right tone, played all the songs I care about. I didn't even mind the fish he threw to the seals who are learning to perform... didn't smell up the room too much. What say you, fellow discussion friends?
He did a great job with the petulant toddlers in the room. I'm guessing his time raising his boys prepared him well for this situation. Those brats sure didn't pull anything over on him. And MTG can yell all she wants: sticks and stones, right?
Yes. Every time I see her and her mouth MTG just reminds me of a seal barking, carping. Stretches her neck out, just like the seal does.
Yes .. he handled the children well.. gotca in your own trap.. lol
I watched a news briefing given by a Pentagon official dressed in a full military uniform, I only saw it once, making me believe what he had to say was way more than he was supposed to reveal. He stated the balloon was being effectively jammed so as to render it unable to conduct any surveillance activities. He also stated the balloon had self-destructive capabilities. You can't trust the Chinese government, they want to gain first-strike information that would render our nuclear retaliatory weapons useless. Their use of bacterial weapons leaves open the question of whether or not they would consider adding canisters of bio-weapons to the payload being carried by the balloons. If shot down the pathogens would filter down to the population centers below. Our military might have entertained this thought which would have led to the decision to allow the craft to pass over our mainland and shoot it down only after it was no longer a threat to the people below. The decision to many was the wrong one but the minds in control took the safest possible steps the resolve the problem in a way that was the best for everyone concerned. Naturally, the Republicans would find fault with any effort offered by the Biden administration. There are minds in our government that believe a war with China is a very real possibility in the near future. The catalyst might just be how we respond to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Communist China wants nothing to do with a Democratic form of government alive and well just off of their coast. As it stands it would be difficult for that country to deploy a ground force large enough to offer much of a threat. If entertained, that idea would start with an invasion of some sort in Alaska which would involve the Canadian military as well. I think they would settle for the false hopes gained from a first strike, reminiscent of what the Japanese envisioned by their bombing of Pearl Harbor at the onset of WWII. This effort would involve taking out our missile slows scattered across our northern tiered states. What they aren't considering is the destructive capability of our submarine force. That alone could wipe out life in that part of the world. China has no answer to that threat.
Biden said two fresh and needed promises tonight. The first was America would support Ukraine " to the end". That is a huge and necessary promise. Putin will have a difficult time accepting the situation Russia is now in. Russia is doomed to become a failed state. Secondly, Biden made it abundantly clear that he would use presidential veto authority without hesitation. That will have annoyed the Republicans.
Im sure it did...👍😁👊👋
Yes, those were two huge takeaways
As you said, the right time. He didn't promise anything that couldn't be accomplished. I liked the way he questioned the Republicans from the podium about not cutting Social Security and Medicare. My favorite lines, both of which were repeated, were 'FINISH THE JOB' and 'LOOK IT UP', using the latter when he got a few boos from that side.
Repubs showing their ignorance..???
When they talk about bought off generation.. !!?? Its them !!
The right TONE I mean.
The Whitehouse will be streaming the SOU on YouTube
Yes…I think about that often, and did so long before I became an elder. In a culture that values youth above all other life stages, being on the older end of the lifespan is not advantageous, to say the least. Ageism is real, and sets in earlier than one might expect—especially in the working world. And, of course, the presidency is a job.
Something like:" As people elected to govern for those who elected us, we have a question to ask ourselves, "' are we here, committed to serve or fight for our own self-interests.'"
Yes.. actions speek louder than words...
First and foremost, will you be watching? Do you always watch? Yes. I will watch or at least listen. I am not looking forward to seeing some elected officials behave like unschooled baboons, so it may just be listening, and I always print out the transcript and read it at my leisure. I want to make up my own mind about what he said rather than be told what to think by one media channel or another.
What do you want Biden to say? What might you want him not to say? I want him to tell us matter factory of all that has been accomplished since he took office. I am so relieved to have him as our leader as President for all of us, he is real and has suffered losses in his personal life like most of us; he is not a bombastic coddled and cruel reality tv star.
What do you hope his tone will be? That of a statesman and world leader. Strong, factual, benevolent, far thinking. Not whining, lying or openly vengeful like the former guy.
What should he say to the Republicans, who now have a majority (albeit a very slim one) in the House of Representatives? We must work together for all of the citizens of our nation, regardless of wealth.
If you were giving the speech, how would you describe the state of the union today?
" We must work together..." that is what the Republicans will sneer and jeer at. They are counting on Mr. Nice. Putin loves gentle souls too. The time for nice is long over.
Biden was not nice and gentle regarding Ukraine. Slava Ukraini.
I do watch [reluctantly]. I fervently hope that the President speaks forcefully but compassionately... somehow generating connections rather than more divisions. We are a shattered nation, fragile and vulnerable to dysfunction or even dissolution. If we could, even momentarily, acknowledge our mutual dreams, there is every possibility that this Union would survive.
ACTUAL FAKE NEWS Someone had probably made a witty remark which got passed along out of context. President Trump didn't hold the bible upside down. See "Did Trump Hold the Bible Upside Down?" Snopes, 6-25-20. This may be the only fake news that he complained about that really was fake. (This is a reply to Zoe Dantin, four comments before. I used the "Reply" tab but it didn't post connected.)
We dont care ..he never read it anyway..
STREAMING SOTU People without a television and those who dislike commentators can stream "State of the Union" at Whitehouse. gov, 9:00 pm ET, 6:00 pm PT. It will also be posted on YouTube afterward by wh.gov.