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State of the Union Address 2024.


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1 hour ago, muppy said:

greetings PPP

 

I walked in and out of the room where hubby and daughter were intently watching the debate. Randomly I walked by and heard Biden say  something along the lines of we need to pay teachers more. I thought to myself "now that issue is beyond debate right? mutually agreement right?"

 

NOPE

 

our country is so divided. My chat buddy @leh-nerd skin-erd knows it gives me high anxiety.  I love my country but the political climate REEKS of hate

 

and I hate it.

 

PEACE OUT BRETHREN CITIZENS

 

Lord have Mercy

I don't know Mup, I move in and out of the sunshine of life with people of all types of views, and rarely encounter a problem.  The biggest issue in the last few months for me was when my wife and I went to see a movie and some big jumbalaya was sitting in one of our chosen seats.  The problem didn't come with jumbalaya, he may well have apologized and moved, but I told my wife we should just sit in some nearby seats.  It wasn't about confrontation, or seat elitism, I just did the math and figured  he would sit on the other side of our chosen seats, and past us was the remainder of his group.  Why have people on both sides blocking me from clear access to the bathroom after drinking my 4 gallon diet coke?  Less people near me is my mantra these days. 

 

On teachers being paid more...platitudes and emotional handwringing don't do it for me anymore, Mup.  Some teachers, imo, obviously should be paid more for the work they do, with better benefits and everything else considered.  Others are well compensated when considering the overall time, wage and benefit package that they are entitled to.   I don't see that position as controversial or argumentative.  Could you and I discuss that without you throwing your Clover Vertica Starbucks Reserve Sundried Ethiopia Kayon Mountain Farm coffee in my face?  I bet we could.  I've had it with my friend Korey, two years away from retirement after decades as an exceptional math teacher at the local middle school.

 

I didn't watch the Biden infomercial last night, keeping in line with my tradition of not watching most of the infomercials.  The Sham-Wow! pitchmen, sit-com stylings, predictable applause, predictable boos, in this case Biden likely standing on the coffin of his deceased son in an act so cringeworthy it makes me wonder what his son might think... all in front of a sh*t ton of extraordinary wealthy people that have the means to avoid the vast majority of problems everyday Americans face with regularity.   To really put a bow on, Joe Biden %$##ing up the name of the murdered young lady kind of sums up the whole shebang.  It's not for me. 

 

Anxiety is good at times, Mup, but sometimes it's just distracting from the things that are good, decent and important in life.  It has, and does, for me  but I'm working on it.  I'm going to recommend a book.  "The Subtle Art of Not giving a ****".   It's an easy read, a little cheesy in spots, but sends a pretty good message about this sort of thing.  

 

Carry on, Muppalup, and just remember, no hot coffee to the face.  I'm a cross-between Robert Redford, Steve Buscemi and the original guy from Blues Clues.  

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1 minute ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

to really put a bow on, Joe Biden %$##ing up the name of the murdered young lady

I mean, yeah, I guess he blew it (kind of mumbled it), but it is an unorthodox name ...

I was actually heartened to hear the ad libbed "illegal" in his speech. I know people in the immigration enforcement agencies who have been told that that word is forbidden in any of their briefs/memos. So too is "alien" - a perfectly normal word that means "foreign national." The term "alien" as used to mean space aliens was just a shorthand way of saying "foreign being from somewhere other than earth." So it was never like we were comparing ordinary foreigners to nonhuman space beings.

All of it is silly, and the cranky old man used the proper cranky old man term. 

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THE SOTU FROM HELL

By Scott Johnson

 

The comedian Richard Lewis, of blessed memory, is credited with the formulation “the x from hell.” Having watched President Biden’s State of the Union Address last night in order to comment on it this morning, I found it to be the SOTU from hell. Thank you, Mr. Lewis.

 

The White House has posted the text of the speech “as prepared for delivery.” That isn’t exactly how he gave it. You have to see it to get the full flavor. I have posted the White House video at the bottom.

 

Herewith are my impressions of Biden’s delivery and my observations on the speech in the form of bullet points:

 

• The Democrats in the audience broke out in cheers of “Four more years.” You have got to be kidding. Let me begin with a prediction. Even if Biden wins reelection to another term this coming November, he will not be giving four more State of the Union addresses. No way no how.

 

• This was a terrible speech terribly delivered. It’s a good thing no drug test was required before the address. Biden sounded hopped up. He spoke too fast. He slurred his words. He was frequently difficult to understand. He shouted a variety of clichés and shibboleths as though we might otherwise miss their depth and meaning. The disparity between the shibboleths and the shouting was almost funny.

 

• To whom was this speech addressed? The opening reflected the poor judgment of Biden’s daycare minders in the White House. As I heard it, the country needs to be protected from two threats: Russia and Donald Trump (“my predecessor”).

 

• This SOTU was a nakedly partisan campaign speech. I have to think that viewers lacking the persuasion of Democratic partisans were quickly turned off. In any event, the speech was a disgrace.

 

• And that’s not all. The speech was also disjointed and telegraphic. It covered everything from potato chips to computer chips

 

 

More at the link: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/03/the-sotu-from-hell.php

 

 

 

.

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2 minutes ago, B-Man said:

Biden sounded hopped up. He spoke too fast. He slurred his words. He was frequently difficult to understand. He shouted a variety of clichés and shibboleths as though we might otherwise miss their depth and meaning

In other words, taking a page from The Donald's book.

I'm not saying it's a good thing. I'm just pointing out that such is the state of political discourse in America today.

1 minute ago, BillsFanNC said:

 

Take the scrip pad away from Dr. Ronny!

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23 minutes ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

I don't know Mup, I move in and out of the sunshine of life with people of all types of views, and rarely encounter a problem.  The biggest issue in the last few months for me was when my wife and I went to see a movie and some big jumbalaya was sitting in one of our chosen seats.  The problem didn't come with jumbalaya, he may well have apologized and moved, but I told my wife we should just sit in some nearby seats.  It wasn't about confrontation, or seat elitism, I just did the math and figured  he would sit on the other side of our chosen seats, and past us was the remainder of his group.  Why have people on both sides blocking me from clear access to the bathroom after drinking my 4 gallon diet coke?  Less people near me is my mantra these days. 

 

On teachers being paid more...platitudes and emotional handwringing don't do it for me anymore, Mup.  Some teachers, imo, obviously should be paid more for the work they do, with better benefits and everything else considered.  Others are well compensated when considering the overall time, wage and benefit package that they are entitled to.   I don't see that position as controversial or argumentative.  Could you and I discuss that without you throwing your Clover Vertica Starbucks Reserve Sundried Ethiopia Kayon Mountain Farm coffee in my face?  I bet we could.  I've had it with my friend Korey, two years away from retirement after decades as an exceptional math teacher at the local middle school.

 

I didn't watch the Biden infomercial last night, keeping in line with my tradition of not watching most of the infomercials.  The Sham-Wow! pitchmen, sit-com stylings, predictable applause, predictable boos, in this case Biden likely standing on the coffin of his deceased son in an act so cringeworthy it makes me wonder what his son might think... all in front of a sh*t ton of extraordinary wealthy people that have the means to avoid the vast majority of problems everyday Americans face with regularity.   To really put a bow on, Joe Biden %$##ing up the name of the murdered young lady kind of sums up the whole shebang.  It's not for me. 

 

Anxiety is good at times, Mup, but sometimes it's just distracting from the things that are good, decent and important in life.  It has, and does, for me  but I'm working on it.  I'm going to recommend a book.  "The Subtle Art of Not giving a ****".   It's an easy read, a little cheesy in spots, but sends a pretty good message about this sort of thing.  

 

Carry on, Muppalup, and just remember, no hot coffee to the face.  I'm a cross-between Robert Redford, Steve Buscemi and the original guy from Blues Clues.  

THIS is why senor leo is mi amigo. He sugar coats NOTHING.  I appreciate you... Now go clean your room whippersnapper. Remember I'm OLDER I can still be the boss of you in sibling hierarchy

 

HA!

 

*raspberries*  DOBLE *raspberries* lol  signed the less nervous muppetta. kinda. sorta.

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A BEST-CASE SOTU

By John Hindraker

 

 

Whatever Doctor Feelgood is operating in the White House these days injected Joe Biden with whatever cocktail that enabled him to yell nonstop for over an hour last night. And that is a good thing.

 

Before the speech, my wife, with her usual knack for getting at the heart of things, said that we should be rooting for Biden to get through the speech. Because if he collapsed midway in, the Democrats would be able to replace him on the ticket. And in truth, the only question last night was not whether Biden would give a good speech, or whether he would convince anyone not already committed to voting against Donald Trump, but whether he would remain upright.

 

We conservatives should be glad that he did, as he now continues his march toward the nomination as one of the very few Democrats Donald Trump might actually beat.

 

So thanks, Doc.

 

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/03/a-best-case-sotu.php

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32 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

I mean, yeah, I guess he blew it (kind of mumbled it), but it is an unorthodox name ...

I was actually heartened to hear the ad libbed "illegal" in his speech. I know people in the immigration enforcement agencies who have been told that that word is forbidden in any of their briefs/memos. So too is "alien" - a perfectly normal word that means "foreign national." The term "alien" as used to mean space aliens was just a shorthand way of saying "foreign being from somewhere other than earth." So it was never like we were comparing ordinary foreigners to nonhuman space beings.

All of it is silly, and the cranky old man used the proper cranky old man term. 

Gerizoppious Konstatovichstein is an unorthodox name.  "Laken" and "Riley"  would seem to be a walk in the park in a speech by the President to the nation.  Complete d-baggery. 

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2 minutes ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

Gerizoppious Konstatovichstein is an unorthodox name.  "Laken" and "Riley"  would seem to be a walk in the park in a speech by the President to the nation.  Complete d-baggery. 

Yes, because you have so many friends named "Laken."

 

From a quick Social Security Administration search:

 

Laken is not in the top 1000 names for any year of birth beginning with 2020.
Please enter another name.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Yes, because you have so many friends named "Laken."

 

From a quick Social Security Administration search:

 

Laken is not in the top 1000 names for any year of birth beginning with 2020.
Please enter another name.

 

 

That's it?  That's the best you can do?  LOL!!!!

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Just now, phypon said:

That's it?  That's the best you can do?  LOL!!!!

Look, I'm trying to be nice here. But yeah, weird name, and surely not the first time someone has stumbled over it. LACK-en? LAKE-en? "LOCK-en." 

That's all you got?

It's not like he called her Mitterand.

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1 minute ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Look, I'm trying to be nice here. But yeah, weird name, and surely not the first time someone has stumbled over it. LACK-en? LAKE-en? "LOCK-en." 

That's all you got?

It's not like he called her Mitterand.

You can't be serious.  I know her name, you know her name, everyone on this board knows her name, the entire country knows her name...  He had days of preparation and practice for this speech, one of the biggest points of his speech and he can't get her name right?  I mean, it's literally written down in his laminated note folder, right in front of him and he STILL can't do it?  C'mon man!!  

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16 minutes ago, phypon said:

You can't be serious.  I know her name, you know her name, everyone on this board knows her name, the entire country knows her name...  He had days of preparation and practice for this speech, one of the biggest points of his speech and he can't get her name right?  I mean, it's literally written down in his laminated note folder, right in front of him and he STILL can't do it?  C'mon man!!  

If your point is that old men stumble over unfamiliar names, well, you got me. Sometimes they even do that in writing where they have time to check their work!

 

In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump repeatedly referred to Haley, the daughter of immigrants from India, as “Nimbra.” Haley, the former South Carolina governor, was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, as Nimarata Nikki Randhawa. She has always gone by her middle name, “Nikki.” 

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17 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Yes, because you have so many friends named "Laken."

 

From a quick Social Security Administration search:

 

Laken is not in the top 1000 names for any year of birth beginning with 2020.
Please enter another name.

I have exactly as many friends named Lincoln as I do Laken. 

 

I'm also going to go out a limb here and assume that if I was giving a speech, viewed by millions, with professional speechwriters doing the heavy lifting, and the knowledge that a particular name was going to be on particular importance, I could solve the mystery that is "Laken".  

 

I do appreciate you removing any lingering doubt in your mind that you are indeed an attorney, the checking of the social security admin listing the top 1000 names was quite lawyerly.   It doesn't change the fact that "Laken" was the only one he needed to recall. 

 

Personally, Frankish, if I were prepping President Biden, I would have recommended he avoid searching the social security website at all, or googling "unorthodox baby names", and simply said "Mr. President, think Lake with an N.  Lake-uhnnnn.  Lake--uhn. Laken.". 

 

 

 

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Just now, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

I have exactly as many friends named Lincoln as I do Laken. 

 

I'm also going to go out a limb here and assume that if I was giving a speech, viewed by millions, with professional speechwriters doing the heavy lifting, and the knowledge that a particular name was going to be on particular importance, I could solve the mystery that is "Laken".  

 

I do appreciate you removing any lingering doubt in your mind that you are indeed an attorney, the checking of the social security admin listing the top 1000 names was quite lawyerly.   It doesn't change the fact that "Laken" was the only one he needed to recall. 

 

Personally, Frankish, if I were prepping President Biden, I would have recommended he avoid searching the social security website at all, or googling "unorthodox baby names", and simply said "Mr. President, think Lake with an N.  Lake-uhnnnn.  Lake--uhn. Laken.". 

 

 

 

And when did Trumpies get all worked up about the silly "say her name" thing? I thought that came from the other side.

They goaded him to say it. He took their sticky thing and said it, stumbled over it, but said it. Get over it.

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1 hour ago, The Frankish Reich said:

I mean, yeah, I guess he blew it (kind of mumbled it), but it is an unorthodox name ...

I was actually heartened to hear the ad libbed "illegal" in his speech. I know people in the immigration enforcement agencies who have been told that that word is forbidden in any of their briefs/memos. So too is "alien" - a perfectly normal word that means "foreign national." The term "alien" as used to mean space aliens was just a shorthand way of saying "foreign being from somewhere other than earth." So it was never like we were comparing ordinary foreigners to nonhuman space beings.

All of it is silly, and the cranky old man used the proper cranky old man term. 


Biden was once a formidable demagogue with all the blue collar old-school working class Dem credentials. Many have forgotten. But illegal, alien, thug, etc. were all once part of his weekly vocabulary on the hill and, as old men tend to do, he occasionally drops back into old verbiage. 

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3 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

If your point is that old men stumble over unfamiliar names, well, you got me. Sometimes they even do that in writing where they have time to check their work!

 

In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump repeatedly referred to Haley, the daughter of immigrants from India, as “Nimbra.” Haley, the former South Carolina governor, was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, as Nimarata Nikki Randhawa. She has always gone by her middle name, “Nikki.” 

You know better than this.  I know you do.  I bet you retain many names of football players that have names that you've never heard of and don't have friends with the same names.  You remember their names because they are good/great players.  When you have a major issue that has polarized the country for the last couple of weeks I know you would get her name, LAKEN, correct.  You know better than this.  Don't devolve into, "but, but, but...it's not on the most popular name list of people with social security numbers in the last "x" years..."  Give me a break.  Be better.  I don't disagree with everything you say.  Find some common ground on this one...

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2 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

And when did Trumpies get all worked up about the silly "say her name" thing? I thought that came from the other side.

They goaded him to say it. He took their sticky thing and said it, stumbled over it, but said it. Get over it.

when this is their biggest critique, you know biden did a good job.  cognition is fine.  quite quick witted actually.  but that won't stop them from making shite up.

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1 minute ago, Joe Ferguson forever said:

when this is their biggest critique, you know biden did a good job.  cognition is fine.  quite quick witted actually.  but that won't stop them from making shite up.

And the lefts biggest critique on this very topic is that he used the work "illegal" instead of "undocumented".  Yeah, call the rest of us crazy because we expect a bit of respect for a young, brutally murdered, woman and we expect him to at least get her name right.

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1 minute ago, LeviF said:


Biden was once a formidable demagogue with all the blue collar old-school working class Dem credentials. Many have forgotten. But illegal, alien, thug, etc. were all once part of his weekly vocabulary on the hill and, as old men tend to do, he occasionally drops back into old verbiage. 

Off point, but a little info from someone who's worked on cases involving crimes committed by "illegal aliens."

 

We don't use the term "illegal alien." We really never did. Not out of fear of being called a racist (nobody complained about racist implications until fairly recently), but because it is too vague for lawyers to use. There's the classic "illegal alien" - sneaked across the border undetected. They are usually called something like EWIs ("eewees," for "entered without insepction.") There's visa overstays, which the general public wouldn't call "illegal aliens" but that's what they are. (In the trade they are called, not surprisingly, "overstays") There are people like the Venezuelan who apparently killed Laken Riley. He was "paroled in" to allow him to apply for asylum. He's not a classic "illegal alien," so people in law enforcement would probably call him a border parolee or something like that. 

 

Just if people are curious. There's many flavors of aliens present in the United States, many of whom were authorized to enter and to stay until something happens (an asylum application is finally decided) or for a period of time (until they complete a degree, or for 90 days, etc.)

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3 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Off point, but a little info from someone who's worked on cases involving crimes committed by "illegal aliens."

 

We don't use the term "illegal alien." We really never did. Not out of fear of being called a racist (nobody complained about racist implications until fairly recently), but because it is too vague for lawyers to use. There's the classic "illegal alien" - sneaked across the border undetected. They are usually called something like EWIs ("eewees," for "entered without insepction.") There's visa overstays, which the general public wouldn't call "illegal aliens" but that's what they are. (In the trade they are called, not surprisingly, "overstays") There are people like the Venezuelan who apparently killed Laken Riley. He was "paroled in" to allow him to apply for asylum. He's not a classic "illegal alien," so people in law enforcement would probably call him a border parolee or something like that. 

 

Just if people are curious. There's many flavors of aliens present in the United States, many of whom were authorized to enter and to stay until something happens (an asylum application is finally decided) or for a period of time (until they complete a degree, or for 90 days, etc.)

 

"No lawful immigration status" for everyone who can't produce documentation here. Not in the business of prosecuting immigration law so we don't bother with all the official terms unless there's a criminal warrant sworn out by ICE or active detainer in place.

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6 minutes ago, phypon said:

You know better than this.  I know you do.  I bet you retain many names of football players that have names that you've never heard of and don't have friends with the same names.  You remember their names because they are good/great players.  When you have a major issue that has polarized the country for the last couple of weeks I know you would get her name, LAKEN, correct.  You know better than this.  Don't devolve into, "but, but, but...it's not on the most popular name list of people with social security numbers in the last "x" years..."  Give me a break.  Be better.  I don't disagree with everything you say.  Find some common ground on this one...

What is "Nimbra?" Her name is pronounced exactly how it's spelled - Nim-ahh-RA-ta. Sound it out. Presumably you think "Nimbra" was meant as an insult, but I have no idea who or what a "Nimbra" is (I know what a "Nimrod" is, but he didn't call her that), so it makes no sense as an insult.

Whatever. Is the point that Biden is old and mangles names? Gotcha. Is the point that he wasn't practicing saying her name over and over again like a mantra until it is burned into his two remaining neurons? I don't see why that's relevant. Is it that her name wasn't mentioned in the prepared text? Yeah, that would be a valid point. So make it.

 

Say Their Names about all the non-George Floyd victims of unjustified police shootings. Other than Breanna and George, I doubt you can come up with one. Let's stop these silly games.

1 minute ago, LeviF said:

"No lawful immigration status"

Just saying that that is confusing too. Maybe (probably) immigration law should be simpler. Legal or illegal, no gray area.

But that Venezuelan killer was in a gray area - authorized to come in and stay, but without valid immigrant or nonimmigrant status.

Back in the Reagan amnesty days there was an awful bureaucratic acronym: PRUCOL. For "permanently residing under color of law."

Yeah, it's really messy. And it is fair to blame Biden for allowing it to get even messier. Irv himself would recoil in horror at the mess. 

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6 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

 

Just saying that that is confusing too. Maybe (probably) immigration law should be simpler. Legal or illegal, no gray area.

But that Venezuelan killer was in a gray area - authorized to come in and stay, but without valid immigrant or nonimmigrant status.

Back in the Reagan amnesty days there was an awful bureaucratic acronym: PRUCOL. For "permanently residing under color of law."

Yeah, it's really messy. And it is fair to blame Biden for allowing it to get even messier. Irv himself would recoil in horror at the mess. 

 

It's really just our code in writing for what we actually say in person. It's gobbledygook for a reason.

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1 minute ago, LeviF said:

It's gobbledygook for a reason

Not in my experience. It's gobbledygook because the immigration laws need a total rewrite. Not the type of the immigration bill that the Repubs just rejected, but a total rethinking so that we don't have so many quasi-legal statuses.

 

2 minutes ago, Tommy Callahan said:

The voice is  trying so hard to push a false narrative that the speech want a disaster on level.  

 

 

Post of the year!

 

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