After the Speech

[Smiley and West]

		Smiley & West reflect on President Obama’s much-anticipated jobs speech. Smiley: It wasn't big enough. It was not to the scale of the size of the problem. West: If you’ve got your heart in your slingshot, you can bring down giants.

[Jennifer Warren]

To say that it wasn't big enough is an understatement.

I didn't hear a single word about tying corporate tax breaks to the percentage of manufacturing exports that they engage in.

Not word one did I hear about SMART roads or SMART bridges or SMART construction projects...where the roads and bridges were set up to inform officials responsible for their maintenance where the potholes were or the bridges might be crumbling.

 

Nor did I hear a single word about SMART schools...tied into high speed internet services... or Coast to Coast WIFI services which would INCLUDE people in rural areas.  Or how about a National goal of putting up MAGLEV windmills.  This technology is the single most efficient type of windmill ever designed...and could not only generate additional funding for helping to create a tax free national education advancement program, but could easily result in fully funded college degree's for anybody who wanted one. 

 

Point here is... we could break the back of foreign oil within 5 years ... and permanently establish the USA as a world leader in education, the environment, affordable housing, and an infrastructure that sets the gold standard.

 

As expected, the focus was clear...avoid anything that might work , as that which works is "too controversial".

 

Somebody please...tell me what the USA is supposed to be #1 at?

 

 

[Marilyn The Dollmaker]

I personally don't know enough about it but what I do know is looking at the lst lady of the house she did not look very happy... I believe there is something going on behind the sence This is the only President No on wants to seem to work with... Why? It appears he is trying but... Lets be real The republicans do not represent all the people.They are for the rich... I never see anyone in the audience that look like me or the rest of america for that matter... Something is very wrong when we can't seem to come together as a people...  Go figurer????

[Jennifer Warren]

Come on.  Give credit where credit is due.  When he started, they said he was a secret Kenyen.  Then they said he was a secret Muslim.  But now, after spending nearly four years in office kissing up to them, we know the truth - he's a secret republican.

 

Seriously - what happened to publicly funded healthcare?  Working to make the rich and corporations pay their fare share of taxes?  Or making importing less profitable than exporting?  How about slashing that massive DOD budget in half to pay for roads, schools, federal programs like funding better schools and higher education?  I'll tell you what happened.  The republicans said "No" and Obama played uncle tom all the way back to the big white house.

 

Now its an election year and he expects me to believe that there's a dime's worth of difference between him and Republican's ?  I swear, if I had access to even a single U2 spy plane, I'd be looking to see what it is that he's growing and smoking.

 

As to who I intend to vote for for the rest of my life -- consider the leaked memo from City Bank a few years back, in which they stated that banks control 99% of all media and 99.9% of all politicians in the USA.  The memo stated that the only thing that worries them is what might happen in the event of the "peasants" becoming aware and angry enough to try to change things.  

So... let none of us demand full coverage of news regarding the activities of our so-called representatives.  Let us all doze in our chairs to game shows, contests, "reality" shows and of course...the ever popular nonstop stream of mindless drivel that flows from the God of the living room...  

 

Its a lot easier than getting involved, right ?

Marilyn The Dollmaker said:

I personally don't know enough about it but what I do know is looking at the lst lady of the house she did not look very happy... I believe there is something going on behind the sence This is the only President No on wants to seem to work with... Why? It appears he is trying but... Lets be real The republicans do not represent all the people.They are for the rich... I never see anyone in the audience that look like me or the rest of america for that matter... Something is very wrong when we can't seem to come together as a people...  Go figurer????

[Chris Barrett]

I have to agree with this.  When I initially elected Obama, I had grand hopes of what he would do.  I had read through portions of his book, I took every opportunity to get to know his positions, and I know enough about them to know that in many cases, he has done the exact opposite of what he proposed to do.  We can't use the excuse that Republicans are stopping him from doing what he wants to do, because that isn't true.  Members of his cabinet are conservative hacks and it was Obama's decision and his decision only to put them there. 

 

In other cases, Obama is doing things that hurts the American people in the name of "compromise".  You don't compromise away people's unemployment benefits with the caveat that Republicans will get to keep their tax cuts in return.  You don't try to find ways to cut social security and Medicare in the interest of deficit reduction while giving more tax cuts to the rich, and then have the audacity to cite that its about "shared sacrifice". 

 

Sad to say, Obama is the man that made me realize that I couldn't stand for the Democrat's policies anymore, and I will be gladly voting 3rd party for the first time in 2012.  It pains me to say that considering I find it embarrassing that America's first black president is such a corporate shill.  He has lived through hardship as a college man and teenager, so he knows what people are going through, yet it seems like he doesn't care.

Jennifer Warren said:

Come on.  Give credit where credit is due.  When he started, they said he was a secret Kenyen.  Then they said he was a secret Muslim.  But now, after spending nearly four years in office kissing up to them, we know the truth - he's a secret republican.

 

Seriously - what happened to publicly funded healthcare?  Working to make the rich and corporations pay their fare share of taxes?  Or making importing less profitable than exporting?  How about slashing that massive DOD budget in half to pay for roads, schools, federal programs like funding better schools and higher education?  I'll tell you what happened.  The republicans said "No" and Obama played uncle tom all the way back to the big white house.

 

Now its an election year and he expects me to believe that there's a dime's worth of difference between him and Republican's ?  I swear, if I had access to even a single U2 spy plane, I'd be looking to see what it is that he's growing and smoking.

 

As to who I intend to vote for for the rest of my life -- consider the leaked memo from City Bank a few years back, in which they stated that banks control 99% of all media and 99.9% of all politicians in the USA.  The memo stated that the only thing that worries them is what might happen in the event of the "peasants" becoming aware and angry enough to try to change things.  

So... let none of us demand full coverage of news regarding the activities of our so-called representatives.  Let us all doze in our chairs to game shows, contests, "reality" shows and of course...the ever popular nonstop stream of mindless drivel that flows from the God of the living room...  

 

Its a lot easier than getting involved, right ?

Marilyn The Dollmaker said:

I personally don't know enough about it but what I do know is looking at the lst lady of the house she did not look very happy... I believe there is something going on behind the sence This is the only President No on wants to seem to work with... Why? It appears he is trying but... Lets be real The republicans do not represent all the people.They are for the rich... I never see anyone in the audience that look like me or the rest of america for that matter... Something is very wrong when we can't seem to come together as a people...  Go figurer????

[Carol D. Durante-Spinner]

Praise the Lord Dr. West!!  You hit the nail on the head that time!  Let me tell you, I commend Obama if for nothing else, but being all that his Momma taught him to be RESPECTFUL.  He has maintained his dignity throughout his term and I for one, being the Christian that I am don't believe anyone could have done it any better by the grace of God.  I love him because even though he is rich and I am poor he still represents me and I like the way I look right now.  Maybe it is a day late and a dollar short, but I have been told always better late than never.  So give my President the props that he deserve, because God knows he ain't gonna get it nowhere else.  I love you Obama and God bless you and yours.

[Carol D. Durante-Spinner]

I love you Dr. West!!!!!

[joanna]

If I were the President..no if I were the First Lady (Michelle)...this is what I would say to my husband, the President:  Babe, you are awesome, you came, saw and conquered, but you were tried, tested and found wanting...you did the dayum thang as much as you could, nobody likes you (my 50 cent voice) anymore, they say you are unfit to lead the U.S. any further.  Pass the crown babe, I love you, lets me, you, Malia, Sascha and Mom take this opportunity to go back to public service and enjoy ourselves as a family...Babe, seriously, you're not a diety, its okay though because I know you tried but you're damned if you do or don't.  When you have to continually fight a man to make him eat, you're giving him your strength which in the end weakens you both.  Let's roll out Babe, give the people what they want.

[Penguin Board of Directors]

Carol,

Thank you for acknowledging and critiquing, as Tarvis would say on his talk-show rounds, IN LOVE. 

Yomi Ace.

Carol D. Durante-Spinner said:

Praise the Lord Dr. West!!  You hit the nail on the head that time!  Let me tell you, I commend Obama if for nothing else, but being all that his Momma taught him to be RESPECTFUL.  He has maintained his dignity throughout his term and I for one, being the Christian that I am don't believe anyone could have done it any better by the grace of God.  I love him because even though he is rich and I am poor he still represents me and I like the way I look right now.  Maybe it is a day late and a dollar short, but I have been told always better late than never.  So give my President the props that he deserve, because God knows he ain't gonna get it nowhere else.  I love you Obama and God bless you and yours.

[Candace McCarty]

The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers....

This problem of spiritual and moral lag, which constitutes modern man's chief dilemma, expresses itself in three larger problems which grow out of man's ethical infantilism. Each of these problems, while appearing to be separate and isolated, is inextricably bound to the other. I refer to racial injustice, poverty, and war.

"Martin Luther King - Nobel Lecture". Nobelprize.org. 10 Sep 2011 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-le...

[Penguin Board of Directors]

You are right, Joanna. The dramatic irony is not lost on few discerning enough. 

joanna said:

If I were the President..no if I were the First Lady (Michelle)...this is what I would say to my husband, the President:  Babe, you are awesome, you came, saw and conquered, but you were tried, tested and found wanting...you did the dayum thang as much as you could, nobody likes you (my 50 cent voice) anymore, they say you are unfit to lead the U.S. any further.  Pass the crown babe, I love you, lets me, you, Malia, Sascha and Mom take this opportunity to go back to public service and enjoy ourselves as a family...Babe, seriously, you're not a diety, its okay though because I know you tried but you're damned if you do or don't.  When you have to continually fight a man to make him eat, you're giving him your strength which in the end weakens you both.  Let's roll out Babe, give the people what they want.

[Tamam Tracy Moncur]

He's a black man that was raised white and naively thought that as president of America he could make a difference. He was in for a rude awakening. He's hands have been tied since he dared to set his black feet in "their" white house. Not only are the republicans attacking him but so are alot of other people. Who is the real culprit? Who is the real enemy? It is certainly not the black president!

[James F. "Jim" Michie]

I agree with both of you, but what really hurts those who supported this man in 2008, including myself, is how deeply disappointed we all are over the fact that Barack Obama will not stand up to the global corporatist oligarchy that obviously has come to control and rule over all.  Instead, he apparently has struck a quid pro quo with the obscenely wealthy corporatists:  He has kept his promise to protect the Wall Street and too-big-to-fail bankster felons in exchange for their millions to win/buy his re-election in 2012.  And what of his promises and responsibilities to the people, those who elected him as president?  Far too many of those promises and responsibilities have fallen by the wayside: failure to end the wars; failure to establish universal health care; failure to investigate, prosecute and jail the Bush war criminals; failure to investigate, prosecute and jail the greed-driven Wall Street and too-big-to-fail bankster felons for wrecking our economy; failure to end the obscene tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy; and I could go on and on and on.  President Obama does make one hellavah speech, and that's why I now refer to him as "the teflon-tongue."  As a 75-year-old federal retiree who has worked in the nation's capital most of my adult life, I truly cannot find the words to adequately express the depth of my disappointment in this man, especially since I had hoped that he could restore this nation of ours to what it once was--a developing democracy.