General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy some Republicans want to cancel the State of the Union address
Why some Republicans want to cancel the State of the Union addressBy Paul Waldman at the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/12/03/why-some-republicans-want-to-cancel-the-state-of-the-union-address/?tid=rssfeed
"SNIP.......................
When I make reference to Republicans unusually powerful loathing for this president, I often get emails from conservative readers saying that Im wrong; they dont hate him, they just disagree with his policies. These protests are a little hard to take seriously when among other things so many on the right spent years questioning whether Barack Obama is actually an American at all. The fact that the birther movement has faded recently should not make us forget that the president of the United States was literally forced to produce his birth certificate to prove to his political opponents that he is indeed an American and therefore eligible to be president.
And that was just the most visible manifestation of the unwillingness of so many to accept the legitimacy of his presidency. This is not a fringe belief held only by a few. One poll taken just after the 2012 election found that 49 percent of Republicans believed that ACORN had stolen the election for Obama. That would have been a remarkable feat for any organization, but particularly so for ACORN, since it went out of business in 2010. The absurdity of that particular idea aside, a simple refusal to accept that Barack Obama is legitimately the president is common from the bottom to the top of the conservative movement, among ordinary voters, activists, media figures, and even elected officials. Republican Rep. Peter King said last year that there are probably 30 or 40″ of his colleagues who refuse to accept the legitimacy of Obamas presidency.
So the only surprising thing is that it took them so long to get around to discussing the cancellation of the State of the Union address. The address is reliably boring no matter who the president is, and its true that for much of the countrys history it was delivered in writing. But it serves an important purpose. Its the only time when the entire federal government all of Congress, most of the Supreme Court, and the cabinet, representing the three branches gathers in one room. It says to the nation, this is your political leadership. They have their differences, but once a year they assemble to hear what the president has to say. Their presence is an implicit validation of the entire political structure and the presidents place atop it.
Naturally, some Republicans bristle at being forced to participate in this public validation of the presidents power and position. But what else can they do? I was particularly taken with Rep. Huelskamps suggestion that they defund Air Force One. After all, what is Barack Obama doing flying around in the presidents plane? Who does he think he is?
........................SNIP"
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)Subtext of the entire Republican party.
rock
(13,218 posts)Uh-huh, sure.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)He's mostly implementing THEIR policies and they know it.
The show is just for the stupid voters.
Cha
(297,207 posts)Talk about "stupid voters"
okaawhatever
(9,461 posts)NYC Liberal
(20,136 posts)nichomachus
(12,754 posts)It's just a Punch and Judy show. The main characters fight, scream, and yell. The audience out front boo, jee, laugh, cheer, and groan.
But if you look behind the curtain, the same guy has his hands up both their asses.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)Cha
(297,207 posts)Cha
(297,207 posts)who the fuck talks like that? Like the fuck they know anything that's going?
Ykcutnek
(1,305 posts)okaawhatever
(9,461 posts)refuses to report. America is coming back and most things are getting better.
Cha
(297,207 posts)Haha.. Peter King just outed his colleagues as being raging idiots.
thank you apple.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)It should have been "ALL my colleagues".
central scrutinizer
(11,648 posts)He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.
Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution
FLyellowdog
(4,276 posts)It can be in written form as it used to be done prior to Woodrow Wilson.
What a sorry bunch of Representatives they are if they decide not to invite President Obama to their chambers to do this in person. I hope if they follow through with this that he'll go on national tv and give a State of the Union Address anyway.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)Republicans view any Democratic president as illegitimate by definition of being a Democrat. He's a Democrat, therefore illegitimate. During the Bush years, all the crazies that were active under Clinton became the GOP base and they brought that attitude with them. Then you add race to the mix (not all conservatives are racist but all racists are conservative) and you get this mess.
treestar
(82,383 posts)So what are they blathering on about?
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)Johonny
(20,849 posts)crystal clear to me. Yet somehow these idiots get voted into office.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)I highly doubt it. So if they want to bitch and complain about it, tell them to just stay home. Several members of the Supreme Court don't show up anyway (usually the wingnuts).