Is there anything the President could say in state of the union to unify democrats

[cleveramerican]

what would you like to hear?
what are you expecting?

how far are these two things from each other?

are we as a party too fractious to come together?

[Crabby Appleton]

1. Talk's cheap nt

[cleveramerican]

6. the right words and the right tone can move mountains

for myself... sadly, what I would like to hear and what I am expecting are miles apart.

[timeforpeace]

26. He has a way of phrasing that results in different meanings for different people.

[cleveramerican]

31. which has turned out to be a double edged sword.

[pocoloco]

13. “Yeah, I don’t do cowering.”

[boppers]

88. Primaries are over. But here's a reminder about "talk".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffwY74XbS4

[Cosmocat]

105. When, and I do mean WHEN ...

cause these jaggoffs are even more "emboldened" now than the last time he spoke in front of them ...

WHEN these gloating morons interupt his speech with out of school howls or whatever, I would be very happy to see him stop, walk toward the first person who does it, grab the nearest chair along the way, and bash him over the head with it ...

Seeing as that is not going to happen, as noted, talk is cheap ...

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

2. medicare for everyone

[glitch]

51. and Warren to replace Geithner, a ban on both mountaintop removal and the shooting of wolves.

then I might actually start cheering.

[derby378]

3. "I have in my hand an arrest warrant for Dick Cheney"

Yeah, that ought to do it. :evilgrin:

[Forkboy]

4. Took the words right off my fingertips.

:)

[derby378]

9. Just imagine the photo-op

New York Times, Washington Post, International Herald-Tribune. Page Freakin' One.

[daleanime]

14. I did not think of that...

but yeah, 'that ought to do it':bounce:

or put single-payer on the table(for the first time!)

[asdjrocky]

32. +1

[jgraz]

35. Nailed it.

[Lord Helmet]

47. +1

[American liberal]

95. Thanks for that. Made me smile wistfully

[Warren Stupidity]

100. that'l do pig, that'l do.

farmer to babe.

[BeyondGeography]

5. One whole year later and the President has to unify Democrats

after eight years of BushCo asshattery.

You know who thinks we're funny? Republicans.

[derby378]

34. As a former Republican voter, however...

...I'm glad I'm on this side of the aisle instead of theirs.

[Wabbajack_]

70. I'd post that Will Rogers quote but it's a cliche

[hay rick]

84. Should we laugh or cry?

We should be screaming.

[Warren Stupidity]

103. Perhaps another three years of reaching out to Republicans

will do it?

[BeyondGeography]

108. The ones in our party or the "real" ones?

[joeybee12]

7. He could say, "All Republicans are assholes..."

I think that would do it.

[derby378]

44. Louie Gohmert would probably challenge him to a duel

We could make it a charity event. Obama and Gohmert sitting on a log, each one armed with a sack full of down feathers, trying to knock each other off. I daresay it would be more entertaining than the Burr/Hamilton duel. And nobody gets hurt.

[joeybee12]

50. I'm for one of the American Gladiator type duels...styrofoam mallets

high over a large net.

[derby378]

64. That works, too

:hi:

[Bullet1987]

8. Short of calling Wall Street practices legal theivery...no

Democrats want action right now, the talk has worn thin on some people.

[Blue Owl]

10. How about this:

"I am going to listen to the citizens of this country, not the GOP -- and do what is best for the American people, not for the corporations who are destroying our middle class."

Yeah, I'm pipe-dreamin,' I know...

[TheKentuckian]

46. + nearly infinity

Infinity reached at calling out the Confederates on their bullshit, proclaim Reagan the devil, and declare we are turning the page on the trickle down, supply side, I got mine, greed is good philosophy forever.

[scheming daemons]

87. Don't mistake DU for "Democrats"... Democrats are 90% behind Obama....

...but DU has lots of

purity police
trolls
faux lefties

that make up a big chunk of the posters.

[donco6]

93. Wow, it's increaed.

I thought it was 80%?

[Democrats_win]

11. Explain that he hoped to unite America but that has failed because the Right Wing hates America.

Instead he plans to pursue an agenda that will help Americans and makes it clear that the Republican party can remain obstructionist or join. The Repukes no longer matter to the American people.

[spoony]

12. He could try that bit from The Office

when Michael was trying to unite the merged branches. Obama could go, "Oh my God! The Republicans totally deflated the tires on all our cars, and left me a nasty note! We gotta get 'em!"

[DrToast]

15. He could kick some of them out and unify what's left of the party

[cleveramerican]

17. who's the first to go?

dangerous territory

[Jim Sagle]

16. He could day, "I am a Democrat." I don't believe he's ever said that, or anything like it.

[Vinca]

18. Single payer through reconciliation.

[Armstead]

19. "We have to change course from the Crony Capitalism Conservatism that has run rampant"

If he said something like that and proposed steps to actually start to follow through, I think he c ould unify a lot of Democrats.

The DLC wouldn't like it. But...

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

20. He could announce he's making George W Bush Secretary of State

That would unify Democrats.

[gkhouston]

22. DUzy!!!

:applause:

[NYC_SKP]

49. +1 n/t

[asdjrocky]

33. Some people here would actually defend that.

[donco6]

94. Yes they would. n/t

[vi5]

21. The problem has never been the "speeching"....

..it's been the doing. Or more accurately the not doing.

I'm done with the speeches.

[timeforpeace]

27. That and campaigning are the things he does well.

[MuseRider]

23. He has shown me too often

that he will do and say anything to get elected and I am assuming he will say or do anything to gain re-election. No trust so no words will mean anything. DO something. DO something that will help the poor, DO something that will really help the sick, TAKE a stand and stop riding on and encouraging the hopes of others only to not be strong or honest enough to witness their pain at their discovery that all it meant was vote for me.

[cleveramerican]

24. brutal

I'd bet almost 20% of Obama voters feel much like you do.

[MuseRider]

28. LOL

does not matter. They are people too and have a right to express what they feel. You don't have to like it. They probably worked for him as hard as anyone else and he promised them change that would help them or they would not have bothered. 20% in the first year could become a lot more in #2 if he does not recognize that they are very unhappy and do something that at least addresses their concerns. Even addressing their concerns might have helped but now it will absolutely require that he do more than that and not turn around and pretend he never said it.

[jgraz]

36. 20% is about all it would take to get crushed in 2012

I know. Math is hard. :eyes:

[emilyg]

39. I've reached the point of

not believing in what he says.

[Lord Helmet]

41. lulz -- you reached that point early in the primaries

[MuseRider]

48. Perhaps during the primary

people should have listened to her. She was correct.

[Name removed]

68. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MuseRider]

69. :-)

Good lord, what a response! My mind is neither warped or pathetic but I do disagree with you. As I said, everyone has the right to think differently and act accordingly. It would be nice if the state of our minds were not called into question because of it. Apparently you do not think that we all have the right to state our differences without insult. Interesting. I have been here long enough to take it with mild amusement rather than freaking out so if you were trying to get a big freaky response, sorry.

I don't think she nor I were talking about most Democrats. I certainly do not recall saying anything of the sort and I don't think she did either. We were speaking our minds and I also do not think many people here think this is the real world. Thanks for telling us that though. It is sometimes difficult to think clearly when your mind is warped and pathetic :eyes:.

[Drunken Irishman]

73. ;)

Add a short memory to what I listed (and watched get deleted :) ).

She said: I don't believe anything Pres. Obama said.

Another poster chimed in that she had expressed this thought since the primaries.

You said: Perhaps during the primary people should have listened to her. She was correct.

Now where in that did you express people could disagree? You said she was correct, asserting it was fact.

It's not fact. Most Democrats disagree with you and your friend. I do not believe Pres. Obama is a liar.

If you do - bully for you. But don't suggest it's concrete and correct to make such a lame-ass accusation.

Yeah. So, please, stop acting like you speak for all Democrats. :eyes:

See, I can roll my eyes too! :) It's fun.

[Number23]

76. I'll send you $3 if you repost what was in your deleted post. I'm dying to know!

Just take out the cuss words or whatever got it deleted!

[MuseRider]

78. Ahhh, well I do think she is correct.

I do not believe I should have to let everyone know it is OK to disagree with me should I? I thought that was assumed in life, that we could disagree. :shrug: To me what she said IS a fact, I agree with her totally. Oh, by the way, you are welcome to disagree with me now. Does that help?

Personally I could not give one tiny crap who agrees with me or not. I am not a Democrat. I am not a Democrat anymore because they long ago ceased to be anywhere near what they were when I joined the party. I should have left years ago but was pragmatic about change from the inside. It did not happen, I am not one of them any more. You might want to listen to that. You do not have to agree but if it was hard to try to change it from the inside then it is near impossible now. Good luck with that. I truly hope you are successful. It should be that way. If you can find a way inside the machine I would gladly help you push.

About that tiny crap? I do not ever mind being disagreed with. I enjoy discussion that is back and forth with different ideas. We house a lobbyist in our home during session who is a former Republican and loves Reagan. So? We discuss and disagree all the time then we hug and get back to regular life.

Oh, another thing, I can make any accusation I see fit to make. I think what she said was correct for me as well, I agreed with her. You are the one who came in blasting our pathetic minds etc. My opinion and her opinion count no more and no less than yours so get off your patronizing posting and disagree with something rather than disagreeing without substance with only insults. Really, you can do better than this. Sorry we made you so angry by expressing our thoughts and feelings. It is the way it goes.

I would never presume to speak for Democrats and I find it offensive when they presume to speak for me. I speak for myself, we all should speak for ourselves either alone or in a group.

[Drunken Irishman]

79. Your problem is assuming.

You should know better that nothing is 'correct' on a board with varying opinions. What you deem correct isn't necessarily so and it isn't too difficult to state fact from opinion.

President Obama is currently the 44th president. THAT is correct.

President Obama is a lying corporate whore who sold us down the river. THAT isn't correct. It's opinion. Now you could say, "It's my opinion that is correct..." but don't assume people won't think you're stating that it is fact if you just utter "that's correct."

It isn't correct. It's opinion.

[MuseRider]

80. OK how about this,

it is my opinion that it is correct. Does that make you happy?

I would love to stay and chat but the legislative session here in Kansas is not going to be very good for us and I have talking points to prepare. Lobby/Equality Day is this week and I must be ready. Presidential support would be nice but alas, it is not coming like it was said it would so we are on our own as usual.

[Sebastian Doyle]

89. No she wasn't.

She thought Hillary would have been better, and that's impossible.

Now the guy in your avatar, on the other hand, would have been a huge step in the correct direction.

[MuseRider]

96. I did not think

those two things were related. I agree with her about Obama and if she was saying that before I would have agreed with her then. Hillary Clinton has nothing to do with the conversation.

Kucinich? Well who knows :shrug:. I don't know how he would do as President but I like the way he thinks and I would like the changes he would make and we can be certain he would not be caving in and becoming something we did not recognize as the person we voted for. His voice is needed to keep the left of the equation at least heard, sadly many here have forgotten what the Democratic party stood for before the New Dems, the DLC etc. It is sad to see it now.

[cleveramerican]

98. Kucinich voted no on HCR and lost me

I now think he wants it to be about himself.

[MuseRider]

111. When I read his reasons

for voting the way he does I almost always understand. He is consistent. I may not always agree (I certainly do not always agree) but I almost always know how he is going to vote because in the long run he may not be a team player (yay, I hate the team player aspect that politics has turned into) but his votes are what his constituents expect of him. I can't stand politicians who turn around and vote on whims, you never know what they will do. They argue on one side and vote on the other and will not hold true to their ideals or the ideals of their constituency. They have no courage, they do not stand up for the people they play ball for their team. YAY TEAM!

I know team players hate people like me. I don't care. When the bills being passed are harmful, not good bills, leave out the least among us or put the entire country at risk then I say vote against it, especially when your team sees dollar signs for themselves along side the yes vote. I wish he was my Representative. This is why I respect him.

He is right where he needs to be. Running for president, IMO, is his way of letting people know there is another way. He holds the non corporate position. He holds hope out there for many of us but then he is denied the respect due his office and his long term in office and pushed out of the debate by corporate broadcasting. He is made fun of. He is different but when did different become fodder for decent grown-ups to belittle national leaders for personal things like his appearance?

After all, a politician you can depend on is difficult to find. A politician who bothers to explain why he voted the way he did and how he came to that vote is hard to find. One with unwavering ideals is hard to find. A politician who is not willing to leave out the least among us is almost impossible to find and these days a politician who actually has ideals that are not only personal but for the people is almost impossible to find.

IMO this is far far from wanting to be about himself. Nobody likes to be vilified and he knows he will be for these votes but he does it. I don't like the Washington game, after all, look where it has gotten us. I far prefer getting less done but getting better things accomplished.

**I don't think I have said welcome back yet. I am so pleased you are able to be in recovery and here again. I hope your pain is lessening every day and that your life will be back to normal soon.

[cleveramerican]

115. the team player analogy is a good one

he's like the skilled ball player who won't listen to the coach or associate with the other players.
Slowly but surely Dennis has made himself irrelevant, and I think he likes it that way.
There is nothing to admire about that.
He plays to his small number of groupies and ignores the actual work being done.
He WANTS to be the martyr, throw himself on the sword over and over.
One day his constituents will grow weary of his proud irrelevance.
He will be ousted by another politician who will exploit his irrelevance, and it will be easy.

Party politics at the congressional level is a team sport, like it or not.
Poor unfortunate Dennis has reduced himself the the equivalent of shouting at passing cars.
even when he's right, people have stopped listening.

[harun]

25. I don't care what he says because I won't be watching. Want to unify

Dem's do something, don't say something.

[fadedrose]

29. I'd like to hear him say he's getting new advisors nt

[grantcart]

30. Democrats are united now DU that's something completely different

[Mojambo]

37. Talk is talk. We all know the guy can talk. n/t

[bluethruandthru]

38. How about....

I've tried for the past year to bring Republicans to the table to provide ideas and solutions to the problems the country is facing. Instead of helping...all they have done is distort the issues and derail the process of helping Americans. I've given them many chances to participate, but they've proven they have no interest in doing anything to help this country. So now...we'll do it without them. We'll start with Single Payer healthcare for all.....

[Peacetrain]

40. Democrats..yes... others who vote with the Democrats many times.. not so much

[Cali_Democrat]

42. Obama has 88% approval rating among Dems

I'd call that unified. Now DU is another story and not representative of the Democratic Party.

[cleveramerican]

62. My 20% guess was pretty good

If he is opposed by 20% of dems, he is in deep trouble.

[bigwillq]

71. Agree,

DU is not reality. It's a great place to debate, yell, scream, cry, laugh, VENT....and still learn a great deal in the process. I just laugh at our fellow DUers who have "blamed" DU for certain things..like Scott Brown winning in Mass. Yes, it's all a message boards fault! :P ;) :)

[inna]

43. How are you feeling btw?? Good to have you post again!

:hi:

:)

We were so worried about you! :hug:

[cleveramerican]

61. better but still healing

thanks for asking.

[Cleita]

45. What I would like to hear?

"I have made a mistake this past year by listening to the New Democrats. From now on I intend to follow the Kenysian economic principles and New Deal philosophy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt."

What I'm expecting?

A brilliant speech of pie in the sky sentiments and attempt to put lipstick on the pigs that emerged to replace his campaign promises.

Sorry to be so cynical.

[Goldstein1984]

52. I'd like to hear him say something progressive and

bodacious--not something you would expect to here come from a politician's mouth.

If he says the kind of stuff I expect him to say in the way I expect him to say it, then he and the party can go their way and I'll continue on mine.

As far as the post about the Republicans thinking Democrats are funny, so what? I agree with them, frankly. I doubt any party has gotten less significant legislation out of control of both the executive and legislative branches of our government in history. They should be laughing--every time we tried to "play chess" they just kicked the pieces off of the board, and the Democrats just whined about it.

[Kaleva]

53. I don't think he should even bother.

No matter what he says or does, there's always going to be about 10-20% of the Democrats who won't be happy.

[Fire1]

54. If he said something about repealing NAFTA. Which he won't.

[BR_Parkway]

55. I hold a bill passed by the House and Senate expanding Medicare

for all - Let me sign it here.

In other business, I declared Dick Cheney an "enemy combatant" just prior to coming out here, he's currently on his way to GITMO along with the heads of AIG, BOA, Citicorp, JP Morgan and Timothy Gietner. I am appointing Elizabeth Warren in his place and the Senate confirmed her this afternoon just after repealing the filibuster.

hey, while we're dreaming....

[timeforpeace]

56. "It's Bush's fault" has always done the trick before.

[Kaleva]

57. Nothing mentioned so far would unify Democrats. Members are posting their own wish list.

[Phx_Dem]

58. I'd love for him to tell Progressives to quit their incessant whining,

and realize compromise is not their enemy, but he won't.

[NatBurner]

107. ^

[JVS]

59. "The troops are all coming home right now"

[Name removed]

60. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bobbie Jo]

86. Rush, is that you?

Fool. :eyes:

[Beacool]

63. Frankly, I'm tired of all the talking.

I'm fed up with ALL politicians flapping their gums. The bloviating, chest pounding mea culpas and B.S. that they spew to manipulate the populace is beyond condescending. The only thing most of them truly care about is self preservation. So, the problem is not the policies but that people don't understand them? Bringing back Plouffe is the solution? How stupid do these people think we all are?????

I'm not even interested in listening to the whole SOTU speech. What for? More blah, blah, blah....

x(

[JoePhilly]

65. The fact that we only gave him 1 year says much more about US then it does about him.

[calico1]

66. Yes...

"Fuck you, Republicans!"

[JoePhilly]

67. That gets a [phone]

[liberal N proud]

72. Give everyone what they want and give it to them on Thursday

:sarcasm:

[avaistheone1]

74. He's already done that for Wall Street, health insurance companies, and

big Pharma.

[liberal N proud]

75. But listening to many here they didn't get their so

they are ready to throw him out after just one year.

[Arkana]

77. No, because those who have fractured from it have already shut him out

and don't want to hear any more.

[NC_Nurse]

81. "I have decided to scrap the current healthcare reform strategy and introduce

a bill to open Medicare to all U.S. citizens. We will remove the cap on entitlement taxes to pay for it."

We will pass this and new financial industry regulations through the reconciliation process since there has been no cooperation
or constructive input from the Republican members of congress on either of these issues."

"If the Republican members of congress would like to participate in reform, we will consider any bills they bring to the process. they need to put up or shut up."

[gkhouston]

112. +1000. n/t

[Orsino]

82. Tell us that he's had a change of heart...

...and will now be pursuing some progressive goals aggressively since coming to appreciate various states of emergency.

[NYC Liberal]

83. They already ARE unified. DU is not representative of reality.

Obama has an 89% approval rating among Democrats.

[Bobbie Jo]

90. Key word..."Democrats."

:think:

[Warren Stupidity]

102. yes that explains the Mass Senate race so well.

[Wardoc]

85. Words don't matter, actions do, and so far those have been atrocious.

[golfguru]

91. Single payer, No bailouts for Wall Street, All troops home in 6 months

If he does all three, the democratic party will be rock solid united.

[Sebastian Doyle]

92. "I gave you goddamned Republicans a full year to step up and be team players....

....and every last one of you spit in my face. So now you can go fuck yourselves. And yeah, that includes you Republicans who hide behind a "D" after your names. You know who you are. So sit down, shut up, and stay the Hell out of our way, while we fix what you bastards have done to this country".

THAT would be as good as any of those campaign speeches that got him this job in the first place.

[cleveramerican]

106. very very good

[NatBurner]

110. ^^

[Union Yes]

97. Repeal Free Trade. Ban Reimportation. nt

[Perky]

99. I am more interested in seeing what he will say to Unite the Nation!!!!

With a populist messsge while railing against the GOP Leadership.

[Warren Stupidity]

101. "We need to expand medicare to everyone"

[freddie mertz]

104. I suppose he could, but I bet he won't.

We have learned that Obama can be very generous with promises MADE, but has little interest in keeping them.

(And F$%% Politifact on this one).

I am sick of speeches, and am only interested in actions.

[marshall]

109. He could say he was left with a big mess and it's really hard to fix it

That always brings people together--but the devil is in the details.

[TheKentuckian]

113. Call out the Confederates on their neverending bullshit, proclaim Reagan the devil,

and declare we are turning the page on the trickle down, supply side, I got mine, greed is good philosophy forever.

Any Democrat that isn't gung ho on that is probably a misplaced/lost Republican.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

114. The simple answer from the outside is No, there are to many democrats who don't want to be united nt