My Dinner With(out) Obama
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to participate in last night’s SOTU discussion among Ricochet members. The last time we had such a “meeting” (on election night) proved to be very enjoyable, so I really regret not being there yesterday. I could tell you my taping schedule interfered. I could tell you I was traveling. I guess there would be any number of acceptable excuses for missing an opportunity to interact with my fellow Ricocheters, but I have to confess the real reason: I didn’t want to have to watch the speech.
State of the union addresses are generally forgettable anyway, and most post-speech analysis by the press has to do with who applauded and who didn’t or with things like Supreme Court members being dissed. The words are generally pedestrian and meaningless, and the proposals are usually forgotten before the president leaves the chamber. This one, however, promised to be a particularly vapid example of kabuki theater, with an attempt by both sides to appear bipartisan.
So, while I suppose this makes me a bit of a cynic, I’d like to report that I had a wonderful dinner with some dear friends last night, and I read about the speech today. As for my friends here at Ricochet, my apologies, and I hope you’ll accept a rain check. I look forward to interacting during a future event that has some meaning.
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Comments :
Nov '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Pardon my cynicism as well...I don’t watch the SOTU either and prefer to read it...perhaps watch the interesting video clips, if any. I find the theatrical gymnastics of the audience insufferable, no matter who is at the podium. Just don’t have a standing ovation fetish, I guess. It looks silly. With speech in hand, I could easily choreograph an animation that replicates the affair perfectly. However, I did enjoy the commentary here on the live chat, oblivious to the ramblings of the POTUS.
Jan '11
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
I agree that last night's speech had to be one of the most pointless exercises in a long time. At least when the Democrats had the majority, the State of the Union laid out an agenda that would likely pass. But with the GOP in the House, there's no chance that anything mentioned would actually come to reality. Last night was a speech that we knew, in advance, would motivate no one.
Jun '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Risky: I go one better: I neither hear nor read the SOTU and have maintained that policy for decades (it's one issue on which I'm non-partisan). Frankly, I'd rather have another colonoscopy than listen to any president speak for over an hour.
I'm confident that the folks I trust at Ricochet or NRO will point out the theme and any interesting asides.
I spent my time doing something a whole lot better, reading a couple of chapters of Tom Sowell's The Vision of the Anointed. I'll bet I'm more enlightened this morning than those who heard the speech.
Edited on Jan 26, 2011 at 8:31amNov '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
I am with Pat. I did not watch it. It reminds me of all the Hollywood awards shows. They are basically a bunch of people celebrating themseleves. They are not playing to the citizens in the State of the Union, they are playing to the media and everyone inside the beltway.
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Rain check accepted, Pat. Let's for sure do something at a future event that's more meaningful. How about we do a live chat during the Oscars?
I'm serious.
Sep '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Rob Long
Rain check accepted, Pat. Let's for sure do something at a future event that's more meaningful. How about we do a live chat during the Oscars?
I'm serious. · Jan 26 at 8:35am
I promise to be really catty during the Oscars.
Sep '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Frankly, I'd rather have another colonoscopy than listen to any president speak for over an hour.
That reminds me of the scene from Fletch (Moooon River......)
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Rob Long
Rain check accepted, Pat. Let's for sure do something at a future event that's more meaningful. How about we do a live chat during the Oscars?
I'm serious. · Jan 26 at 8:35am
That might be fun. I tend not to watch them either, but I might make an exception in this case, if for no other reason than to read your ongoing comments on the (usually) dreadful proceedings.
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Pat, that's true for so much of televised events. If you just wait a few hours, the main points will be summed up and you will have saved a lot of time. Like reading a book review that gives you the essentials of a book you are interested in but don't want to read.
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Pat, the easy way to catch up with what was said last night is to just take all of your money and throw it out of the car window as you speed along. That was the gist. And I'll begin planning the Oscar(tm) party right now!
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Rob Long
Rain check accepted, Pat. Let's for sure do something at a future event that's more meaningful. How about we do a live chat during the Oscars?
I'm serious. · Jan 26 at 8:35am
Please? Pretty please?
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
My Ricochet line of the week nomination. Right there.
Jun '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Pseudodionysius: Frankly, I'd rather have another colonoscopy than listen to any president speak for over an hour.
That reminds me of the scene from Fletch (Moooon River......) · Jan 26 at 8:41am
Pseudo: This may show how low-brow I am, but I consider that scene one of the great scenes in movie history. Andy Williams' Moon River will never be the same to me.
Chevy Chase may be a bad actor and a goofy liberal, but his Fletch movies are true classics. We would have all be ahead by watching a Fletch movie (would love to have a Mr. Underhill in my life) than the SOTU.
May '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Obama deserves an Oscar for playing President.
While others parsed the words of a liar for meaning, I watched RED. Somehow, a film about a bunch of retirees being marked for death by the government seems a fitting tribute.
Jun '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Pat, I'm with you. I just can't watch the State of the Union speech, any of them. I therefore skipped the Ricochet party. Sorry folks, I just couldn't. Hope it was a good time, though. I was listening to podcasts about Hayek on Econ Talk thanks to a tip by a member. I'm loving all the great stuff they have on that site.
Sep '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
tabula rasa
Pseudodionysius: Frankly, I'd rather have another colonoscopy than listen to any president speak for over an hour.
That reminds me of the scene from Fletch (Moooon River......) · Jan 26 at 8:41am
Pseudo: This may show how low-brow I am, but I consider that scene one of the great scenes in movie history. Andy Williams' Moon River will never be the same to me.
Chevy Chase may be a bad actor and a goofy liberal, but his Fletch movies are true classics. We would have all be ahead by watching a Fletch movie (would love to have a Mr. Underhill in my life) than the SOTU. · Jan 26 at 9:45am
I have milked Fletch and Groundhog Day for so many laughs in my career I'm amazed Hollywood doesn't sue me and ask for royalties on my consulting invoices. Whenever I get an unexpectedly large bill in a restaurant I say with a deadpan face to the waiter or waitress:
"I'd like to charge this to Mr. Underhill's account"
Jun '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Pseudodionysius
tabula rasa
Pseudodionysius: Frankly, I'd rather have another colonoscopy than listen to any president speak for over an hour.
That reminds me of the scene from Fletch (Moooon River......) · Jan 26 at 8:41am
Pseudo: This may show how low-brow I am, but I consider that scene one of the great scenes in movie history. Andy Williams' Moon River will never be the same to me.
Chevy Chase may be a bad actor and a goofy liberal, but his Fletch movies are true classics. We would have all be ahead by watching a Fletch movie (would love to have a Mr. Underhill in my life) than the SOTU. · Jan 26 at 9:45am
I have milked Fletch and Groundhog Day for so many laughs in my career I'm amazed Hollywood doesn't sue me and ask for royalties on my consulting invoices. Whenever I get an unexpectedly large bill in a restaurant I say with a deadpan face to the waiter or waitress:
"I'd like to charge this to Mr. Underhill's account" · Jan 26 at 10:52am
Has it ever worked?
Sep '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
tabula rasa
Has it ever worked? · Jan 26 at 11:40am
Not yet, but one day it will. I'm hoping in Turkey.
Dec '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
Sooo, Pat, like every President since Jefferson, until Wilson, just mailed it in. That's mostly good company!
Nov '10
Re: My Dinner With(out) Obama
No apologies needed Pat. I blew off the speech to watch the Blackhawks game. Unfortunately, the Hawks lost, but it was still more entertaining than an evening of pointless political speechifying, followed by the talking hairdos on tv giving us their "analysis".