Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The presidential healthcare speech

Some of Obama's best work so far, in my opinion. I first took notice of the man as a serious contender some time ago, but what's impressed me since then is how much better he's gotten over the past few years. This speech shows just how good the man can be at talking about policy--this was certainly not always the case, as the early criticisms of Obama as being too abstract and aloof were hardly inaccurate. But this really was a Clinton-level policy speech, one that said a lot and was quite shrewd overall at making his case. I was kind of surprised at how little airtime the subsidies got in the speech, and how focused on finance it was (though that is probably the right move at this time). And the GOP's behavior was really embarrassing--we know they can't intelligently discuss policy, but they can't even seem to act like adults anymore. Just sad.
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The Man, The Myth, The Bio

East Bay, California, United States
Problem: I have lots of opinions on politics and culture that I need to vent. If I do not do this I will wind up muttering to myself, and that's only like one or two steps away from being a hobo. Solution: I write two blogs. A political blog that has some evident sympathies (pro-Obama, mostly liberal though I dissent on some issues, like guns and trade) and a culture blog that does, well, cultural essays in a more long-form manner. My particular thing is taking overrated things (movies, mostly, but other things too) down a peg and putting underrated things up a peg. I'm sort of the court of last resort, and I tend to focus on more obscure cultural phenomena.