February 24, 2009, The big speech
The President addressed a joint session of Congress and gave his remarks concerning the budget he will be presenting shortly. Not sure what to think of this one; it seemed disjointed, especially from a rhetorical master like President Obama.
This could be the nature of the current crisis. Still, it might have been more "confidence building" if more specifics ($__billion to re-build roads, $___ billion to ensure that schools are adequately funded, etc.) made there way in there (there were some specifics, like $15 billion a year in energy research)... but the stimulus bill was one of the biggest progressive packages in decades, and the need for Village inside-the-Beltway-inside-baseball to avoid saying it... seems troubling. We're operating from the other guys' frame: that the Government doing good things for people is something to be apologized for.
Oh well. The President showed his usual eloquence, and the usual suspects applauded and booed, and Bobby Jindal (doing the Republican response) sounds (Mrs. TD's spot-on observation) like Kenneth the page from 30 Rock. (And Jindal's message sounds like "Hey look, me, a dark-skinned South Asian-American gets to be the standard bearer of the racist/cracker party! Woo hoo! Ain't America great!")
Oh well. The President is big on theme speeches-- the "race speech", for example, and now, he has "the economy speech." At this point, all Americans should be hoping that whatever the President is pitching will be effective at first stabilizing, and then restoring, the health of the economy. [And, as usual, the Republican jihad, led by its spiritual leader Rush Limbaugh will be hoping for the contrary.]