SOTU

From the BBC:

"SOTU: Obama stresses US strength and urges hope to anxious US"

 

President Barack Obama has vigorously defended his legacy while striking an optimistic note for America's future in his final State of the Union address. He criticised the negative tone of the current presidential race, arguing the US has the "strongest, most durable economy in the world".  Republican presidential hopefuls attacked many of his assertions. And South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said in the party's official response his record "had fallen short of his soaring words". Mr Obama's speech to Congress highlighted what he saw as his achievements in office, such as health reform. This will be an address remembered not for its policy prescriptions, but for its upbeat assessment of how much better America is today than when Barack Obama came to office, BBC North American editor Jon Sopel says. How Republican presidential hopefuls saw it" "The State Of The Union speech was one of the most boring, rambling and non-substantive I have heard in a long time," tweeted frontrunner Donald Trump.  For Ted Cruz the speech was "less a State of the Union and more a state of denial". "While Isis [Islamic State] is beheading people and burning them in cages he [President Obama] says climate change is our greatest threat," said Marco Rubio in a video response. "Safer? Isis on the rise. North Korea testing nukes. Syria in chaos. Taliban on march. This president is living in a different world," said Jeb Bush.  "Despite his rhetoric, Americans know that our economy is lagging, our leadership in the world is waning, and the very character of our nation is threatened," wrote Carly Fiorina on Facebook. He rejected suggestions by politicians and commentators that America's economy is getting weaker. Mr Obama focused on the need to tackle income inequality, use technology to combat climate change and maintain national security while not becoming mired in foreign conflicts. Mr Obama said a major regret of his presidency was that Republicans and Democrats had become more hostile towards each other.

 

In the year ahead, Mr Obama said he wanted to:

• close the Guantanamo Bay prison
• achieve meaningful criminal justice reform
• address rising tide of prescription drug abuse
• authorise the use of military force against IS
• lift the embargo on Cuba

 

 

 ^ I didn't watch this when it aired, but have since and it was pretty boring. Most SOTU addresses are boring no matter whom gives them. He has always seemed more concerned with his own image and legacy (even from his first day in office) than actually doing anything to make the country better. So far his legacy is: creating a meaningless "czar" for everything (a healthcare czar, an immigration czar, etc.) and yet nothing ever comes out of those positions. He has a  complete lack of understanding the international world (withdrawing US troops from Iraq so that ISIS could take over and attack France, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, California and having to send us back in to fix his horrible mistake.  Making friends with Iran when they haven't done anything to show they aren't still very anti-American. Not doing much with Russia over the Crimea and the Ukraine. Having no game plan for Afghanistan. Not recognizing the Armenian Genocide - last year was the 100th anniversary of the murders - even though he has constantly said he would. So his foreign policy is a mess. His domestic policy isn't much better. The economy isn't as great as he touts. More jobs have been created, but they are mostly low-paying/part-time jobs. He has tried to help save the healthcare system with his Obamacare and handled the whole thing completely wrong. Rather than fixing the "sinking ship" first and then adding millions upon millions of people to it he has simply forced millions of new people into the crumbling system. He has made more executive orders to get what he wants rather than try to work with other politicians and leaders. His immigration policies (both for illegals and refugees) is one hot mess. In the end I think Obama's legacy won't be a great one and for a guy who needs his ego boosted all the time that will annoy him forever. Hopefully the next President can fix his mistakes so the country isn't reeling from his "legacy" forever. ^

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35299364