Fresh Reactions to State of the Union

@baratunde Obama says we’ll double our exports. Someone remind him all America makes is youtube cat videos

@jamiekilstein Please don’t bomb who ever comes into first place

@LilianaSegura In a just world, Obama would use his platform tonight to honor Howard Zinn.

I couldn’t help but lead in with some of my favorite tweets from the State of the Union. Obama really needed to pull out all the proverbial stops tonight. He needed to overcome criticism from just about every angle about his inability to get legislators to overcome partisan rancor and showboating. He needed to answer the frustration and lack of faith growing in the American people, who are facing the daily effects of a continuously shaky, though somewhat strengthened, economy. He needed, in short, to re-seed some sense of optimism and trust.
I don’t think he succeeded fully, although I also wouldn’t say he failed completely. He showed up. He spoke strongly. He seemed genuinely fed up. But something about his demeanor and language tonight seemed rife with a sort of “tough guy” posturing that I actually found fear-inducing rather than reassuring. When referring to Iran, when talking about off shore drilling (seriously?), when chastising the sea of suited elected officials before him, he sounded a lot like a beleaguered father trying to get his kids back in order and reassure his wife that everything would, indeed, be okay even though it looks really, really bad.
Did anyone else get this sense?
I don’t want another “big daddy” or “super protector” president. Instead, I was looking for a truly innovative way of talking about change. Maybe that seems naive, but I really did think that in this perfect storm of crises, there was a real opportunity for Obama to talk about the way in which we all have to think about and fight for change in this new world that we’re all living in. It’s gotten even more charged, even more complex, even more urgent, and it’s our leader’s job to frame that intensity. He paid lip service to it at times–referencing the decade that has led us into this mess, talking about how he’s willing to take an unpopular stand, continuously bringing it back to struggling Americans–but it struck me as showmanship, as a true performance. He’s always been charismatic, but this felt uninspired to me.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.