Below are some links where you can check out some of the professional analysis of Obama's speech. The general consensus I'm seeing at this point is that Obama knocked the ball out of the park in terms of delivery. It's obvious that the guy is a tremendously good speech-giver. The problem is what he says - he can't possibly deliver it, nor is it even realistic. Here are a couple examples:
[W]hat the president promises to do simply cannot be done, because the costs are so staggeringly high that the economy cannot bear all or even most of them absent the sort of renewed economic growth that soaring tax rates will snuff out.And...
The problem with President Obama's agenda is that it is built on serial fantasies, fantasies which ignore the real benefits of things such as nuclear power and oil exploration. The president's talk was well phrased and beautifully delivered, and deeply disconnected from the realities of economic growth.
We will have the world's highest college graduation rate by 2020 because Obama has told the youth of America that "it is no longer an option to drop out" of school and that it is their patriotic duty to commit at least one year to some form of post-high school education. Along the way, we will find the cure for cancer. And as for our national security, Obama "won't allow terrorists to plot against us." This overly ambitious goal -- more audacious than that of President Bush who merely wanted to make sure we weren't attacked -- will be achieved at no cost to anyone's civil liberties.And...
Obama has won the office; now he needs to do something with it.It was good to finally hear some positive notions about this great country, but it's troubling that there is still such a mammoth disconnect between what he says and what he plans to do. I can't help but point out again the example mentioned above: Obama points out that we depend on more imported oil than ever before, but it is undisputedly the Democrats -- including Obama himself, in just the past couple weeks -- who have prevented all attempts at increasing our domestic energy supply. The speech was chock full of fallacies just like this, on topics from the Theft/Pork bill to tax cuts to wasteful spending to housing to the auto industry to banking...and on and on. The common pattern that emerged was for him to mention a problem area, pledge to spend huge amounts of money to fix it, and then neglect to indicate how he'll pay for those expenditures. That's just not reality - at some point, those IOUs will come due, and we won't be able to pay them. The disconnect is shocking for anyone with more than a quarter of a working brain.The problem with governing is that he will now have to take responsibility for his decisions. Obama is committed to policies that will damage our economy, run up trillions of dollars in debt, increase taxes, cause inflation, make the nation less competitive, feed unproductive Democratic Party constituencies at the expense of the "real" economy, and make the United States weaker abroad. He can give any number of speeches, and Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and their cohorts will applaud. But reality will not yield so easily.
Nevertheless, that's how he campaigned for two years, that's how he's been governing for the past month, and there's no reason to think he'll change. He is truly a master of doublethink. Once upon a time we had a media who would prevent any politician from getting away with that kind of revisionism, but not anymore. Even worse is the fact that there are so many people out there who don't bother to think past his words to the meaning or ramifications behind those flowery words. We have a lot of work to do in the next two years!
Bobby Jindal's response was a mixed bag. In terms of delivery, he wasn't nearly as polished as Obama. Particularly in the beginning, it was very obvious that he was reading text off a prompter - it was flat, dull, and rushed. The further in he got, however, it seemed that he began talking rather than speaking. That's one of his strengths, and once he began conversing it got much better. There were two things that I appreciated most: first, that he didn't shy away from condemning the pathetic waffling of the GOP over the past few years. Without acknowledging the previous problems, the GOP won't be able to overcome them. Second, Jindal speaks from experience - when he talks about the triumphant American spirit, he's lived it. When he talks about cutting taxes and implementing transparency, he's already done it in Louisiana. When he talks about getting past the party to serve the people, he's made it happen. This is the kind of leadership that we need, now more than ever.
Watching these two speeches is most definitely a case of style versus substance. The question is: which would you prefer in your government?
There's my two cents.
Links:
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/f845bd1b-f30b-4dad-9429-5ed1b5afa7cc
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/02/022923.php
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/02/022922.php
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjFiYTFjMGQ5N2NiNDc5NDQ4ZDZjNGEzMjdkMzRjZGY=
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MWU2YjQxNjMzNmIyYWVhNTliZjQ0MWViM2FjNmE5NzU=
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/02/barack-obama-addressed-joint-session-of.html
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/24/bobby-jindal-and-the-expectations-game/
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmEyZjY0YThlM2NhOGZkZmQ1ZWQxNWM0MDFiMTJiM2Y=
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NmI1NGZlNGJmZjI0OGRkZjFiNzM4NGM3OGZiN2RjZmQ=
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/02/bobby-jindal-rocks-rebuttal.html
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/24/video-jindals-awful-rebuttal/
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