The (Not) State of the Union Address

Hear today's Radio or Not podcast by clicking here (runtime 57:48)

Once again last night, Barack Obama proved to us why we elected him President. One of my first thoughts after he got rolling was "I'm so happy he's president!"

Unlike during the speeches delivered at this time of the year for the past eight years, I was riveted last night. President Obama spoke to us like the intelligent adults we are, in language to which we could relate and understand; not talking over our heads or down to us (as LA Governor Bobby Jindal seemed to do in his Republican response).

He struck the appropriate balance between the seriousness of the mess in which this country was left and the hopefulness of where we, under Obama's guidance, should rightfully return.

Today on the Radio or Not podcast, we go almost line by line through the speech and dissect it. It's lengthy, but worth the time to listen to it...

If you'd prefer not to hear my running commentary, you can watch the whole thing here:



One semi-related note. Please read the statement below and, if you agree, follow the link to sign on at http://prosecutebushcheney.org ...

Statement on Prosecution of Former High Officials

We urge Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a non-partisan independent Special Counsel to immediately commence a prosecutorial investigation into the most serious alleged crimes of former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Richard B. Cheney, the attorneys formerly employed by the Department of Justice whose memos sought to justify torture, and other former top officials of the Bush Administration.

Our laws, and treaties that under Article VI of our Constitution are the supreme law of the land, require the prosecution of crimes that strong evidence suggests these individuals have committed. Both the former president and the former vice president have confessed to authorizing a torture procedure that is illegal under our law and treaty obligations. The former president has confessed to violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

We see no need for these prosecutions to be extraordinarily lengthy or costly, and no need to wait for the recommendations of a panel or "truth" commission when substantial evidence of the crimes is already in the public domain. We believe the most effective investigation can be conducted by a prosecutor, and we believe such an investigation should begin immediately.

Drafted by The Robert Jackson Steering Committeehttp://www.afterdowningstreet.org/robertjackson

Signed By:
Center for Constitutional Rightshttp://www.ccrjustice.org
The National Lawyers Guildhttp://www.nlg.org
Society of American Law Teachers - SALThttp://www.saltlaw.org
Human Rights USAhttp://www.humanrightsusa.org
After Downing Streethttp://www.afterdowningstreet.org
American Freedom Campaignhttp://www.americanfreedomcampaign.org
Ann Wright, retired US Army Reserve Colonel and US diplomathttp://www.voicesofconscience.com
ANSWER Coalitionhttp://www.answercoalition.org
Backbone Campaignhttp://www.backbonecampaign.org
Brad Bloghttp://www.bradblog.com
Chesapeake Citizenshttp://www.chesapeakecitizens.org
Cities for Peacehttp://citiesforprogress.org
Citizens for Accountability, Ventura County
Citizens For Legitimate Governmenthttp://www.legitgov.org
CODE PINK: Women for Peacehttp://www.codepink4peace.org
Daniel Ellsberg, Truth-Telling Projecthttp://www.ellsberg.net
Defending Dissent Foundationhttp://www.defendingdissent.org
Delaware Valley Veterans for Americahttp://www.delvalvets4america.org
Democrats.comhttp://www.democrats.com
Glenn Greenwaldhttp://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Spacehttp://www.space4peace.org
Gold Star Families for Peacehttp://www.cindysheehanssoapbox.com
Grandmothers Against the Warhttp://www.grandmothersforpeace.org/gatw
Grassroots Americahttp://www.grassrootsamerica4us.org
High Road for Human Rights Advocacy Projecthttp://www.highroadforhumanrights.org
Impeach Coloradohttp://impeachco.com
Impeach for Peacehttp://impeachforpeace.org
Indict Bush Nowhttp://www.IndictBushNow.org
Individuals for Justicehttp://www.IndividualsForJustice.org
Iraq Veterans Against the Warhttp://ivaw.org
Ralph Lopez, author of "Truth in the Age of Bushism," chairman, Jobs For Afghanshttp://jobsforafghans.org
Justice Through Musichttp://www.jtmp.org
Marcus Raskin, co-founder of Institute for Policy Studies, member of editorial board of the /Nation/, member of the special staff of the National Security Council in the Kennedy Administration
Media Freedom Foundation/Project Censoredhttp://www.projectcensored.org
Naomi Wolf, author of /End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot/, and /Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries/http://naomiwolf.org
National Accountability Network
Northeast Impeachment Coalitionhttp://www.neimpeach.org/wp
Op Ed Newshttp://www.opednews.com
Partnership for Civil Justice (PCJ)http://www.justiceonline.org
Patriotic Response to Renegade Governmentpatrioticresponse@yahoo.com
Peace Actionhttp://www.peace-action.org
Peace Teamhttp://www.peaceteam.net
People for Peace & Justice/St. Augustine, FLhttp://www.staugppj.org
Peter McLaren, Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
The Progressivehttp://www.progressive.org
Progressive Democrats of Americahttp://www.pdamerica.org
PDA/DFA South Jerseyhttp://pdamerica.org/statecaucus.php?s=NJ
PDA Rhode Islandhttp://pdamerica.org/statecaucus.php?s=RI
The Public Recordhttp://pubrecord.org
Radio or Nothttp://www.radioornot.com
Republicans for Impeachmenthttp://republicansforimpeachment.com
Save the Bill of Rightshttp://www.savethebillofrights.org
Smirking Chimphttp://www.smirkingchimp.com
Christiane Brown, The Solution Zonehttp://www.1230kjfk.com
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC)http://tassc.org
Tulsa Impeachment Committeehttp://impeachok1.org
United for Peace and Justicehttp://www.unitedforpeace.org
Velvet Revolutionhttp://www.velvetrevolution.us
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanityhttp://www.afterdowningstreet.org/vips
Veterans for Peacehttp://www.veteransforpeace.org
Veterans for Peace 27
Veterans for Peace 099
Voters for Peacehttp://votersforpeace.us/index2.php
War Crimes Timeshttp://www.warcrimestimes.org
War Is Illegalhttp://www.war-is-illegal.org
Wisconsin Impeachment/Bring Our Troops Home Coalitionhttp://www.impeachwi.com
World Can't Waithttp://www.worldcantwait.net