Well ... ALF was on.

Kidding. Yes, of course I watched. I vowed not to, Titus is correct but given it was replayed multiple times I couldn't avoid it when flipping through the channels near bed (although I caught it out of order between 2 airings). And not so coincidentally I was struck by many of the same things you were ...

First, the spending freeze is ludicrous. It is the proverbial drop in the bucket in the era of Obama. A few billion (15 if remember correctly from an online article) a year, within trillions of red ink being thrown around? Please, huh. How about not passing a trillion dollar health package if you're so worried about deficits? I mean this is maddening. In addition he called for a "Jobs Bill." Put aside the fact that government does not create jobs (no matter what you call the bill), this is tantamount to a SECOND stimulus package. Again, its going to be near another $800 billion spent. Because the first one worked so well, right? Like I said, ludicrous. The idea that THIS president is going to speak to fiscal responsibility, with a straight face, may be a tribute to his acting chops but does nothing for our national debt.

Second. I have no problem with calling out the Supreme Court, that's fine, under normal circumstances. But to do it in a SoTU address when the members are prevented from responding is the actions of a little man with little respect for decorum. HE did the equivalent of shouting, "you lie!" this time. The Supreme Court members are sitting RIGHT THERE, up front, and to their face, with no ability to respond or refute he calls them out. Unbelievable - this is a COEQUAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT. And to simply state you disagree with them would have been one thing, but to cite a specific ruling they decided fewer than 10 days ago and state that as such they have damaged our Republic is outrageous. Alito was left shaking his head, as Titus pointed out.

Third. Energy and other machinations ... Basically his plan is to allow "some" offshore drilling and nuclear power plant construction, BUT ONLY in conjunction with a "comprehensive cap and trade" program, as he put it. Exactly how does that work? Allow the drilling but make it so expensive that no body does? This is mania. As I mentioned in a text message recently I watched a clip of the President on CBS. In it he flatly admitted that "I'd rather be a good one term president then a mediocre two term president." Now for an entire year people have shook their head when I explained that he isn't in this to be just another president. That he's not playing for a second term, he is a committed ideologue. During the campaign no 2 phrases sent a cold chill down my spine more than, "We're going to fundamentally transform the nation", and "We've tried it their way." See, you have to believe there is a fundamental problem with the nation as Constituted if you are seeking to "fundamentally transform" it. And while most people assumed "their way" referred to George Bush and the Republicans, I was convinced he meant George Washington and the Republic. I posted in this very blog the audio of his describing the Constitution as "fundamentally flawed." Now he as all but admitted in the CBS clip that I am right in my opinion, and last night he stepped on the accelerator.

Fourth. The most telling aspect to me, in terms of where this president finds himself 1 year in, is when he discussed lobbyists. He vowed, reiterating a campaign promise, that NO lobbyists have been allowed to hold cabinet positions, chair departments, etc as part of his efforts to "close the credibility gap", as he put it. In translation he simply means lobbyists have none of the "top jobs" in his administration. This is a flat lie. You can read the entire list of prominent lobbyists within his administration HERE, which include the deputy SecDef, the AG, the chief of staff to the Treasury Secretary, and the list goes on and on. What's worse is they didn't simply "slip by." He issued an executive order banning lobbyists from consideration when he was staffing his administration. So how did they get in you ask? He issued another executive document - waivers, signed by his own hand. So why do I find this the most telling? It was the reaction of the chamber. They didn't exactly "boo", but rather it was a sort of group chuckle, a quasi grumbling laugh if you will - on both sides of the aisle (literally & figuratively). It was symbolic to me. He was telling a bald face lie and he knew it. Yet he fully expected to get away with it. And that's where he is at now - he is charting a domestic and foreign policy course that has his own Party looking at each other as if to say, "is he serious?" It was a "The Emperor Has No Clothes" moment. And the only thing worse than being hated as a leader is not being taken seriously. And he is rapidly descending into rhetoric so out of touch with what's going on, so out of touch with the mood of the nation and the direction and leadership they want to see, that 365 days in he is rendering himself the quintessential lame duck, and I think he is oblivious to it.

In summary I simply do not know how he expects to get away with the massive gap between his rhetoric and his actions. Between where he wants to take the nation and where the nation is willing to go. Between who we are as a people and who is ideology tells us we should be. My prediction is these gaps will only increase until he is turned out under the same mantra in which he was installed - the desire for change.