Politically, he was called upon to lead by narrowing choices; instead he widened the discussion, so in that sense I think it was an utter failure. But nevermind that.
The man invoked American can-do spirit and rugged individualism in defense of socialism!
And he invoked Teddy Kennedy as the exemplar of our nation's moral character.
Even he literally had trouble keeping a straight face at one point. Did you see the moment when he said some of the details of the bill had yet to be worked out, the Republicans (and I, sitting at home) laughed out loud, and he had to struggle not to do so himself?
My favorite line had to be
I still believe we can replace acrimony with civility,coming as it did hard on the heels of possibly the most mean-spirited, partisan speech ever delivered by a sitting President. (Although I'm sure I could comb Carter's ouvre for some challengers.)
Unless it was this:
But by avoiding some of the overhead that gets eaten up at private companies by profits, excessive administrative costs and executive salaries...Profits are overhead? Econ 101 is not a required subject at either Harvard or Columbia? Or maybe now we know what he's telling us when he says he going to eliminate waste from the budget.
I have never laughed out loud so hard or so often at a President.
Which makes me sad. It's not a thing I wish to do.
Update: You know you've told some whoppers if even AP notices.
