Barack Obama's 1st State of the Union speech is scheduled for tonight. How long will it go on? How angry will Obama be? Who will he blame and vilify this go round? Will he acknowledge Scott Brown? Will he, as he did in the past, threaten to "call out" anyone who disagrees with him? And will anyone yell out "Liar!" this time around?
A lot of people are offering Obama advice. Most of the advice seems to be that Obama should try to be like Bill Clinton. He should move to the right. He should speak of compromise. It could happen, I guess. Still, if it does, I'll be surprised. Obama's politics have always been the politics of confrontation. He was elected by vilifying his opponents. At times, it seems to be the only thing he really knows how to do.
My main advice to Barack Obama would be to ask Nancy Pelosi to call in sick tonight. Indeed, the image of Pelosi sitting behind him, that frozen smile on her face as he speaks, will probably do more harm to the Democrats in November than any response that the Republcan Party could possibly give to his speech.
The feeling seems to be that this speech is Obama's last chance to save his presidency.
Quite frankly, there's more to being president than giving speeches.
That is something that Obama has never seemed to grasp.
That is why, regardless of his tone tonight, the great "promise" that so many once saw in Barack Obama appears to be lost forever.
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