Expecting fair and balanced commentary about the President's State of the Union Speech from any source owned by Rupert Murdock brings to mind the old folk axiom: If you keep going to conservative subsidized media for unbiased punditry then you probably enjoy hanging upside-down in a straightjacket more than Houdini did.
It seemed natural to expect conservative media to hear the President's speech and immediately follow it with Bill O'Reilly (speaking <em>ex catherdra</em>) telling the audience that all across America folks were recoiling in horror at what they had just heard.
Certain comedians (on Fox) can do the instantaneous mind reading and extrapolate the meaning so quickly and smoothly that they put Carnac the Magnificent to shame. It takes an added measure of chutzpa for them to sell their snake oil cure propaganda as a miraculous medical breakthrough, but money breeds contempt and exorbitant paychecks make it worthwhile for the fabulous charlatans in the quote journalism world unquote to say what they are paid to say.
For a columnist lacking in mind reading prowess the only way to report on how the speech went over, seemed to be to go to an Irish bar and watch the viewer reactions there.
At the gin mill we selected, the audience telegraphed their response by chanting: "Jobs, jobs, jobs" before the President said the first word of the speech.
President Obama has been reported to be an excellent orator, but seeing that after ten minutes he lost the audience, could only indicate that this wasn't one of his best spellbinding efforts. If the folks in an Irish bar aren't paying close attention to his every word, then calling it good oratory seems a bit inaccurate.
One fellow in the bar noted that in California, not only are jobs a hot agenda item, but the fact that a computer glitch has been holding up his unemployment checks from December and this is causing him extensive grief (up to and including three heart attacks in one day [one at home, two in the emergency room]) and thus made employment the only topic he wanted to hear.
Some good Samaritans have helped him with loans to cover his rent, but the thing that really frosts him is that even though his checks for mid and late December have yet to be delivered, his W-2 form has arrived and it considers them paid out and taxable.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
