rule change to state of the union address (Congress, Reagan, Pelosi)

[sailordave]

For decades I've been hoping someone would make a rule change to the state of the union address. "Hold all applause until the end of the speech". Is that too much to ask? Both political parties are guilty of this brown nose grandstanding. President says a line and his party jumps ups and applauds as if it's the greatest thing they ever heard. He says another line and they do it again. ENOUGH!!! Let the man speak and then applaud AFTER the speech is over! I was sick of it during Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and now Obama. Not only would it be easier to listen to the speech, it would cut the amount of time they interrupt the prime time broadcast shows. What makes it worse is the pundits who come on afterwards to analyze what the President said, how he said it, how many times he scratched his nose, and whether or not he used his index finger or thumb to gesture to the audience. Depending on political party of the President the speech is usually fantastic (D) or not very good (R). Reverse it if the news is FOX News. How about the pundits just shut up and let the people decide for themselves what they felt about the speech or simply reprint the speech online or in newspapers, the ones that are still in business anyway.

[mackinac81]

I would support not having the Speaker of the House or VP jump up at the end of every other sentence. Pelosi distracted me.

[sailordave]

What's worse is the opposing party sits on their hands the whole time. Both parties are guilty of this. Be nice if a sitting president would set precident and tell the people to hold all applause until he's finished speaking. The brown nosers wouldn't know what to do with themselves. Their lips would fly off their mouth to be planted right on his backside if they tried to remain seated.

[mhouse2001]

If I were President, I wouldn't have a press secretary. No one would know my speeches before they came out of my mouth. Anyone in my administration that leaked information to the press about my position would be fired. The people should be informed by me, not by a media hellbent on twisting every line into a propagandized mess. I'm sick of seeing some talking head say things like "the President intends to..." or "The senator thinks that by doing..." or even "A report to be issued tomorrow will say...". The media has taken it upon themselves to express the intent behind everything like the whole thing is an opera that needs explanation. It's scripted, twisted, and acted. It's no longer real.

I can picture myself giving the State of the Union (as an Independent) telling the elected officials of both parties that their number one allegiance is to their constituency, not their party. If they're not going to do the bidding of the public that elected them, kindly exit now. I would explain that Americans deserve better than a group of people who spend all their time jockeying for position in the polls and do nothing for the people they serve. I will actively call for their replacement if they don't do their job. (This is where the shots ring out, someone screams, and the screen goes blank for twenty seconds).

In any case, the State of the Union should serve two purposes: summarize the prior year and define the next one. It should not be one of ovation after ovation unless the ovation is personal praise for a job well done. Personally, as President, I'd be in the Capitol quite often and it would resemble the House of Commons you see on C-SPAN where the British PM engages lively discourse on important issues. I do like a good argument. To hell with being courteous and "respectful". Issues are too serious to deny emotional outbursts. Maybe then something will get resolved!

[Emeraldmaiden]

Obama hasn't given a State of the Union address yet. That won't happen until next year.

[ParkTwain]

Did you know that Th. Jefferson broke the tradition of delivering the Constitutionally required State of the Union as a speech? (He didn't consider himself a strong orator.) Instead, he delivered the address to Congress in writing. The State of the Union wasn't delivered as a speech by succeeding Presidents again until Woodrow Wilson's presidency.

[roysoldboy]

Originally Posted by Emeraldmaiden

Obama hasn't given a State of the Union address yet. That won't happen until next year.

Good job of calling the attention to other members of the facts of life. The State of the Union is always delivered about the 20th of January which is what keeps the new President from delivering a SOTU speech. Many don't have any idea that that wasn't a SOTU. I wonder if the Republicans even realized that since they shouldn't have a response that is not a response but just a speech done before the real one and then read off after it. It is getting very tiresome to listen to all this crap and that thing the other night was just an attempt to sell the budget he is coming out with.

Thanks for the good post.

[sailordave]

And yet what happened when Obama spoke before Congress was exactly the same as the SOTU,...his party stand and applauded everytime he spoke and the other party practically sat on their hands. Let the butt kissing begin. Wonder if they had Listerine to wash the taste of his shoe polish out their mouth.

[irishvanguard]

I believe the President should address the Congress from another room via television feed. No pauses, and no time for applause. It will move on in this manner.