SOTU Analysis in Tweets
The Washington Post performs an act of service journalism by rounding up a mess of tweets about the State of the Union address by reporters from across the political spectrum.
Day: January 29, 2014
State of the Union Has Jumped the Shark
Blame Woodrow Wilson, who broke a century-old presidential tradition of delivering the State of the Union message only in writing. Blame Harry S. Truman, the first chief executive to make the address on television, or Lyndon B. Johnson, the first to do so in prime time. … Blame Lenny Skutnik, the plucky government office worker who rescued a freezing woman from the Potomac River after a plane crash and then became the first citizen-hero to be saluted by the president in the House gallery when Ronald Reagan honored him in 1982. … Blame the Democrats. Blame the Republicans. Blame social media, members of Congress, the wind or the weather. But the State of the Union — as political event, public theater, real-time town hall or self-help reality show — has jumped the shark.
— Todd Purdum, writing for Politico.
Republicans Still Don’t Understand Women
It’s hard for me to phrase this politely. Sometimes Republicans think that just putting a woman up front means somehow that women are going to feel good about the party. It is not about the messenger. It’s about the message. And until we figure that one out, while it’s nice that we have a woman as a spokesperson, if the message itself doesn’t get changed a bit, it’s not going to work.
— Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman (R), quoted by the Los Angeles Times, on Republicans picking a woman to rebut the State of the Union address.
Most Approved of POTUS’s SOTU
76%
Of those who watched the State of the Union address last night had a positive reaction to the speech, according to CNN’s instant poll.
Flashback: Rand Paul Accused of Tying up, Blindfolding and Abducting a Female College Student in Aqua Buddha Bong ‘Prank’
It is beneath contempt — and yet typical of the low esteem with which Republicans view women — to blame a wife for her husband’s infidelity. Compounding his contemptible behavior, of course, is the fact that Paul’s slander is based on half-truths and outright lies, nearly all of which went unchallenged on “Meet the Press,” as usual.
Bully Boy: Staten Island GOP Rep. Michael Grimm Threatens Reporter Who Asked Him about Corruption Charges
Earlier this month Diana Durand, a Republican operative who raised donations for New York City GOP Rep. Michael Grimm, was arrested by federal officials and charged with donating nearly $10,000 to Grimm’s campaign via an interstate “donor swapping” scheme. The stress of the federal investigation has apparently gotten to Grimm, who threatened to NY1 reporter Michael Scotto after Scotto asked him about the scandal in a post-State of the Union interview last night.
Grimm at first walked away from the camera, but then returned to threaten Scotto after he had wrapped the live interview. The camera and Scotto’s microphone were still on, however, and Grimm’s verbal assault was captured on video and has been transcribed by NY1:
