MSNBC Hosts React to SOTU: ‘Flat,‘ ’Soft Language,’ & ‘Boring’
- Posted on January 26, 2011 at 7:56am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Immediately after Tuesday night’s SOTU speech, some Fox News analysts described the speech as “flat and uninspired.“ Mediaite sarcastically called the description a ”shocker.” But what if I told you MSNBC hosts used similar language in their speech summaries? They did.
In his immediate reaction last night, host Joe Scarborough said that of the about 10 SOTU speeches he’s been to, this one was like none other.
“The energy was down, the president seemed tepid and there’s no doubt that about 10 or 15 minutes into it, he sensed that,” he said. “I’ve never seen an audience as flat or a president as flat as this…it was just boring all around”:
New 8 pm host Lawrence O’Donnell said the speech was cryptic and Republicans would be happy because “it actually, in the end, says very, very little”:
Very soft language all the way through. Gene [Robinson] said his language transcended our previous political vocabulary – to me it transcended it so far, that I don’t know what it meant through most of it. What does ‘out-innovate’ mean? There is no government program that’s being discussed there, so his intent is for us to not know what it means.
Still, as you’ll see below, the regular Obama cheerleaders at MSNBC loved the speech:
As Mediaite put it, that might be the “real shocker.” However, as we know, O’donnell believes himself to be much better than those “mere liberals.”
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Comments (88)
Rickfromillinois
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:46amAs expected the clip of the MSNBC crowd shows them falling over each other praising the speech. From the way they were talking it is right up there with the Gettysburg address and in the future school kids will be memorizing it.
Report Post »On Fox they had the pollster Frank Luntz asking a focus group what they thought of it. Their view was very different the MSNBC. Most of them thought that it was boring, a repeat of earlier campaign/political speeches, and they didn’t believe him. As Luntz said at the end when describing the response from his group, bad for the President, good for the Republicans (paraphrase).
I think what is worse then having everyone criticizing the speech is to have everyone praising it. At least Fox had a panel discussing it with both Left and Right leaning commentators and they were just about evenly divided over it. MSNBC just had the usual cheerleaders. It’s not surprising that Fox is kicking their butts in the ratings.
Yak Si
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:46amIf the Republicans are going to make any hay out their current position someone is going tohave to expalin to Obumma just what a “JOB” is. He has never had one so how would he know what one looks like? He talks incessantly about “JOBS” and he thinks they come from out of the sky or something The CHICAGO thugs have never had to work a day so they are all in the dark….
Report Post »Canyouhearus
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:45amI watched the whole thing while sipping tea to control the nausea! I hear noting I havent heard since the day he started campaigning! I see a man incapable of leading but having the aupport to give his words power. I see a man who would see America destroyed because of his lack of abilities. I see a man who ignores the Constitution he swore to defend and protect and uses Executive Order and end runs around the Constitution by having heads of agencies pass laws that our elected officials have no power to override…or who refuse to do so. I see a Congress that has also ignored their sworn oaths to supportr an agenda that is in opposition to our Constitution. The best thing about last night was Michelle Bachman’s response. And why did FOX not carry it live? Otherwise.. yawn, yawn… and just more of “say one thing, get the cheering section rived up and then do more of what you want.” Gets old! Did you say, two more years of this??!!
Report Post »WBOB
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:34amRewind,..playback…rewind,…playback…..
YAWN!
Report Post »DTOM_Jericho
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:33amIs signing autographs normal for a prez on the way out of a sotu? I have never noticed that before
Report Post »CountMeIn
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:32amDidn’t watch the speech either but the sound bites on Fox and Friends this morning really tick me off. Obama has sunk to a new level of insulting our intelligence. He is still calling for spending… er… investments??? He says not to cut programs like education even though if they did they may seem to fly higher for a while? What is he implying? Does that even make sense??? I am done with this president and hope to God that the opposition puts up a true conservative candidate I can vote for in good conscience next year!!!
Report Post »loveoursoldiers
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:36amjust vote HIM out because at this point just about ANYONE will be better than this one
Report Post »tifosa
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:38amIf anyone bases their opinion of a whole speech on Fox-chosen “sound-bites,” they’re ASKING to be uninformed and dissatisfied/angry.
bread and circuses
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 9:31amTIFOSA, go back to hufPOS, you are a troll
Report Post »loveoursoldiers
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:32amempty words from a hollow person
Report Post »Reasonabiliy
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:29amDid you notice the daggers in the eyes of our the military leaders present, when he said gays can serve openly in the military. Lucky for Obama none of them were locked and loaded.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 10:46amI noticed that too. It would have been comical if it wasn’t so tragic.
Report Post »Reasonabiliy
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:25amAt least we didn’t have to watch Nacy Pelosi stand up and clap every other word, so it was better than looking at that witch.
Report Post »alrunner58
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:24amI watched snippets and what I heard wasn’t a surprise. The only thing transparent about Obama is his lies.
Report Post »Reasonabiliy
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:23amI think he was trying to look like the american hero Ronald Regan.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 10:45amThat’ll be the day.
Report Post »Reasonabiliy
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:21amObama was almost transfigured into Billy Clinton, no wonder Hillary smiled throughout the entire speech. I hope the American people don’t fall for any of it. He is a socialist at best period.
Report Post »Helldogger
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:20amIt sounded like blau, blau, blau & blau, blau, blau. Except the part about the American job market which I interpreted as I’m gonna have to go to China or Mexico to get one if I want one.
Report Post »robinclair
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:20amAs I listened, I was really tring to believe him when he said the levels of govt. spending are unsustainable. I wonder where this new enlightenment came from. They’ve had 2 years go work on it but, instead, chose to make the problem much, much worse. The man has no credibility whatsoever.
Report Post »cliKKer
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:19amDifference is he can’t fake “Change” any more. there is 2 years of evidence of how his words never equal his actions. “Yes We Can” has become “No, we didn’t”
Report Post »KenM
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:17amI was not surprised at all. He said what any man would say fighting for his position of power. Lots of platitudes no substance. It was all about big government spending disguised as “investment”. Mr Speaker looked bored. Nice “speech”. That’s all it was. A leopard cannot change his spots no matter how hard he tries
Report Post »matt708
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:16amwell so much for all that pre speech hype. As usual he said nothing but spoke a lot of words
Report Post »Cymry
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:15amHallelujah! Arizona is going to pass NBC requirements for POTUS candidates to be on their state ballot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, we won’t have to listen to ANYTHING the TOTUS (traitor of the the united states) has to say. When I hear the words “the prisoner will be remanded into the federal penal system’s custody for further action” concerning soetoro, that will be a good day.
Report Post »Hobbs57
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 12:48pmNo way, that is the best news I heard so far. I can‘t wait to see what Obama’s “real” birth certificate says, if there really is one. IS that what you are referring too ?? I hope so. I read all that info on the Obama File archive and quite honestly, it caught my attention. This man either wasn’t born here or he is hiding who his real father is.
Report Post »Did you hear him last night as he pushed for those who were not legal immigrant’s who go to college here to become automatic citizens ?? Sounds like it was a little to close to his heart and made me wonder if he doesn’t relate to this topic more than we know.
For those of you who want to read some really good info about this man’s past and the birth certificate issue go to the “eligibility” section at – http://theobamafile.com/ good stuff
orcainohio
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:15amIt is hard for obama to write a speech from a golf tee. I think he spent more time choosing what club to use. He didn’t even comment on his role model state that was recently terrorised by a suiside bomber. I think he was trying to center himself with talks of freezing the new bloated spending levels as he talked about new investments in highspeed rail and entitlements. He is surely twisting in the wind ! the Gop repsponce was clear and precise and the tea party responce was on spot. I think the this gave voter 2 clear paths to choose from.
Report Post »CHARACTER MATTERS
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:14amIt‘s the President’s 901st speech. We’ve heard it all before, We know the lies and deception when we hear it. Nothing changes until this President is replaced in 2012.
Report Post »darlenekay
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:13amNothing new…tax and spend. Watch out educators, this new proposal is more spending and government regulations. We need to get government out of our schools. They are strangling us.
Report Post »GEW
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:10amIts time for the President and the ones to come after this one, to go back to sending over the SOTU in written form. This playing before the TV really needs to stop.
Report Post »Paleo Archer
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:10amTalking Heads…always FULL of Themselves…..Who even watched it….? I want to see “Morning Joe” from the edge of the Yellowstone Volcano and sacrifice Mika and then all will be well…..Burp!
Report Post »Hondaman
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:07amI would say the President is one of the most deceptive professionals there is on the face of the earth. I loved the word “investing” . . . . just a different (better sounding) word for more and more SPENDING. This man is going to spend us into oblivion . . . . but then in 100 years it won’t make any difference to him.
River0
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:31amExactly right. Duplicity, mendacity, self-delusion, and hubris are the president’s hallmarks. Thank God for Ryan and Bachmann, who provided the only honesty and integrity in the evening. I find that I’m missing Keith Olber-grupen-fuerer, though. I think he would have attacked Obama for his ‘moderation’, and it would have been very entertaining.
Report Post »GUT_CHECK
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:35ami’ve said it before, i think progressive polititians are trying to shut the airline industry, and tsa goons are serving that purpose along with caressing our “other areas” in the process. its so disgusting to see the country i grew up in going this way.
Report Post »Mister President
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:49amBarack, you delivered your speech quite eloquently. However, Mr. Obama, perhaps eloquence of speech no longer is and never was the answer. Perhaps, Mr. Obama, it is now time for eloquence of action.
However, sir, you’ve demonstrated you are incapable of eloquence of action. When the American people elect a Republican to replace Ted Kennedy just to stop you, you bypass the Senate to get what you want. The ends justify the means to you, sir. And, your ends are not justifiable in their own right.
Perhaps, Mr. Obama, you should take a lesson from Richard Nixon and resign the Presidency, effective at noon tomorrow. Fire Biden before you go, though. Speaker Boehner would inherit the White House. Maybe, just maybe, America could be stopped before taking the final plunge.
Fourth quarter GDP reports on Friday, ladies and gentlemen. The UK missed its GDP forecast, and, in fact the UK’s GDP turned negative in the fourth quarter, down 0.5%. Our GDP in fourth quarter 2010 is forecast to be somewhere around 3.2%. A big miss could send the markets plunging. If it turned negative, while not very likely, I‘d say we’re in big trouble sooner than we thought. As long as it comes in above 2%, I wouldn’t panic – at least not yet.
Report Post »chuck
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 9:03amThe BHO was out of his league last night, and it showed! The reason it fell flat is two-fold:
1. The speech was a regurgitation of the last one mostly, and offers nothing more than more spending by gov’t
2. Everybody in that hall knows there is not much that can be done now to avoid sovereign debt default, the POTUS included, it sucked the energy right out of the room.
Get prepared for a rough ride people, just wait until they start really cutting spending and when stagflation hits us all! Then pray hard for some kind of miracle…
Report Post »taskmaster78
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 9:15amWhy are the commentators sounding so much like they hoped you’d believe them? They are more in bed regardless of what he says. In one breath, we need to freeze spending and in another he’s ready to spend billions. He seems to be without any excitement and doesn’t seem to care about his initiatives.
Report Post »bread and circuses
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 9:44amI found o-bow-ma’s reference to sputnik rather funny, the FIRST sputnik crashed and burnt. That is exactly what our TOTUS is doing to the good old USA
Report Post »JoeBtfsplk
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 10:12amSoros’s puppet has spoken.
As for high speed rail – - – yeah I‘ve got to get somewhere fast on a train to spend all the money I don’t have.
Report Post »exdem
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 10:23amIt depends on what the meaning of “is” is. The double talking, spinning, lying Progressives. They own our government and our media, but “We the People” are going to win it back. Good trumps evil everytime.
Report Post »TrishaL
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 10:11pmPretty funny when he was talking about infrastructure crumbling. What about the first stimulus and the shovel ready jobs. He needs to get a new routine, we’ve heard all of this before. High speed rail? for what purpose? America isn’t working. So people are going to build high speed rail for what purpose???? That really makes me wonder. Change is to destroy what america is now and build something different that we will not recognise so they can start over with the government they want. It looks like the administration wants high speed rail and not air travel, so destroy air travel by annoying passengers with these mindless searches to force people to say “yes we need to get away from air travel, we Need high speed rail”.
Report Post »One1
Posted on January 27, 2011 at 1:51amI use to think he was being deceitful too. What make him extremely dangerous is, he really believes what he is saying.
Report Post »GeauxAlready
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:03amNo thrill up the leg this time. The speach was full of empty promises and a lot of crap thats been trotted out over and over………………….
Report Post »Independent Tess
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:07amI’ve heard it all before….and seen no action at all.
Report Post »Oh, I have grown so cynical.
Gonzo
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 10:52amIt’s hard not to Tess.
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:12amI didn’t listen to the speech (his voice nauseates me and I had a nice dinner last night) but he has crammed so much down people’s throats, promised so much that he hasn’t delivered, all he has left is soft rhetoric in order to sooth people back to sleep so he can do more damage. Hopefully this just lit a fire under the GOP and they will get back to the work of the people with renewed enthusiasm this morning. As for MSNBC, it’s nice they were lulled to sleep (Obama has that hypnotic power over them) but most are too intellectually challanged to have a real debate about the state of the union anyway.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 9:01amBefore I really even knew who he was, during the 2007 primaries when I’d see him speak in debates he struck me as…demonic looking. He didn’t say anything “evil” per se in the debates, it was just his look, almost like he has some vaguely perceptible aura around him that my eyes can just barely make out.
Report Post »chuck
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 9:13amMost socialists have dead eyes…the spark of life has left them, their ways are a cancer, and it shows!
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