President Barack Obama’s State of the Union (SOTU) speech was pretty good in my opinion. What did you think? According to the Washington Post, the President’s speech was 6,419 words, and it lasted about an hour.
At the beginning, everyone in the House chambers seemed so friendly. During the speech Speaker of the House John Boehner seemed unhappy to be there. He could not even stand when the President recognized Desiline Victor who at 102 years old stood in line for hours to vote.
And he is the Speaker of the House…
Obama’s speech touched on the subjects that everyone pretty much thought he would talk about (Afghanistan, immigration, jobs, and the economy). He did push for an increase in the minimum wage to $9.00 and he also talked about making it easier to vote.
Obama did briefly mention nuclear weapons saying, “We’ll engage Russia to seek further reductions in our nuclear arsenals.” On Monday White House Press Secretary Jay Carney had said Obama’s “commitment to arms control, and nuclear reduction is well-known, but I do not anticipate a new announcement in the State of the Union address.”
So while the President did not say, “We’ll cut 200 more nukes” he did give missile base supporters a little something to be alarmed about. Those alarms were covered by the Great Falls Tribune on Wednesday. The Montana Congressional delegation’s failure to obtain a seat on a military/defense committee means about all they can do is send letters and request meetings.