The Real SOTU As Seen from Downrange

As I'm sure all of you are aware, last night was the annual State Of The Union Address by the Buffoon In Chief. I wish I could tell you that I watched it, but the truth is I didn't; the mere sound of NObama's voice makes me want to rip my ears off, so I didn't watch it. I did what I always do - I read the transcript instead. Takes less time, gives me a chance to look at things two or three times to make sure I understand it, and spares me the wasting of 60+ minutes of my life that I'll never get back.

To make a long story short, I'm not impressed. This year's speech was just more flowerly rhetoric, more empty promises (although the promises are smaller this year as compared to last year), more over-inflation of minor accomplishments, more criticism of the Republicans in Congress resulting in more division, and nothing positive of any real substance or meaning.

But it was also laced with a couple of veiled threats, one of which the GOP jumped on right away and one which I'm not sure that most folks recognized. I'll get to those in a minute; right now, here's the real State Of The Union as I see it from Downrange.

Our nation is more divided along political lines than ever, and the faith of the American people in the Federal government is at an all-time low. Our President has done nothing over the course of the past five years to resolve this; rather, he has contributed to the divisiveness that has frozen the Congress into a stalemate by laying the blame for all ills and failings of both Congress and his administration squarely in the laps of the Republicans. He holds both himself and the Democrats in Congress blameless for the quagmire that our Congress has become. He has failed us as a leader in every way, shape and form, and the speech he gave last night in which he makes yet more empty promises and speaks in flowery terms about the "progress" the nation has made under his insightful leadership is both a joke and insulting to anyone with half an ounce of common sense. From his speech last night:

"The lowest unemployment rate in over five years."

Sounds good, until you realize that the unemployment rate was 7.8% when he took office, rose to 10.0% under his "leadership," and didn't drop below 7.0% until last month. And all this after he vowed that under his leadership, unemployment wouldn't top 8%.

"And for the first time in over a decade, business leaders around the world have declared that China is no longer the world's number one place to invest; America is."

Was this before or after American's credit rating got downgraded for the first time in the nation's history?

"It's not just oil and natural gas production that's booming; we're becoming a global leader in solar, too. Every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar, every panel pounded into place by a worker whose job cannot be outsourced. Let's continue that progress with a smarter tax policy that stops giving $4 billion a year to fossil fuel industries that don't need it, so we can invest more in fuels of the future that do."

Does the name, "Solyndra" sound familiar to you, Mr. President? You know, that company you gave billions of dollars to, the one who got that money after contributing to your campaign fund, the company that went bankrupt two years ago? Does that rign a bell? And how about the Keystone Pipeline? Have you forgotten how you killed the funding for that one? Or is that a figment of my imagination?

"Finally, if we're serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, law enforcement -- and fix our broken immigration system. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have acted. And I know that members of both parties in the House want to do the same. Independent economists say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next two decades. And for good reason: When people come here to fulfill their dreams -- to study, invent, contribute to our culture -- they make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everybody. So let's get immigration reform done this year. Let's get it done. It's time."

From where I stand, the only thing that's broken about our immigration system is that you still haven't secured our borders to stem the flow of illegal immigrants who steal jobs from Americans and then don't pay taxes, and the only people who think the immigration system is broken are the illegals who don't want to go through the process legally. We have a process in place, the process works, but you have to actually use it to see that. The illegals in our country don't want to do that; they'd rather have you and the liberals in Congress give them without working for it what others have gained by working for it. They want something for nothing, and they're counting on you to give it to them.

"I'm also convinced we can help Americans return to the workforce faster by reforming unemployment insurance so that it's more effective in today's economy. But first, this Congress needs to restore the unemployment insurance you just let expire for 1.6 million people."

Now if you want to talk about a process that's broken, this is it. Our unemployment process allows the shiftless, unmotivated, unwilling, and lazy to take advantage of a system that will sustain and promote their useless way of life by means of taxpayer-funded handouts. Sure, there are people in our nation who genuinely need and deserve this program, but for every one of them that fit that category there are three that are taking advantage of it. THIS is the process you should be concentrating on fixing, not immigration.

"Already, because of the Affordable Care Act, more than 3 million Americans under age 26 have gained coverage under their parents' plans. More than 9 million Americans have signed up for private health insurance or Medicaid coverage. Nine million."

Uh, no. Technically, the numbers do add up to 9 million, but the real truth is that only 3 million have signed up for NObamacare, and the other 6 million have signed up for Medicaid. A little creative juggling of numbers to over-inflate the truth. But wait, does this sound familiar: "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it." You told us this three years ago, and you lied to us just like the senator from South Carolina proclaimed. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have had their insurance cancelled because it's no longer available under your "Affordable" Care Act. Doctors that were available to treat special-needs patients are no longer available because they're not on the list provided by the "Affordable" Care Act. Programs that were being used to help treat cancer are no longer available because they're not offered under the "Affordable" Care Act; one of our own congressmen just found this out for himself when the program to treat his cancer got cancelled - all due to your "Affordable" Care Act. The bottom line is that America can't afford your health care program.

"Citizenship demands a sense of common purpose; participation in the hard work of self-government; an obligation to serve our communities. And I know this chamber agrees that few Americans give more to their country than our diplomats and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces."

Really? So would you please explain to us why you signed a bill last month that only gave our Armed Forces a meager 1% pay raise, and why you signed into law a budget that slashed the medical benefits of our retirmed Armed Forces members? We give 20+ years of our life for 50% of our pay, while you and the members of Congress can retire with full benefits after only 2 years of service. If you want to talk about a wage inequality, look no further.

Earlier I mentioned a couple of veiled threats that NObama made and that I'd mention them in a minute; well, it's time, and here they are. I'll start off with the one that the GOP jumped on right away.

"But America does not stand still -- and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that's what I'm going to do."

In other words, NObama is telling us that he's going to rule by executive order and bypass Congress at every opportunity. Whatever he wants to do, he's going to find a way to slap the label of "expanding opportunity for more American families" on it and then sign an Executive Order, bypassing Congress. This is the exact thing our Constitution is designed to prevent, and the GOP has already said publicly that if he does this he's going to "run into a brick wall." You have to keep in mind that our President is the same one who recently said, "It seems our Founding Fathers designed a system that is a little harder to change than I'd like." That's the whole point, and the GOP is going to remind you of it at every turn.

Now for the one veiled threat that I haven't heard anyone talk about. Here it is:

"Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day. I've seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, police officers all over this country who say "we are not afraid." And I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, in our shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook."

In plain English, the NObama Administration's war on the Second Amendment is about to kick into high gear. The Buffoon In Chief has just declared that he will bypass Congress in order to assault our Second Amendment rights by means of the Executive Order. If any of you thought that the fight over our Second Amendment rights was over, I have some very bad news for you: it's only just begun. If you support the Second Amendment but are not a member of the NRA, now is the time to join.

Contrary to what NObama wants me to believe, I don't believe that America is a better place in any way due to his administration. He has done more harm than good and intends to do yet more. I believe him to be the biggest threat to the American way of life that this country has ever faced, and I thank God that he's not eligible for a third term. I am genuinely afraid for the future of our great nation, but I vow to do my part to protect and defend our nation, the Constitution, and our way of life.

I'm a patriot, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

IHC