Watch at least 30 minutes of the 2014 State of the Union. After it is done, go to an alternate media. Watch or read the perspective presented.
Compare and Contrast: tell us what source you used (i.e., Salon.com) and how it matches to what you watched. Did it alter your perspective? 100 words or more.
DUE NOON, FEB. 18.
Compare and Contrast: tell us what source you used (i.e., Salon.com) and how it matches to what you watched. Did it alter your perspective? 100 words or more.
DUE NOON, FEB. 18.
I watched the first 30 minutes of the speech without commentary so that I could have my own feel for the speech. For the most part, it seems to me like the State of the Union address stays the same from year to year, with minor tweaks to fit the current political climates. After watching the first 30 minutes, I went to Salon.com to see how they analyzed and reported on the SOTU.
ReplyDeleteThe article I came across mocked the Conservative reaction to the speech by showing several screenshots of tweets sent by other pundits and politicians. An article written by Salon's Joan Walsh expressed disappointment in the speech but focused primarily on the Republican response to it. An article written by Brian Beutler expressed approval of the speech but also spent considerable time disparaging the Republican response.
I thought Salon.com gave a fair recap of the SOTU (with expected political bias) based upon what I saw of the speech. However, it also seems as though they spent more time picking apart the Republican response than promoting the President's message, which I found to be interesting.
I watched the first thirty minutes of the 2014 State of the Union on YouTube. Being honest, I did not have any reaction to what the president Obama said since I am not American, I am Japanese and interested in Japanese political more than American. However, thanks to my position, I thought I could watch his statement objectively. And then I went to Salon.com, and read an article about SOTU. The article that I read focused on the part of economy. From the one of the Japanese point of view, President Obama’s statement on the economy was interesting for me as Japan heavily depends on American economy. Compare to his idea and Salon’s perspective, I thought Salon’s analyzing is a little bit exaggerated. It is because I can see them objectively, my idea was not influenced by Salon’s article.
ReplyDeleteNicely done. It's interesting to read what someone who is not American says about our country and its leaders.
DeleteI watched the first 30 minutes and I feel no connection with anything that Obama is saying. I feel like they try to keep with tradition and nothing really is addressed or talked about that is new. I think they are kind of beating a dead horse sometimes and they draw it out. I can only listen to him for about 5 minutes. And this is the reason that so many put it on other stations because no one wants to watch.
ReplyDeleteI looked at what it did for women on Salon.com and it had violence against women, poverty issues, as well as equal pay. How long have we been talking about equal pay for women? This is has been an issue and will continue until someone stops just talking and starts actually acting and practicing what they preach. Sorry off my soap box now.
I watched the first thirty minutes of the State of the Union Address. I watched it without commentary to get an unbiased view and took notes on my observations. Like all State of the Union Addresses I’ve watched in years prior, I felt it was a somewhat romanticized view of our country’s reality with inspirational quotes sprinkled in here and there. It was a great delivery from Obama in his signature smooth speaking style. I went to cnn.com to get there view on the address. The article on the address I read seemed to lean a bit left, but was overall objective. Not surprisingly, the article praised Obama for his oratorical skill –something even the most devout Republicans can’t ignore. However, the article calls the president’s desire to make this year a “year of action” optimistic seeing as though he’s facing a forty-three percent approval rate, the second half of his second term in office, and a Republican dominated House of Representatives.
ReplyDeleteSince his first term, President Barack Obama has been committed to rebuilding America. After two terms, what change has there really been? Obamacare “available” to everyone is too expensive and not affordable for everyone. He stated, “Let’s make this a year of action…to focus on their hopes and aspirations.” Honestly he’s been saying this since year one of his presidency with not much to show in my opinion. I feel as if he is telling us what we already know about low-job rates, about people without jobs, and about wanting to raise the minimum wage. He’s giving more proposals that will probably lack in the following months. He’s full of promises. His ideas are good and positive, but actions speak louder than words. The First Lady seems to have more progress than President Obama. He’s goes on to promise the withdrawal of American troops in Afghanistan saying the war is almost over. Again, he’s been promising this since first term. Will he finally be able to make this happen before leaving office? I used The New York times as an alternative perspective to Obama’s SOTU 2014 address and I have to agree with them. Obama continues to change his mind and his actions over the course of his presidency, but overall has he accomplished much? Are American’s truly satisfied?
ReplyDeleteI, too, watched the SOTU first without commentary. A number of phrases caught my attention, particularly in regards to the number of American's that have signed up for the private healthcare - or "Obamacare". As a casual listener, which is pointed out on Politico.com, I certainly did misconstrue this to mean that 9 million Americans NOW have insurance. In reality, as the site points out, the 9 million number is simply the number of individuals who have enrolled - NOT an indication of Americans who now have insurance or did not have it before. Another example of the "casual listener" status playing false on my ears was the President's claim that, according to "business leaders", we are back on top as the #1 country to invest with. But, again, as Politico.com points out - this is based on one survey that placed the U.S. in the number one spot, contrasted with every other major survey that places the country as low as #14, #22, etc.
ReplyDeleteI watched the state of the union on YouTube. I chose to compare and contrast it to an article in World magazine. While the address mentioned many things that President Obama felt were positive aspects and he mentioned taking whatever steps it took to expand American opportunities. President Obama made things sound very positive and affirmed that new jobs were being created and that healthcare was coming along well. However; the address compared to the article I read was very different. The article was rather negative stating that while President Obama said that common people are what make America strong he later stated that he would ignore the voice of those strong Americans by using executive orders if congress did not pass enough bills. I would say that it did alter my perspective a little bit, I hadn’t really noticed some of the things that the article pointed out right away. It is hard to get past the fluff in the speech and try to figure out what President Obama is actually saying.
ReplyDeleteHaving watched the address without the commentary first gave me a better idea of the context of what the president was saying about the job market expanding, the government listening to the people, healthcare, and the oil market. I then read an analysis from the Washington Post and they brought up many things that were missing in comparison to the last SOTU address. Most political speeches are made to sound pretty and not say much. This one was no exception. It seemed to be more of a "look at the one or two things that kinda got done!" instead of "Here's what happened and here's how we can fix it."
ReplyDeleteI watched the first 30 minutes of the State of the Union and it honestly had no affect on my opinion with anything. I feel as though every year, the only aspect changed about it is the person speaking. Every year, nothing is really changed about what it is said and it is the same inspirational speaking over and over again. Salon.com did not alter my perspective much. It speaks about issues against women such as poverty and unequal pay which are ongoing issues that seem as though they will continue. Going back to the State of the Union, from what Obama has said, not much as has changed. He has been in office two terms and yet everything seems as though it is the same.
ReplyDeleteI feel like he has tried to give people the opportunity for healthcare which can be good, but other than that I havent seen much of a change. I do believe Obama is trying and is a good man, maybe just not the best president for us now. It didnt really change my perspective because I have been accustomed to my feelings for a while now and I think that because of my opinions that I've had for so long it would take something huge to change my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAs I watched the State of the Union address from Obama, I noticed he seemed just as smooth as he always does giving a speech. So anything that comes out of his mouth sounds good. However, that doesn't change the fact that I noticed a recurring theme throughout his speech. From what I gathered and a CNN article to compare, I noticed Obama was basically trying to say that he wants the government to work on behalf of all Americans in 2014, EVEN if Congress refused to do so. It seemed like the CNN article was to angle the fact that Obama thinks he can be his own government when others don't agree with him. In this case it would be Congress.
ReplyDeleteI obviously went back and watched the SOTU14 and even read the transcript. For laughs and giggles, I even compared it to FOX news' coverage. I have to say this first though, every SOTU14 has never been anything that ever truly informs me. Obama is just another puppet 1%s string out for another show and tell. The SOTU address has always been a scripted, sugar-coated summary of what's up with our nation. Nothing is ever really proposed and executed when issues are called out and only a handful of things are deemed as positive via skewed statistics. Therefore, every time I watch of SOTU I almost pray that one president will go against the mold and show me that our government isn't a polished gang that compresses its nation. That's why i chose to use FOX news as my contrast. I'm not even in the section of those right-winged losers at FOX but i knew they would tear Obama to pieces. I wanted to see if they would honestly attack the speaker or the state of the union. Of course they chose to behead the king of the lefties, so they think. Regardless, they did make a point even though it was misconstrued, that Obama wants to override the government by using a lot of executive lead way. I find this interesting because republicans own the house which would override anything the president would even want to do even if he tried to use his executive powers. Really though, the SOTU is simply irrelevant to me. It's like trying to hear a sermon after you realize you were left behind during the rapture.
ReplyDeleteObama, as every President before him, mentioned all the positives and all the changes that he is making to benefit the country. Of course he isn't going to bring up the things that he mentioned before that hasn't been completed or wasn't able to be completed. The Washington Post addressed these things. President Obama is a very good public speaker and sounds so reassuring in his message but at the same time, he leaves out things that would make him sound faulty or unassuring. The normal SOTU is very much different in that it just shows what he said, and what he said is not always the whole story but maybe just a chapter from that story. An alternate media will bring to focus things that are not mentioned by Mr. President.
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