RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2012/01/24/state-of-the-union-trivia-and-history

The identity of the first president to deliver a State of the Union address before Congress probably won’t surprise anyone—George Washington. But readers might be interested to learn that the first president to deliver a speech known as a “State of the Union address” was Franklin D. Roosevelt.

First State of the Union speech. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution mandates that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” So it’s no surprise that George Washington delivered the first such address, before a joint session of Congress in New York on January 8, 1790.

Shortest speech. Washington’s first State of the Union was the shortest (by word count), at 1,089 words.
Speech versus written message. Washington and his successor, John Adams, delivered their annual messages to Congress in person. Thomas Jefferson thought that a president lecturing Congress was too “kingly” (like the British “speech from the throne”) and so he opted for annual written messages instead of orally delivered ones. So did the next dozen presidents, until Woodrow Wilson restarted the tradition of orally delivered speeches. The notion of the State of the Union as a speech being the standard didn’t take hold until FDR, however. Over all, 78 out of 222 such annual messages have been delivered in person.

No message at all. Two presidents—William Henry Harrison (1841) and James Garfield (1881) didn’t live long enough to actually deliver an annual message of any sort.

Longest message. Outgoing President Jimmy Carter produced the longest annual message, at a ponderous 33,667 words. Thankfully it was a written, not oral message.

Longest spoken message, in words. Is anyone surprised to hear it’s Bill Clinton? His 1995 address weighed in at 9,190 words. But even that wasn’t the…

Longest spoken message, in minutes. Clinton’s 2000 State of the Union speech, at 1:28:49 was actually longer than the ’95 address (1:24:58), even if the text was shorter (at a mere 7,452 words only his third longest State of the Union).

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/27/bolton-obamas-vision-of-a-little-america/ Obama’s foreign policy based on belief that weaker U.S. is key to peace On the eve of his annual State of the Union address, Barack Obama’s five years as president have brought innumerable national security failures. However, beyond the long, growing list of ideologically driven errors, missed opportunities and generally inattentive stewardship of foreign […]

http://www.nationalreview.com/node/369755/print Right at the very end of President Obama’s State of the Union address, when he started talking about “feet planted firmly on the ground,” I thought he might break out into at least a recitation of the “Soliloquy” from Carousel. And no, I’m not being the least bit disrespectful by noting this, as never has […]

http://www.nationalreview.com/node/369735/print I’ll leave it to others to fact-check the thing. There were more than a few statements that struck me as the sort of thing that wouldn’t bear up well under close scrutiny — particularly on Iran’s nuclear program, women’s pay, and domestic energy — but I’m too tired to do the scrutinizing now. My […]

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/frontpagemag-com/why-obama-wont-call-saeed-abedinis-wife-on-the-glazov-gang/print/

This week’s Glazov Gang was hosted by Ann-Marie Murrell, the National Director of PolitiChicks.tv and joined by Dwight Schultz, a Hollywood Actor, and John Duffy, a Film Producer from the Bronx.

The Gang gathered to discuss The Radicals Who Rule The Democratic Party. The discussion occurred in Part I and analyzed where all the true “liberals” have gone.

The episode also analyzed Michelle Obama Sees Jane Fonda as a Role Model, How Obama Brought the Muslim Brotherhood into the Government, The Mullahs Say They Didn’t Agree to Anything, Why Obama Won’t Call Saeed Abedini’s Wife, and much, much more. Watch both parts of the two-part episode below:

  URL to article: http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/ryan-mauro/obama-blames-u-s-for-extremism/ President Obama’s State of the Union gave us a look at the premises driving his foreign policy. It showed that he believes Islamic terrorists to be driven by frustration over perceived injustices at the hands of the West, rather than an ideology. It is because of this frame of mind […]

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/obamas-tired-song-and-dance/print/

There comes a time in a pop star’s career when the songs that enthralled fall flat, the lyrics that seemed daring grow stale and the atmosphere that tied it all together blows away into thin air. A time when everyone knows the words to all the songs because there are no more new songs, only the old songs that no longer touch the emotions of the audience and the new songs that are poor pastiches of the old.

There comes a time when the fans grow restless and the lead singer whose voice once moved millions begins to sweat, sensing that the music has betrayed him and that the audience hears every false note.

Last night was that moment.

Obama opened his State of the Union address, full of its old familiar riffs on green energy, education, infrastructure and an end to war, with unity. Not a call to unity, but a presumption of unity. With his approval ratings underwater, his sixth State of the Union was about claiming credit and shifting blame.

In the nation’s history, there is simply no precedent for an American president so wantonly ignoring federal law. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304632204579338793559838308?mod=Opinion_newsreel_2 Of all the troubling aspects of the Obama presidency, none is more dangerous than the president’s persistent pattern of lawlessness, his willingness to disregard the written law and instead enforce his own policies via executive fiat. […]

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304691904579349442905233718?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop The State of the Union address in the sixth year of any Presidency is rarely compelling. The White House tries to portray a renewed sense of vigor and perhaps a fresh proposal or two, while the public has begun to tune the familiar man out and Congress has its eyes on November. Perhaps that […]

http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/01/obama_has_made_it_impossible_for_israel_to_strike_iran.html   I called a hardheaded realist, a Harvard trained PhD who has been watching the Middle East professionally for decades, to ask him about Obama’s Iran deal.  This is what he told me.   It’s done.  Iran will get a bomb.   They want a bomb and they will not be denied unless somebody […]