Comments on: My Take on SOTU

By: Justin Jones

Justin Jones — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:13:00 +0000

Jon, good to hear from you, man–especially when you're so generous towardmy writing. For the record, I wasn't really trying to be objective, but then again neither was I trying to be smug. I think I may have tried to put toomany different ideas into a single post and undercut the efficacy of thewhole. Thanks for the feedback. Anyway, I'm rather enjoying life now andhope you are too. Sorry I can't actually get onto Facebook to connect more directly, but I'll take what I can get.

By: Katie-Jon Jones

Katie-Jon Jones — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:11:00 +0000

I have to agree slightly with jessica here. Although it was a very well written argument it left me with the same feeling you got from the president. A bit pretentious and smug. The annoyance you got from the president seemed to cloud the overall argument. If the article was from an unbiased point of view on Obama's speech then I'm afraid it failed. The theme seemed to be highlighted by resentment. However, it becomes much more effective if it is meant to be for a target audience. I agree with many of your points and disagree with a few others. I will not break down each one because I am not interested in debating politics. I rather comment on the writing which was superb. I am jealous and you may sense hints of resentment in my response. Ha ha. I hope all is well with you Justin. I look forward to reading more of your posts. Take care,-Jon

By: Justin Jones

Justin Jones — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:08:00 +0000

I agree that my comments were less than fully argued. That was intentional, if unwise, in order to keep it a single post instead of a series. This wasn't my attempt to argue politics; it was just a string of reactions, more or less as they happened. Hence the mixing of minor observations with nods to substantive criticisms and the forgoing of a unifying thesis. And a lot of those observations occurred in the context of an ongoing internal critique of current politics. I'd love to discuss those critiques, but I don't think either of is looking for that here.And if you stream the wedding, I'll not only watch, I'll dress up and propose a toast!

By: Jessica Lynne Mundt

Jessica Lynne Mundt — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:12:00 +0000

Oh, believe me, I rarely fully support any presidential policies and Obama is no an exception to that. So, I don't feel inclined to jump all over people simply for disagreeing with or attacking his policies. I just felt like some of your points were a bit of a reach and lacked foundation; I guess they felt like a little of a cheap shot. And when I got to the end, I wasn't sure what the main point I was supposed to walk away with was, except that his speaking style annoys you, which isn't much of an opinion/critique. That's probably why my initial response was focused on defending that issue. _____________By the way, we should stream Josh's wedding live for you! =)

By: Justin Jones

Justin Jones — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:09:00 +0000

@Jess: I'm happy to get your response to a post; I'm disappointed it's thisone. I'm not sure what made my post so distasteful to you. I didn't knockany of his policies, just parts of his speech, so I'm not sure why you thinkI'm blaming him for Washington's problems. Nor do I understand why I'm wrongto get distracted by speaking style that bothers me, just as you're notwrong to point out writing style that bothers you.And on that note, I intentially 'publish' my writing to get feedback thatwill improve it. I'll happily take advice. I'd prefer it was in person too,but as face-to-face time is rather infeasible, I freely accept comments with inherent distance.

By: Jessica Lynne Mundt

Jessica Lynne Mundt — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Yes, it's such a surprise that a broken system which has been allowed to and even encourage to persist for consecutive decades has produced a situation that hasn't been fixed in the first year of a presidential term.Few presidents, let alone world leaders, have been enjoyable to listen to. Despite whether one finds his speaking voice listener-friendly or not should not distract from the massive responsibility and task he has at hand. I find it petty to focus on such issues. Especially when I would use the words "Clunky. Pretentious. Annoying." to describe these notes.And, I say this only because this is a discussion we would have face-to-face. I hope the distance, both in time and miles, doesn't make this sound more severe than it's intended.

By: Justin Jones

Justin Jones — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:08:00 +0000

I agree that my comments were less than fully argued. That was intentional, if unwise, in order to keep it a single post instead of a series. This wasn't my attempt to argue politics; it was just a string of reactions, more or less as they happened. Hence the mixing of minor observations with nods to substantive criticisms and the forgoing of a unifying thesis. And a lot of those observations occurred in the context of an ongoing internal critique of current politics. I'd love to discuss those critiques, but I don't think either of is looking for that here. And if you stream the wedding, I'll not only watch, I'll dress up and propose a toast!

By: Jessica Lynne Mundt

Jessica Lynne Mundt — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:00:00 +0000

Yes, it’s such a surprise that a broken system which has been allowed to and even encourage to persist for consecutive decades has produced a situation that hasn’t been fixed in the first year of a presidential term.
Few presidents, let alone world leaders, have been enjoyable to listen to. Despite whether one finds his speaking voice listener-friendly or not should not distract from the massive responsibility and task he has at hand. I find it petty to focus on such issues. Especially when I would use the words "Clunky. Pretentious. Annoying." to describe these notes.
And, I say this only because this is a discussion we would have face-to-face. I hope the distance, both in time and miles, doesn't make this sound more severe than it's intended.

By: Justin Jones

Justin Jones — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:09:00 +0000

By: justin

justin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:17:50 +0000

@RuthAnn: No, not so much. It’s more the scowl that’s only coaxed off after 10 seconds of standing ovation. Maybe Pres O was right–”she gets nervous”–but that’s still frightening. Though chiseled biceps add force to the scowl, for sure.