Obama should give an honest assessment of our condition in his State of the Union Address

[ThomWV]

It is time to stop the happy-horseshit. The nation needs an honest and sober assessment of where we stand and what it will take to get us back to health. It needs to be all inclusive. We do not need 20 minutes of standing ovation, we do not need 40 applause lines, we do not need 25 versions of God Bless America. We need brutal honesty. Nothing else will do.

[MadMaddie]

1. I agree

But has never said it's rosey....he has hinted that the country is in trouble

[Missy Vixen]

2. Thom

People would be panicking and in the streets if he was truthful about the country's economic condition right now. It wouldn't be a great thing, IMHO.

I had a dream a few years ago that John Kerry won the Presidency and started off his initial address to the American people with, "We are bankrupt." If we're not, we're well on our way.

I want PE Obama to be truthful, but right now, he has to come out there and give the updated version of "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". It's his job to inspire and lead, and if there was a time in our country we need a leader, it's right now.

Julie

[yy4me]

3. Agree, we need to know exactly how bad things are so that we

may understand the complexities and problems he faces. We all know he will need a ton of time and energy, what we need to understand is what the prior 8 years have done to us. Specifics if he has them, the grim truth so that we can face what we know will be rough going.

No silver linings, no glory, just the facts.

[notesdev]

4. But....

you're not allowed to say "we're fucked" on TV

[liberalmuse]

5. I suspect he will.

I thought things would get bad under Bush, but the reality of it truly sucks worse than my imagination could have fathomed.

[provis99]

6. it made me vomit

every time Bush said "the state of our union is strong" in his ridiculous addresses. That stupid line is as vacuous and meaningless a phrase can be, and you can bet that Obama will say "the state of our union is strong" anyways.

It would be nice to see a politician give us the straight dope for once, but I don't hold out hope.

[laconicsax]

7. He'll say "The state of the union is hopeful." n/t

[deaniac21]

8. Duh.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

9. Is he allowed to say, "The state of our Union is... OMGWTF!!!11!"

Well, I agree with you but I don't see it happening. There's nothing Americans hate more than hard truths when it comes to political rhetoric.

[bertman]

10. I'd love to hear him say "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have been Bush-fucking-whacked

back to the Stone Age, and there isn't really shit I can do about it." How's that for honesty?

[HamdenRice]

11. And he needs to allocate blame: Bush fucked up this country by....

If he doesn't do this, then the coming misery will be blamed on Obama. He needs to educate the public about how bad things are, how Bush fucked things up, and how long it will take to undo the damage.

Supposedly presidents are not supposed to blame past presidents -- although Bush outrageously had no problem doing it viz Clinton.

[Flabbergasted]

12. It's not always the best strategy in leadership to focus on everything that is going wrong

I think he'll balance honesty with vision.

[arcadian]

13. No, you will hear words like "strong", "determined" and "resolute".

[4_TN_TITANS]

14. Hear, hear!

Much better to over-stress the difficulties and have them turn out not so bad versus understating them and looking like an ingnorant ass.

[Laelth]

15. That would be a welcome change. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth