State of the Union Addresses

[Ken]

I generally avoid the State of the Union. Most of the time, it's some version of a campaign speech, especially during an election year. I can't think of the last time that a speech was unifying or transcendened the moment.

Do you think it's always been this way, or has it devolved? - at least in our lifetimes (and that limited perspective). I don't know if I've ever watched a full one recently and nor have I watched or listened to older ones before my life time.(40-50+ yrs)

I haven't watched enough of these to really know, but I imagine that as the politics of the US have degraded, so have the speeches as well. I can't imagine that heckling the president during the SOTU would have been accepted at one point.

Politico did some research and found instances of this sort of bad behavior going all the way back to the 1970s when members heckled or walked out on Ford after he had pardoned Nixon. There was heckling or shouting again during one of George W Bush's speeches about privatizing social security and then it became much more common under Obama until now it just seems like it is the accepted thing. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... n-00145473

I'm not actually sure it is a bad thing. The president has the microphone and Congress does not so they aren't going to drown him out. It makes it a bit more like the British House of Commons where there is constant back and forth during speeches, some of it very humorous and clever. Our leaders should be smart enough to roll with the punches and answer back smartly without 5 speech writers carefully editing and curating every word for them.

It is also about the only point in the speech where you actually see any spontaneous reaction from the president instead of just reading from a teleprompter.

[Jazman]

Do you think it's always been this way, or has it devolved? - at least in our lifetimes (and that limited perspective). I don't know if I've ever watched a full one recently and nor have I watched or listened to older ones before my life time.(40-50+ yrs)

I haven't watched enough of these to really know, but I imagine that as the politics of the US have degraded, so have the speeches as well. I can't imagine that heckling the president during the SOTU would have been accepted at one point.

Politico did some research and found instances of this sort of bad behavior going all the way back to the 1970s when members heckled or walked out on Ford after he had pardoned Nixon. There was heckling or shouting again during one of George W Bush's speeches about privatizing social security and then it became much more common under Obama until now it just seems like it is the accepted thing. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... n-00145473

I'm not actually sure it is a bad thing. The president has the microphone and Congress does not so they aren't going to drown him out. It makes it a bit more like the British House of Commons where there is constant back and forth during speeches, some of it very humorous and clever. Our leaders should be smart enough to roll with the punches and answer back smartly without 5 speech writers carefully editing and curating every word for them.

It is also about the only point in the speech where you actually see any spontaneous reaction from the president instead of just reading from a teleprompter.

I can see that point... I do enjoy the UK House of Commons. And if the trend is going that way, then both sides need to learn to roll with it. At present I see one side enjoys dishing it out, but is pretty thin-skinned when it comes to receiving like treatment. I'm not interested in that kind of immaturity.

[Szdfan]

I haven't watched enough of these to really know, but I imagine that as the politics of the US have degraded, so have the speeches as well. I can't imagine that heckling the president during the SOTU would have been accepted at one point.

Politico did some research and found instances of this sort of bad behavior going all the way back to the 1970s when members heckled or walked out on Ford after he had pardoned Nixon. There was heckling or shouting again during one of George W Bush's speeches about privatizing social security and then it became much more common under Obama until now it just seems like it is the accepted thing. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... n-00145473

I'm not actually sure it is a bad thing. The president has the microphone and Congress does not so they aren't going to drown him out. It makes it a bit more like the British House of Commons where there is constant back and forth during speeches, some of it very humorous and clever. Our leaders should be smart enough to roll with the punches and answer back smartly without 5 speech writers carefully editing and curating every word for them.

It is also about the only point in the speech where you actually see any spontaneous reaction from the president instead of just reading from a teleprompter.

I can see that point... I do enjoy the UK House of Commons. And if the trend is going that way, then both sides need to learn to roll with it. At present I see one side enjoys dishing it out, but is pretty thin-skinned when it comes to receiving like treatment. I'm not interested in that kind of immaturity.

It wouldn't bother me so much that politicians yell and heckle each other if it still seemed like Congress was able to compromise and get things done. In this context, it just seems a sign of its dysfunction.