MSNBC’s Reaction To Netanyahu’s ‘State Of The Union Address’

Is it acceptable for a foreign leader to give a “State of the Union”-style speech to the U.S. government? Would it be okay if Vladimir Putin did the same?

TYT Network discusses MSNBC’s reaction to the recent speech given by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to both houses of the United States Congress. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was less than pleased.

Could Netanyahu’s speech have been an attempt to de-rail the President’s current P5+1 talks with Iran over its nuclear program?

Interestingly, Senate Republican leaders had been planning to take a bill next week that would have given Congress an up-or-down vote on any agreement international negotiators make with Iran.

CNN: “Senate Republican leaders ditched plans Thursday to take up a bill next week that would have given Congress an up-or-down vote on any agreement international negotiators — led by the United States — make with Iran on its nuclear program, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN.

“The move comes after Democrats, who were upset GOP leaders decided to fast-track the legislation, threatened to block taking up the bill. Democrats fear immediate consideration could disrupt the sensitive talks with Iran that face an important March 24 deadline.”

The National Review writes about Matthews: “He saw the speech as an attempt to sabotage and undermine the nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and it’s allies and Iran. Matthews has been quoted as saying, ‘This man, from a foreign government, walked into the United States legislative chamber and tried to take over U.S. foreign policy.'”

TYT Network

Updated post

Did President Obama Send Out Muslim Subliminal Messages During The State Of The Union?

Right-wing conservative talker Sandy Rios says Obama was sending secret Muslim messages in his State of the Union address.

Rios is a Fox News contributor and Vice President of Family PAC Federal, a PAC supporting ultra-conservative candidates like Michele Bachmann, Marco Rubio, Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn.

Majority Report

MSNBC: Survey Of People’s Reactions To State Of The Union

MSNBC

Steve Kornacki discusses the results of an MSNBC survey conducted after President Obama’s State of the Union address.

Generally, most people gave the president a favorable rating.

TYT Network’s View Of The State Of The Union

TYT Network

Cenk Uygur of TYT Network gives his reaction to the State of the Union adress.

What did the president do well and what needed improvement?

Joni Ernst Family Farm Took $460,000 In Subsidies

Secular Talk

Joni Ernst’s family farm benefited from substantial farm subsidies. Ernst’s family farm in Red Oak, Iowa received over $460,000 in farm subsidies between 1995 and 2006. Family members received conservation payments, commodity subsidies, and agricultural aid. (The District Sentinel)

More on the Joni Ernst family farm here.

Think Progress: Official Republican Website Posts Doctored Version Of State Of The Union

According to ThinkProgress, the official website for John Boehner and the House Republicans posted a YouTube version of President Obama’s State of the Union address that cuts out comments where the President was critical of Republican rhetoric on climate change.

In the website’s “enhanced webcast” of the State of the Union speech, comments criticizing Republicans for saying they are “not scientists” when it comes to climate change are erased.

At the 43:25 minute mark, President Obama is supposed to say “I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they’re not scientists; that we don’t have enough information to act. Well, I’m not a scientist, either. But you know what — I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and NOAA, and at our major universities. The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe.”

However, that entire section is skipped. Obama’s comments resume with “…(C)limate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it.”

The 43:25 minute mark is not the only place where the video is incomplete. At the 44:51 minute mark, a section is missing where Obama spoke of respecting “human dignity,” prohibiting torture, and speaking out against anti-Semitism.

The section that is missing reads as follows: “As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I’ve prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained. It’s why we speak out against the deplorable anti-Semitism that has resurfaced in certain parts of the world.”

A spokesperson for House Speaker John Boehner’s office did not immediately respond to ThinkProgress’ request for comment on whether the missing information was intentional or not.

State Of The Union: Spanish Translation Of Response Different Than English

Last night, Freshman right-wing Senator Joni Ernst gave the official Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address. Republican Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) was supposed to deliver the speech in Spanish.

In theory, this was supposed to be simple. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) would give her GOP response to President Obama’s speech, while Rep Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) would deliver an identical speech in Spanish.

However, according to MSNBC, the two speeches were reportedly not exactly the same. The difference centered around immigration reform.

Joni Ernst is a fierce opponent of immigration reform, while the Florida Republican has actually criticized his party for blocking bipartisan immigration solutions.

Politico was one of many outlets to notice what happened:

“Republicans sent mixed signals on immigration in their two official rebuttals to President Obama Tuesday night: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst’s rebuttal made no mention of the topic, but the Spanish-language version of the rebuttal, delivered by Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, said Republicans wanted to work with Obama to fix the immigration system.

“‘We should also work through the appropriate channels to create permanent solutions for our immigration system, to secure our borders, modernize legal immigration, and strengthen our economy,’ said Curbelo in Spanish. ‘In the past, the president has expressed support for ideas like these. Now we ask him to cooperate with us to get it done.’”

So Curbelo, while speaking Spanish, said they should work to create solutions for immigration reform, but Joni Ernst – in the English speech – didn’t mention it.

According to MSNBC, if Republican officials had said the two lawmakers intended to give different speeches, this might not be an issue, but they actually said the opposite.

House Republicans specifically told several news outlets that Curbelo would deliver “the Spanish-Language translated address of Sen. Joni Ernst response.”

He’d have to change personal details such as his own name, but otherwise, it was supposed to be the same speech.

Senator Joni Ernst To Give Response To State Of The Union

Freshman Republican Senator from Iowa Joni Ernst is supposed to give the response to the State of the Union address tonight.

Ernst ran as the far-right Tea Party candidate.

Kyle Kulinski

Is Hillary The Target Of State Of The Union?

Why would the president try to enact legislation on free community college, grants to selected middle-income households, and tax increases on upper-income earners?

The Atlantic believes that the reason Obama is taking on these challenges is to box in his presumptive successor.

The Atlantic: “Every time the president advances a concept that thrills his party’s liberal base, he creates a dilemma for Hillary Clinton. Does she agree or not?” There is a smaller scope on how she can define herself.

Hillary Clinton comes from the more centrist business wing of the Democratic Party.

The Atlantic: “Whatever her own personal views—still an elusive quantum after all these years in public life—she is identified in the public mind with her husband’s record, her husband’s appointees, and her husband’s donors. Not just in the public mind, but seemingly in the president’s mind, too.

“So as the clock runs down on his administration, he seems determined to set the post-Obama Democratic Party on a more leftward course…”

Petty: Some Republicans Push To Block President From Speaking At State Of The Union Address

The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda (the office of the President does not have Constitutional power to enact legislation, only Congress can do this legally) and national priorities to Congress.

Modeled after the monarch’s Speech from the Throne during the State Opening of Parliament in the United Kingdom, such a report is required by the United States Constitution. The Constitution does not require that the report take the form of a speech, although virtually every president since Woodrow Wilson has made the State of the Union report in the form of a speech delivered personally before a joint session of Congress. By tradition, the President makes this report annually, even though the clause “from time to time” leaves the matter open to interpretation.

Since the address is made in the Capitol and during a joint session of Congress, the President must first be invited by Congress to both enter the House of Representatives Chamber and then actually address the joint session. This invitation is customary in form as the speech is now a traditional part of the American political and national schedule.

https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/State_of_the_Union_Address.html
David Pakman video.