"Monkey-Like" Congressional Reaction
During Presidents' State of the Union Speech

Watching the conduct of members of Congress during presidents state-of-the-union addresses was like watching monkeys repeatedly jumping for thrown peanuts: the constant wild clapping and frequent standing by the full membership of the House and Senate following almost every sentence uttered by the president. That reaction during the last few state of the union addresses was the most ridiculous reaction this writer had ever witnessed.

Were it the performance of illiterate street people reacting to being told, in each sentence, that each of them would receive a huge financial payment, the repeated wild clapping and jumping to their feet that would be understandable if done by monkeys jumping for peanuts thrown at them. But following every sentence uttered by the president was hardly the reation of intelligent people.

President Barack Obama' prepared speech followed a sound-good and generally meaningless rhetoric, like his predecessor, President George H. Bush (Jr.):

Refer to the terrorists that policies of U.S. politicians generated, "We will defeat you, ... We will not relent,  we will not waver, and we will defeat you," similar to the Rhetoric President Bush repeatedly stated. He said something similar the night he was elected on November 4, 2008: "To those who would tear this world down, we will defeat you."

"We will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat you." In January 2009 Obama stated: "You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. In November 2008, the night he was elected, he stated, "To those who would tear this world down, we will defeat you."

Referring to Kennedy's statements relating to the Soviet Union's Sputnik, "This is our generation."  "We had no idea how we would beat them to the moon. The science wasn't there yet. NASA didn't even exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation and created new  industries and millions of new jobs."

"Winning the future" term was used over a dozen  times during his speech. And each time the several hundred members of Congress wildly clapped and usually rose to their feet, something like starving monkeys jumping to catch peanuts thrown to them.

The speech was mostly a repeat of platitudes to placate a uncritical and not-too-well-informed public.

President Obama's conduct shows he is not the liar that his predecessor in the White House was. But his limited experience, and some of his decisions, leaves much to be desired.