Is the state of the union rehearsed?

I am wondering because Nancy Pelosi was anticipating every standing ovation even jumping the gun on some.I also noticed Biden doing it a couple of times.Now I know they are given a copy of the speech so I'm sure they're aware of what he's going to say but do you think they are ordered to stand and ovate?I don't know? just seems weird.

All of the scheduled addresses are rehearsed prior to the date. Just like a play. Unfortunatley with our government that is what it is. Just a play.
The dems ALWAYS spin things their way, and the Reps ALWAYS spin things the opposite way. It is more or less a waste of time, because there is usually not truth, just spin.

You know, I watched about 30 mins of the speech (it was broadcast at 2pm here in the UK) and the thing which I really found odd was how similar to a game show or chat show host Obama is. This made me really skeptical about pretty much everything he was saying.

Seemed like it was just a big show, a spectacle. The thought then occurs that this may be the only way to get the general population of the states interested. Like they'll only respond to something which has all the hallmarks of the TV shows they love.

Now, I'm certainly not saying that every American citizen is an idiot but It seemed to me that your leaders, at least, view their public as such...

[edit on 28-1-2010 by Chonx]

The speech was likely finalized late in the day and what usually happens is that the White House sends out an advance copy late in the day with an embargo on it until the speech starts.
So everyone in the media has the speech in front of them as he is giving it, and it's likely congress has the same access.
But considering her position she surely had the speech even before the media did.

reply to post by genius/idoit


I would tend to think that these events are rehearsed, at least to some degree.

We rehearse weddings, the military rehearses wars with field exercises, the government rehearses various disaster scenarios, we practice driving before taking our first test for a permit...

It's always good to know if your plan works, or not, before you get on stage in front of an audience or the whole world.



[edit on 28-1-2010 by redoubt]

also is it just my TV or is barry getting oranger?

reply to post by genius/idoit


I don't know about you, but if I were going to give a speech like that, I would certainly rehearse.

Of course the important members such as the Vice President and Speaker of the house were given copies of the speech, along with many other key-people.

What difference does it make?

Originally posted by genius/idoit
also is it just my TV or is barry getting oranger?

Just curious.....how does this remark tie in with the OP?

Or is it just a cheap-shot?

reply to post by ladyinwaiting

What cheap shot?I was just curious.Everything is not an attack.Is there bigotry against orange people?

On the op,I'm sure the pres. rehearsed it I was talking about the ridiculous and seemingly contrived ovations.

The state of the union speech is a big, fake waste of time regardless of what party holds the White House.

What goes on behind the President is part idol worship and part good TV.

Allot of them are acting fake even when they are in the same political party.

As for the people in TV land (us), it doesn't matter what political party the President belongs to. If you voted for him, you sit there and idol worship most (but not all) of what he says. If you didn't vote for him, he's a traitor and he should be impeached.

Like any other TV show, it's predictable. And so is everybody's reaction to it.

~yawn~

You never want to walk into the White House as popular as Obama did. Because when your that popular, there is only one direction you can go.

I mean sure, it's easy to rip on Obama. And Bush Jr. And Clinton. And Bush Sr. And Reagan. And Carter. And Ford. And Nixon. And JFK. Should I keep going?

Anyway, not trying to rattle the thread. It's just the way it is.

reply to post by Genfinity


I don't know about you but I certainly wouldn't call the SOTU 'good tv' it's a lot of things, and I think of it as part of my duty as an informed citizen to watch... but honestly at 10:10 I had to check to make sure my wife was still awake.... so necessary by constitutional standards yes... good tv... ehh, not so much.

Originally posted by genius/idoit
also is it just my TV or is barry getting oranger?

That probably explains this from Big Head Matthews

MSNBC's Matthews On Obama: "I Forgot He Was Black Tonight"

www.realclearpolitics.com...

Actually, Matthews he is Mulatto.

If there anything like the speeches I've seen at my work, the Governor has a speech to give, and at the end of the paragraph is a line that says 'Pause'.
And the ones I've seen that have been for Parliamentary speeches( my wifes ex job) there was actually lines saying "applause" to show the people who were going to be there the correct time to clap and nod etc.

Politics is one big show anyway, one not designed for the common person, just for those in power, all self backpatting and sycophantic crooning.


edited to add:

Originally posted by jibeho

Originally posted by genius/idoit
also is it just my TV or is barry getting oranger?

Gingers have souls too. to parody youtube's current ginger fixation
and if you want 'oranger' look for UK TV's Dale Winton , man he's been under the sunlamp too much .


[edit on 28/1/10 by DataWraith]

Of course they know what he is about to say.

They are the only two people sitting behind Obama.

Joe and that freak Nancy have Direct site into

the teleprompter and can watch it all roll by.

I would not be surprised if they even had cue's

to stand and give an ovation. It was just all so fake.

No wonder I fell asleep 30 min into it all.

I want to know this...

In the SOTU, are the parts where they stand planned out ahead of time? Or are there a few "standers" in front that act as a signal to everyone else?

Also, did anyone notice that some of the applause and even some of the laughs at his jokes seemed like a recorded studio audience?!?

reply to post by TwoTechnics


I never realized they could see the tellaspeaker(it's not really a prompter).Good point.

Actually they are called, transparent conference teleprompters and they sit on either side of his lectern. If you watch the two behind the Pres. you can even catch them staring right into it.

Rehearsed or not. These people sure can give one hell of a poker face.

[edit on 28-1-2010 by Unregistered]

Originally posted by TwoTechnics
Of course they know what he is about to say.

They are the only two people sitting behind Obama.

Joe and that freak Nancy have Direct site into

the teleprompter and can watch it all roll by.

I would not be surprised if they even had cue's

to stand and give an ovation. It was just all so fake.

No wonder I fell asleep 30 min into it all.

I fell asleep too and had to watch it on rerun. I started head bobbing at about 15 minutes into the speech and was snoring away by 30 minutes past. It kind of reminded me of when Clinton used to give his speeches, they were very long, very boring, with the only exception being that we know that whatever Obama said last night, we don't believe any of it.

Originally posted by Unregistered
Rehearsed or not. These people sure can give one hell of a poker face.

[edit on 28-1-2010 by Unregistered]

That's brilliant ! He should have been up there with Lady Ga Ga !