What Obama actually said last night

I just read Obama's speech and just about everything that people were saying last night on twitter that he didn't say, he actually did say. The only accurate criticism was that he failed to use the words "global warming" or "climate change." It strikes me if he had, he would have lost the fully half of the country that doesn't believe those things exist and the narrative today would have been he used the speech to push that tree-huggers agenda.

He did explain what measures he's taken to direct the efforts. He did put forward whatever plan exists right now, and it's constantly evolving as the reality becomes known. And he did issue a call for action.

For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we’ve talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked -- not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.

Not getting the criticism that he should have used more direct or outraged language. Do they mean like Jimmy Carter did? He was absolutely right, and nobody listened. He called for actions that required sacrifice and nobody wanted to make them. He's still being pilloried today for those gas lines.

I'm thinking people from whom I would expect a more reasonable reponse are just scared and it's making them hysterical. Mostly younger people who grew up receiving, and now expecting instant gratification. But sometimes there just isn't an easy or fast solution to a problem. And this is a complicated set of problems where the solution to one aspect exacerbates another.

That being said, I did uncover a few level headed responses to the speech worth reading. The NY Daily News and of all people, Anne Applebaum made sense. As did Steve Benen who quotes Chris Hayes tweet noting the White House doesn't have a message problem, it has a fact problem. As Steve wisely added, "The speech wasn't going to plug the well or change votes on cap-and-trade; it was going to keep the ball moving forward." That unfortunately is the best case, and only possible, scenario at the moment.

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