Obama returned with a vengeance (insert action movie sequel quip) last night to kick off his 2010 year in the White House.  He spoke from both his gut and his brain, almost daring anyone to shout him down again.  Joe Wilson who??  He frequently went off the cuff to remark on reactions, or lack of, from the joint session of Congress.  He ribbed everyone last night: the House, the Senate, Wall Street, Bailouts, Democrats, Republicans, the Supreme Court, even himself.  It was like a night of Don Rickles stand-up (Too old??  Alright).  In terms of content, from the get-go it was jobs, jobs, economy, jobs, no one liked the bailout, jobs.  The economy was his main concern.  As it should be: unemployment claims to be at 10%, but could be as high as 13 or so.  Yes, he touched a little on the War on Terrorism (I still use the “ism”), health care, the environment, and other topics.  But just barely.  What shocked me was just how conservative of a speech this actually was, as a few analysts pointed out last night.  Obama, as expected, announced his plan to freeze federal spending in 2011.  He also touched on things like off-shore drilling, tax cuts/credits/breaks, getting it done in Afghanistan, and even slashing the budget.  It took almost the entirety of the speech, but in the end the right-wing was standing and clapping and cheering almost as much as the left.  House Democrats were particularly enthused, standing to howl and cheer at any mention of their work on that side of Congress.  Sam Alito, one of the justices of the Supreme Court, muttered “not true” when Obama said the court’s ruling last week to allow corporate money into campaign financing (US companies or not) would “open the floodgates” to special interests in Washington.  He also made it very clear that since conservatives always say “you need 60 votes in the Senate to do anything”, they now — with 41 votes — have an obligation to do something about the problems the country is facing instead of “no”ing every single bill they read.  I hope Obama has a better year this year than last year.  If anything, for the sake of the country.

-D