On the safety net, the president said social security and Medicare are “more important than ever”, and “we shouldn’t weaken them, we should strengthen them”.
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“We just need to call them what they are Â- killers and fanatics who have to be rooted out, hunted down, and destroyed”, Obama said. He called for Americans to “reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion” and said the country needs to focus on fighting the Islamic State group in productive ways.
ANTI-MUSLIM RHETORIC When politicians insult Muslims, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid bullied, that doesn’t make us safer.
Obama went on to stoutly challenge a central plank not only of every Republican presidential candidate, but of most mainstream foreign policy analyses: that respect for America has diminished on his watch.
“As frustration [with politics] grows, there will be voices urging us to fall back into tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens who don’t look like us, or pray like us, or vote like we do, or share the same background”, Obama said in an apparent reference to Republican front runner Donald Trump’s suspicious attitude toward immigrants and Muslims.
He touted the economic recovery he presided over, saying the USA has “the strongest, most durable economy in the world”.
“Now I’m guessing we won’t agree on health care anytime soon”, he said at one point, as the sound of a single person clapping on the Republican side could be heard in the chamber.
Obama’s address comes as 10 sailors aboard two U.S. Navy boats were taken into Iranian custody. We keep hearing how ISIS numbers are down, but he said they now have some 36,000 fighters from 120 different countries.
Obama’s world is a mythical place.
The address before a joint session of Congress departed from Obama’s past practice of outlining executive actions meant to sidestep gridlock in Washington. Marco Rubio of Florida, a top contender, blasted out a fundraising appeal during the speech, asking recipients if Mr. Obama’s State of the Union address was “crippled” or “weak”.
It’s not the first time the president has downplayed ISIS.
His words will only be fodder for the many Republicans hoping to occupy the White House next year. Sen.
While vowing to work to find a cure for cancer, accelerate the shift away from “dirty energy” and end the last remnants of the Cold War by engaging with Cuba, Obama said “America has been through big changes before”. That the group, or the ideology it stands for, could destroy the United States itself.
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“Sadly, it appears the president still wants to falsely declare the war against Islamist terror over, while Americans want him to win it”.
