Notations On Our World: On the Aftermath of #SOTU (3rd in a Series)

As our assessment of the aftermath of President Obama's Last State of the Union  Speech continues here in #Outsiders , we wanted to feature two very divergent Views of what the President noted:   

In 2009, newly elected President Obama gave a stunning speech in Prague that outlined a clear vision for a world without nuclear weapons. He promised to lead the world into a future where nuclear weapons would no longer play a role in our national security. In a word, it was inspiring. But in the president’s final State of the Union address last night, those words seemed like a distant echo. There was not a single mention of American leadership to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Instead, our president seems to have taken a 180-degree turn on nuclear disarmament. President Obama has proposed an overhaul of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal that will cost more than $1 trillion over the next three decades. This overhaul includes funding for a new nuclear-tipped cruise missile that experts say is dangerous, unnecessary and expensive.1 TAKE ACTION: Send a letter to President Obama urging him to kill the new dangerous, expensive nuclear cruise missile. Advances in U.S. conventional forces have eliminated the need for a new cruise missile. The cost of these cruise missiles would be between $20-$30 billion -- that’s money we don’t have for a weapon we don’t need. And because these missiles can be launched without warning, the likelihood of miscalculation or escalation to nuclear war is huge. President Obama needs to abandon plans to fund the new nuclear-tipped cruise missile. At the moment, the proposal to fund the new cruise missile is just that -- a proposal. But the President plans to submit his final budget proposal as president to Congress in early February. We have an opportunity right now to pressure him to remove the unnecessary cruise missile from his final budget proposal before it’s too late. But we must act quickly. If the new cruise missile makes it into the president’s final budget proposal to Congress, it will be much harder to fight. Urge our president to eliminate funding for this dangerous, unnecessary and expensive nuclear weapon. Fight on, Ryan Rastegar Digital Engagement Manager Global Zero The latest news and analysis from Reason.com Wednesday, January 13, 2016 Obama's Final SOTU Is a Dud, Like His Presidency Domestically and abroad, he has set more fires than he put out. by Nick Gillespie Video: Obama Moves the Goalposts Again Is there a better way to deal with this annual State of the Union exercise in empty pageantry? by Matt Welch and Jim Epstein Obama Promised Optimism at State of the Union -- We Don't Need Politicians For That Optimism about America comes despite politicians not because of them. by John Stossel In State of the Union Rebuttal, Nikki Haley Takes on Donald Trump The South Carolina governor defended immigrants of every race and religion. by Stephanie Slade