The old Obama gave Tuesday night’s speech

While President Obama presented few policy proposals in his last State of the Union address, the Trans-Pacific Partnership was one of the highlights of the night.

He was the candidate of transformational change – and then the president who led during an era of shutdowns, dysfunction and the erosion of the political center. Say a hardworking American loses his job – we shouldn’t just make sure that he can get unemployment insurance; we should make sure that program encourages him to retrain for a business that’s ready to hire him.

He criticizes the Republicans over global warming and congressional opposition to his policies, but at the end of his speech he calls for civility. “That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet”.

Also, the increasing problem of methane emissions was not brought up by Obama, nor was the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions – animal agriculture.

Obama also said that he will call on Congress to sanction the use of military force against the Islamic State terrorist organization. And though she didn’t name names, everybody knew who she was talking about.

The pool camera recording the speech showed Michelle Obama rise to her feet immediately after her husband said this line.

“The speech was wonderful”.

“We’re in the middle of the longest streak of private-sector job creation in history”, he said.

“The future we want- opportunity and security for our families; a rising standard of living, a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids; all that is within our reach”, Obama said.

“I am concerned about the socialistic direction of our country”, he said.

Mr Obama’s plea came a week before the British Parliament is due to discuss banning Trump from the United Kingdom after more than 560,000 people signed a petition demanding the billionaire businessman be barred.

Yet some residents couldn’t even make it through the entire speech without turning off the television. Often, the best thing we can do is turn down the volume.

Gordon Ferguson, of Roseburg, agreed. “It’s like the government is not our friend anymore, they’re our enemy….” Yet relations with China remain strained, terrorism continues to stalk the world, inequality in the U.S. remains rife and the bitterness and suspicion between the two main political parties is preventing effective policymaking.

Tom Hawksworth, chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party, was among those who couldn’t keep the TV on. “We just might surprise the cynics again”.

“But even if the planet wasn’t at stake, even if 2014 wasn’t the warmest year on record – until 2015 turned out even hotter – why would we want to pass up the chance for American businesses to produce and sell the energy of the future?”

He was apparently referring in particular to Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate developer who is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination and who has made many inflammatory comments in recent months. “We’ve made progress. But we need to make more”, he said.