9 things I liked about the State of the Union

Here are 9 parts of the State of the Union that I thought were especially important -

1. In a complex and challenging time, the road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting, yet it ends in danger and decline.
The only way to protect our people, the only way to secure the peace, the only way to control our destiny is by our leadership.
2. In a time of testing, we cannot find security by abandoning our commitments and retreating within our borders. If we were to leave these vicious attackers alone, they would not leave us alone. They would simply move the battlefield to our own shores.
There is no peace in retreat.
3. Along the way, we have benefited from responsible criticism and counsel offered by members of Congress of both parties.
In the coming year, I will continue to reach out and seek your good advice. Yet there is a difference between responsible criticism that aims for success and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but failure. Hindsight alone is not wisdom. And second-guessing is not a strategy.
4. The terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America. If there are people inside our country who are talking with Al Qaida, we want to know about it, because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.
5. So we're seeing some old temptations return. Protectionists want to escape competition, pretending that we can keep our high standard of living while walling off our economy.
Others say that the government needs to take a larger role in directing the economy, centralizing more power in Washington and increasing taxes.
We hear claims that immigrants are somehow bad for the economy, even though this economy could not function without them.
All these are forms of economic retreat, and they lead in the same direction: toward a stagnant and second-rate economy.
6. The retirement of the baby boom generation will put unprecedented strains on the federal government. By 2030, spending for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid alone will be almost 60 percent of the entire federal budget. And that will present future Congresses with impossible choices: staggering tax increases, immense deficits or deep cuts in every category of spending.
7. Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security...
(APPLAUSE)
... yet the rising cost of entitlements is a problem that is not going away.
And with every year we fail to act, the situation gets worse.
8. And to keep America competitive, one commitment is necessary above all: We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity. Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hardworking, ambitious people, and we are going to keep that edge.
9. We see great changes in science and commerce that will influence all our lives.
Sometimes it can seem that history is turning in a wide arc, toward an unknown shore.
Yet the destination of history is determined by human action, and every great movement of history comes to a point of choosing.
Lincoln could have accepted peace at the cost of disunity and continued slavery. Martin Luther King could have stopped at Birmingham or at Selma and achieved only half a victory over segregation. The United States could have accepted the permanent division of Europe and been complicit in the oppression of others.
Today, having come far in our own historical journey, we must decide: Will we turn back or finish well?
In number 7 I am a bit confused. The democrat reaction was predictable. I would not be surprised to see the GOP use clips of that in advertising - the dems were standing up applauding gridlock. That seems short-sighted.
In reality all of the nine things were good rhetorical devices. The reality of any speech like this is beyond that. The vision about security and commitment has been demonstrated by the president - but much of the domestic agenda has languished.

The democrat response "There's a better way" seemed a bit hollow. It reminded me of Robert Redford in the Candidate - McKay - the better way.