Like many around the nation I watched the President's State of the Union Address eager to hear something interesting, but was largely disappointed. Maybe I'm too familiar with what's going on in the country or his past speeches, but it seemed like the speech was pretty much a rehash of things I'd heard before - some of them very good points, but few of them striking or original.
I actually spent much of the speech looking at the crowd reactions, but more on that later. Here are some specific points which I think were actually signficant.
After the obligatory mention of Coretta Scott King the focus was immediately on fighting for freedom, and Bush said some very meaningful but hardly remarkable things about our ongoing fight against the worldwide forces of oppression. Good stuff, but hardly new. But he did wrap up with a nice change of pace when he said:
Our coalition has learned from experience in Iraq. We have adjusted our military tactics and changed our approach to reconstruction. 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.
He neatly acknowledged that the administration has had some troubled policies, while accepting the bipartisan nature of the effort and also getting a nice slam in on the endless complainers of the far left who offer nothing constructive to the process.
Bush went on a bit more about Iraq, and then he got to something interesting, and showed that he had read the recent polls that show a high level of national concern over Iran and a willingness to support military action there.
The same is true of Iran, a nation now held hostage by a small clerical elite that is isolating and repressing its people. The regime in that country sponsors terrorists in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon, and that must come to an end. The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions, and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons. America will continue to rally the world to confront these threats. And tonight, let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran: America respects you, and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom. And our nation hopes one day to be the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran.
My only quibble with this is that the last time I checked the current government of Iran actually got into power by a 'free and democratic' process. The people of Iran are the ones who elected the theocratic nuts who are running the country, and while some may be dissatisfied with the results and there may have been some strong-arming, it's hardly the kind of police state Iraq was.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Shark
I saw the Bush speech.
...And we wonder why the terrorists hate us...
2 - Scott
I agree with the Bush on reducing the oil intake and finding alternate energy sources. What a pleasant surprise. But I suppose since his buddies at Exxon turned such a freakin' huge profit last year, I'm sure Bush now thinks it safe to talk up the alternative energy deal and not cut into their margins too much.
3 - Dave Nalle
By all the evidence Exxon isn't actually one of the oil companies the administration is friendly with. They've pretty much frozen Exxon out - which is good since they are true corporate assholes.
And as for the so-called inflated corporate profits which Sen. Kaine and you seem to believe in, as a percentage most of the oil companies, including those friendly with the administration, CUT their profit margins last year to reduce costs. Their profits still went up because prices went up and profits are based on a percentage of prices, but Shell, Chevron and a couple of others cut their percentage rate of profit.
Dave
4 - Maurice
One last comment about oil:
I know of no oil company that makes 18 cents a gallon which just happens to be the Federal Take er... I mean Tax on gas.
5 - Dave Nalle
And the federal tax on gas should be way, way higher too.
Dave
6 - Scott
It was a joke man. Lighten up.
7 - Dave Nalle
Did you read the articles on the SOTUA from Adam Ash and Natalie Bennett? If that's the spin the left is going to put on this amazingly innocuous and occasionally inspiring speech then I can't help being just a bit touchy.
I will say this though. The Secret Service should have let Cindy Sheehan sit in the gallery and waited until she made a scene before having her dragged out. Every new scheme her handlers put her up to makes it even clearer what a pathetic puppet she is, and letting her spew her bile all over him and end her 15 minutes of fame would be a smart move for Bush, because after that she won't be useful to the left anymore and they'll dump her.
Dave
8 - gonzo marx
well now...all i can say is that the neocons have truly won
and it appears that the Poster has drunk deep of the kool-aid
enjoy the Victory...we will see how the next few years play out
after the speech, i took my cel phone into the yard and smashed it to bits, i am seriously considering the same with my cable modem
i may just have to actually do an Article this evening...
"may you live in interesting times" - ancient chinese curse
i will NOT go gently, folks
Excelsior?
9 - Dave Nalle
Gonzo, did you watch the same speech I did? This was about the most inocuous bush has been in a long time. It was all about compromise and happy feelings. I can't even imagine what there was in it to make you so mad. Was it the ban on genetically engineered sex mermaids?
Dave
10 - Mermaid Manny
I wonder if W would have the same opinion towards stem cell research if one of his daughters had juvenile diabetes or a spinal cord injury? Life is so much simpler when you children are just garden variety drunks.
11 - Dawn
I just wish Bush would kill ALL the terrorists. Can he please finish this one task first?
Also, I agree the war on drugs is an ENORMOUS waste of time and money.
Having recently grilled a drug enforcement detective, his response is, "my job's a joke, the criminals know it and I know it, but I choose to something, rather than nothing." Oh if only we could channel the desire to do something good into an area of worth.
12 - Mark Saleski
the problem with 'killing all the terrorists' is that it not a simple good guy vs. bad guy kinda thing (well, part if it is, and part of it isn't)
until we realize that some of what we do is at least partially responsible for the creation of terrorism (i.e. people who hate our guts), then we will always have this problem.
13 - Pat Fish
Dave,
About as honest assessment of the speech as will likely be found in the blogosphere.
It was a typical SOTU. That bit where the Democrats remained seated during Bush's mention of the congressional failure to work on Social Security reform will be a sight bite right up there with Harry Reid's famous "Today, we killed the Patriot Act". It was so anti-American. The SS system in this country is about to fail and the Dems showed just how much they care.
I don't know of a single American who would not choose ethonol or any other form of fuel besides gasoline were it readily available and cheap enough. And it's about time we get on the nuclear bandwagon and away from the doomsayers on the matter. I bet America could, in this technological era, build the best and safest nuclear reactors anywhere. Hell, FRANCE has lots of nuclear power plants and goodness knows France is no genius of technology.
I agree with you about the Drug War. Waste of time, waste of money, lost cause.
14 - Pat Fish
I agree with you Dave about Cindy Sheehan. I think it would have been a real hoot to have the woman do her thing. It would have been embarrassing as hell to the Dems, one of which invited the Moonbat to the festivities.
I note the left wing bloggers are moaning about how lovely Cindy was mistreated.
Consider this...if any one of those Clinton women...Paul Jones, Broderick...goodness, dare I say Monica... if any one of those who Bill Clinton sexually abused had shown up at any one of his SOTU speeches with a nasty-sloganed Tshirt and plans to wreak havoc....raise your hand if you think Bill or Hillary would have tolerated it.
No hands raised.
15 - gonzo marx
nice to see folks advocating arresting people for wearing a fucking t-shirt
there goes the First Amendment, while the neocons cheer
Excelsior?
16 - Mark Saleski
i honestly don't think sheehan should have been there.
on the other hand, this whole thing about setting up "free speach zones" near political events just creeps me out.
face it, if we heard about some socialist country doing such things, we'd look down our collective noses at it.
17 - Dave Nalle
I agree with you Dave about Cindy Sheehan. I think it would have been a real hoot to have the woman do her thing. It would have been embarrassing as hell to the Dems, one of which invited the Moonbat to the festivities.
Did you know that Lynn Wolsey who invited Sheehan introduced legislation last year to balance out the Department of Defense with a Department of Peace - I'm kind of mystified what they would actually do, though.
Dave
18 - Dave Nalle
nice to see folks advocating arresting people for wearing a fucking t-shirt
Gonzo, not one person on this thread has supported Sheehan being arrested for wearing a t-shirt. I was denied entry to the gallery once because I wasn't wearing a tie. There's a dress code. She knew about it and violated it. Then she refused to comply with the officers. She wasn't arrested for wearing the t-shirt she was arrested for resisting being removed. End of story.
Dave
19 - Mark Saleski
not the 'end of story'. at all.
if she had on proper dress, but had the message sewn onto the front (or back), she still would have been shown the door.
20 - MCH
"Consider this...if any one of those Clinton women...Paul Jones, Broderick...goodness, dare I say Monica... if any one of those who Bill Clinton sexually abused had shown up at any one of his SOTU speeches with a nasty-sloganed Tshirt and plans to wreak havoc....raise your hand if you think Bill or Hillary would have tolerated it."
Monica was sexually abused?
21 - Margaret Romao Toigo
From what I can tell thus far, is that despite being arrested, Ms. Sheehan managed to make the news anyway.
Sure, today's headlines could have been about her wearing a controversial t-shirt on live television, but her arrest is likely getting just as much attention as the original "plan" would have.
Either way, we get yet another distraction from more important issues, more inspiration for pointless debate (the likely purpose of Mr. Bush's brief nod toward the "culture warriors" and their fear of "mermaids") and greater incentives to engage in petty partisan bickering.
Meanwhile, who's looking into that whole domestic spying thing? Is it prudent to engage Iran when we aren't yet finished in Iraq and Afghanistan? And why doesn't this administration try to think of Social Security reform that has better than the proverbial snowball's chance of passing?
BTW, I hope gonzo intends to make good on what he wrote in comment #8. I, for one, would be most interested in reading his take on it.
22 - troll
*Did you know that Lynn Wolsey who invited Sheehan introduced legislation last year to balance out the Department of Defense with a Department of Peace - I'm kind of mystified what they would actually do, though.*
perhaps focus on 'positive-sum' solutions to conflict situations - ?
take your 'zero-sum' nationalist gaming off my bridge
troll
23 - ss
Patfish says in comment #14:
"Consider this...if any one of those Clinton women...Paul Jones, Broderick...goodness, dare I say Monica... if any one of those who Bill Clinton sexually abused had shown up at any one of his SOTU speeches with a nasty-sloganed Tshirt and plans to wreak havoc....raise your hand if you think Bill or Hillary would have tolerated it."
Or you could consider this, from the Washington Times off the UPI newswire:
A young Iraqi who suffered major burns during the 2003 invasion was on her way to the United States Monday for skin grafts and other specialized treatment.
Waghdan Aljayashee and her grandmother, Haseeba Zaghairon, are expected to arrive in Lexington, Ky., on Tuesday. They will be living for as long as a year with a doctor's family while she is treated at the Shriner's Hospital in Cincinnati, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Haider Al-jayashy, Waghdan's uncle, said that because her burns have not received any specialized treatment scar tissue has fused together skin in her armpits and upper arms. She has trouble moving her upper arms and even breathing deeply.
The uncle, who lives in Fort Wayne, Ind., has been seeking help for his niece for months
Even if you'll only allow the best, most selfless reasons FOR foghting a war into the debate, isn't war by it's very nature just a teeny tiny bit more morally ambiguous then a Prez who can't keep his dick in his pants?
Doesn't this level of moral ambiguity demand a debate where the range isn't limited to the best way to win?
I realize you all believe, very strongly, that more good than harm will be done by our actions. I also realize that putting a story of a burnt child on the thread(even one getting treatment in the US) is roughly equivalent to standing outside a clinic with a picture of an aborted fetus.
I apologize, and I won't do it again.
But someone has to ask the questions that seems to be getting left out of the debate.
What can we do to ensure a freer a better world without inflicting this level of harm on the defenseless?
Aren't we obligated to ask ourselves this?
24 - Dawn
Mark, I'd settle for getting rid of the ones we "know" are bad. But yes, I understand your point.
Recently I have come to the conclusion that we just can't hug and kiss our way back into the hearts of those who hate us.
We must eliminate those who inherently hate us and build up from there. Sounds simple, but we all know it's not.
25 - gonzo marx
decent points Dawn...
part of my entire problem with this Administration when it comes to our security is that they are NOT "doing all they can" to fight the Foe...
namely bin Laden, Mullah Omar and al Qaeda
they did NOT push the advantage at Tora Bora, and since have diverted the vast majority of military and Intelligence resources away form that Task and towards Iraq, and now it appears towards monitoring folks while bypassing FISA
aAAAarRRRRrrRRggGGGGhHHHHh!!!!
but i will say i am all for bin Laden's head on a spike on the Capitol lawn
now, if osmebody could explain why a bunch of saudis and egyptians can blow up our buildijngs but we attack Iraq...i'd be a bit happier...
but i digress
Excelsior!