State of the Union speech
It starts off with a tribute to Coretta Scott King, a truly remarkable woman married to a truly remarkable man. She will be truly mourned and remembered.
Yet as I sit here listening, my heart begins to sink.
The forum is filled with hypocrisy from the outspoken Democrats who publicly decry Bush's actions yet they stand there clapping along.
The family of a Marine lost in battle sits behind Laura Bush. I wonder if they realize that while their son is publicly honored for his sacrifice, they are just the next ones in a tradition started by Reagan.
Sickness, AIDS, and other diseases are mentioned with promises of more help in fighting them.
Terrorism, the one topic everyone KNEW would be mentioned, is brought forth as a blasphemy against the US.
4.6 million new jobs have been created over the last few years. I wonder if the car makers who laid off so many people in December have pointed their ex-employees in that direction.
The economy...well, that topic's been beat to death. It'll never be good enough, strong enough, weak enough, to truly make a change. Promises, promises, promises.
Tax relief? Well I haven't seen it in my paycheck. Course I get paid out of tax dollars and then get taxed, but please don't let me get started on that subject.
He says that by cutting 140 programs that are performing poorly; we'll cut out 14 billion in taxpayer's cost. How many people are in the US? According to the US Census Bureau the population as of April 2000 was 281,421,906. Divide 14 billion by 281,421,906 and it equals 49.74 Turn it around and divide 281,421,906 by 14 billion and it equals .02
You do the math. I never said I was any good at it.
Oh, he made a joke about two of his dad's favorite baby-boomers...himself and President Clinton...Hilary did NOT like that. If her nose got any more scrunched you'd've thunk somebody farted on her.
The American Competitiveness Initiative....huh? I wonder if any of those 4.6 million new jobs created were in teaching positions...
Fewer abortions...drug use is down...an evolution of conscience...direction of culture...unethical conduct by public officials...gay marriage...natural disasters...human cloning...animal hybrids...85 billion dollars donated to the Gulf Coast...Justices Roberts and Alito...will continue to nominate men and women...huh women? The ethical standards of Washington....nope, not gonna touch that one.
The move away from oil to alternative fuel sources.
These are just a few of the topics that made their way into the speech. But the biggest topic personally to me... Iran. "We will lead freedom's advance."
Don't get me wrong. I love my country, I love serving my country, I support my president as he is my Commander-In-Chief.
Troop support is strong. Very few Americans hold the troops accountable today. It's not like Vietnam which is every Soldier/Sailor/Marine/Airman's nightmare.
But I don't wanna go to war on a new front.
posted by Twin Mommie @ 8:30 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I always find the SOU to be far too stylized for me. Presidents tend to say lots of stuff in it that never goes any farther than the speech itself.
Jobs - my husband was out of work for a year and a half... now he has a job... does that make the market better or worse? The problem is that you are looking at one thing - a single large layoff. The government OTOH looks at total numbers over a course of time. To compare the two just doesn't work.
The thing is - there will ALWAYS be sectors that are doing poorly, even in the best of times. During the boom 90's that the Dems want to so nostalgically look back on - the newspapers of the time were constantly predicting gloom and doom. When you happen to be the one laid off - it' sucks pond water... but that means almost nothing in the scheme of the economy.
As for Iran - that was likely a warning shot across the bow. I swear I don't want any of our people over there - but if Bush had ignored them and said nothing - you know very well they would play that up as a sign of weakness. Our own traitorous news people (who I blame most for the terrorists continuing to peck away at us) would wonder aloud about the LACK of mention. No - he had to say something to show the Irani's we aren't going to back down. Iran is looking for any sign of weakness they can exploit. Pretty much I'm tired of these people. I feel like saying - let's just turn their country into a glass parking lot so we don't have to deal with it anymore... but that's not the way to do things. So we have to play the game... it's tiring.
Yeah, the SOU is just a big circus. It's one I prefer not to watch because the whole nuanced thing makes me nuts. As you pointed out about the Marine's family... it's part of the "show" - but just think of the buzz if they hadn't been there. The President - no matter who it is - is pretty much damned in any direction with this speech.
Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. I agree, unfortunately, there is no way around certain elements in the SOU. It'd be nice to see someone actually flout tradition...
It just seems that since 2001 every country he's mentioned in the SOU, within months we were 'there'. For once I'd like to either hear no new countries/conflicts or that the troops are coming home.
It would be nice wouldn't it... *sigh* I'm kinda thinking this is how people were feeling about 1943... Can this just be over please! I'm just glad we aren't losing troops at a WW2 rate.
I'm with you on Iran. I just hope they wise up and stop rattling nukes at us.
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