Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Bush's State of the Union Speech
Tonight, President Bush gave his State of the Union address. His speech covered the war in Iraq, terrorism, the economy, energy, schooling, medical issues, retirement of baby boomers (including himself), and Iran. What he said seemed to continue the way he has been driving this country the past few years.
First of all, he said, " Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, members of the Supreme Court and diplomatic corps, distinguished guests and fellow citizens", which is the usual type of introduction that he would be expected to give as a speaker. But then did you see what he did? He stuck out his tongue. Right, Mr. President? Is that what you mean? "Fellow citizens: Bttthhhhh!!"?
He started by honoring Coretta King, and a little later, honored the family of one particular serviceman who died in Iraq, that of Dan Clay. Why him in particular? Also, I heard that you were going to bring in this female soldier who was reunited with her dog, but I heard no mention of her.
You mention how many democracies we have now - 122. Did you include Palestine? It had elections. Did you include Iran? It held elections. Iran may have elected a nut case for its leader, but still it was democracy in action.
You mentioned dictatorships, and I thought it interesting that you called the country west of Thailand "Burma", instead of "Myanmar", as though the old days were that much better. You now have an Axis of Five Evils - Syria, Burma, Zimbabwe, Iran and North Korea. So why didn't we invade all these countries and free them, instead of picking on just Iraq? And you didn't mention Sudan, author of the Darfur terror.
You harped on terrorism and Al Qaeda and made it look like all terrorists are from Al Qaeda. No, Mr. President. There are other "terrorists" around, and some are in this country. Do you remember what happened in Oklahoma City in 1995? You said their day will come. You are getting as retributive as anything in the Bible, or maybe as much so as Al Qaeda itself, taking a stand against the Great Evil.
You said that decisions about troops reductions in Iraq should be in the hands of military commanders, not politicians. Now I know we have a bunch of loony tunes in Congress (that's because we elected them), but I sort of remember that our Founding Fathers chose to put control of military in civilian hands, to prevent a repressive junta from taking power.
You said that if we pull out of Iraq, that a lot of political dissenters would face death in prisons, that Al Qaeda and Zarqawi would be in charge, and that it would mean our pledge meant little. You sure are making Al Qaeda to be the bad guy. Why him all the time? Maybe some other dictator would take charge, or maybe the democracy would continue. I don't think we made any pledge to anyone in Iraq. I think we ignored the feelings of other countries when we invaded Iraq.
You did mention democratic elections in Palestine and Egypt. But then you started harping on Iran. You appealed to the citizens to set up a democratic Iran. Well, they have one. They just voted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into power.
You want to spy on your fellow citizens with a renewal of the Patriot Act, which of all acts in our history most resemble John Adams' Alien and Sedition Acts. Again, you said it's because of Al Qaeda.
I thought you recommended something in the right direction with a Commission on Entitlements, to handle baby boomers' retirements. You mentioned health care, but you set up a really Byzantine drug benefit program for our senior citizens. Aid to poor and elderly is essential in this country, and no matter what, these people need to be provided with adequate income and medical care.
You said "America is addicted to oil." Hooray! Finally, a politician said that sort of thing without using the adjective "foreign". You recommended improving technology to handle the problem, but so far we have not been able to develop a viable hydrogen car to replace today's internal combustion engines. You also mention zero-emission coal, solar, wind and nuclear power, and this is a step in the right direction. But you omitted completely the need to conserve! We can't go on driving SUVs all over the place like we had no tomorrow, or we may find someday that our energy sources have no tomorrow. You also did not mention public transit, such as rail. Your ethanol recommendation was way off base. It takes oil to make ethanol, to power the combines, to transport the grain to processing facilities, and to run those facilities. You don't get much energy out of ethanol per unit of energy put into getting it.
I encourage you to pursue your recommendation on talent and creativity, especially in mathematics, which is my main endeavor. I want to see those 30,000 math professor jobs.
You want to do something about courts that try to redefine marriage. But you said absolutely nothing about the attempt in Virginia to try to redefine marriage by a constitutional amendment. Further, your rebutter Tim Kaine said absolutely nothing about it too.
So, although you made a few good points, Mr. President, much of your talk did not tell the true picture and was politically motivated.
As far as Tim Kaine, our new Virginia governor is concerned, he made some good points. Mr. Bush, read his rebuttal and take heed. Tim said, "There is a Better Way - in Virginia". You should have provided evidence of this in this state. There is plenty of it, with Mark Warner's administration. He has apparently been a popular governor here. You call on oil companies to contribute some of their profits to the public, but you did not say where. I think it is a good idea, and I think the money should go to develop mass transit and alternative energy sources. But you also did not mention alternative energy sources.
You ended the speech with "America can do Better", but then you alienated people who don't believe in God with your "God bless the USA". The President also mentioned God, which I feel should stay out of the State of the Union address.
So, Mr. Kaine, good speech, but like the President, you missed the energy boat.
First of all, he said, " Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, members of the Supreme Court and diplomatic corps, distinguished guests and fellow citizens", which is the usual type of introduction that he would be expected to give as a speaker. But then did you see what he did? He stuck out his tongue. Right, Mr. President? Is that what you mean? "Fellow citizens: Bttthhhhh!!"?
He started by honoring Coretta King, and a little later, honored the family of one particular serviceman who died in Iraq, that of Dan Clay. Why him in particular? Also, I heard that you were going to bring in this female soldier who was reunited with her dog, but I heard no mention of her.
You mention how many democracies we have now - 122. Did you include Palestine? It had elections. Did you include Iran? It held elections. Iran may have elected a nut case for its leader, but still it was democracy in action.
You mentioned dictatorships, and I thought it interesting that you called the country west of Thailand "Burma", instead of "Myanmar", as though the old days were that much better. You now have an Axis of Five Evils - Syria, Burma, Zimbabwe, Iran and North Korea. So why didn't we invade all these countries and free them, instead of picking on just Iraq? And you didn't mention Sudan, author of the Darfur terror.
You harped on terrorism and Al Qaeda and made it look like all terrorists are from Al Qaeda. No, Mr. President. There are other "terrorists" around, and some are in this country. Do you remember what happened in Oklahoma City in 1995? You said their day will come. You are getting as retributive as anything in the Bible, or maybe as much so as Al Qaeda itself, taking a stand against the Great Evil.
You said that decisions about troops reductions in Iraq should be in the hands of military commanders, not politicians. Now I know we have a bunch of loony tunes in Congress (that's because we elected them), but I sort of remember that our Founding Fathers chose to put control of military in civilian hands, to prevent a repressive junta from taking power.
You said that if we pull out of Iraq, that a lot of political dissenters would face death in prisons, that Al Qaeda and Zarqawi would be in charge, and that it would mean our pledge meant little. You sure are making Al Qaeda to be the bad guy. Why him all the time? Maybe some other dictator would take charge, or maybe the democracy would continue. I don't think we made any pledge to anyone in Iraq. I think we ignored the feelings of other countries when we invaded Iraq.
You did mention democratic elections in Palestine and Egypt. But then you started harping on Iran. You appealed to the citizens to set up a democratic Iran. Well, they have one. They just voted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into power.
You want to spy on your fellow citizens with a renewal of the Patriot Act, which of all acts in our history most resemble John Adams' Alien and Sedition Acts. Again, you said it's because of Al Qaeda.
I thought you recommended something in the right direction with a Commission on Entitlements, to handle baby boomers' retirements. You mentioned health care, but you set up a really Byzantine drug benefit program for our senior citizens. Aid to poor and elderly is essential in this country, and no matter what, these people need to be provided with adequate income and medical care.
You said "America is addicted to oil." Hooray! Finally, a politician said that sort of thing without using the adjective "foreign". You recommended improving technology to handle the problem, but so far we have not been able to develop a viable hydrogen car to replace today's internal combustion engines. You also mention zero-emission coal, solar, wind and nuclear power, and this is a step in the right direction. But you omitted completely the need to conserve! We can't go on driving SUVs all over the place like we had no tomorrow, or we may find someday that our energy sources have no tomorrow. You also did not mention public transit, such as rail. Your ethanol recommendation was way off base. It takes oil to make ethanol, to power the combines, to transport the grain to processing facilities, and to run those facilities. You don't get much energy out of ethanol per unit of energy put into getting it.
I encourage you to pursue your recommendation on talent and creativity, especially in mathematics, which is my main endeavor. I want to see those 30,000 math professor jobs.
You want to do something about courts that try to redefine marriage. But you said absolutely nothing about the attempt in Virginia to try to redefine marriage by a constitutional amendment. Further, your rebutter Tim Kaine said absolutely nothing about it too.
So, although you made a few good points, Mr. President, much of your talk did not tell the true picture and was politically motivated.
As far as Tim Kaine, our new Virginia governor is concerned, he made some good points. Mr. Bush, read his rebuttal and take heed. Tim said, "There is a Better Way - in Virginia". You should have provided evidence of this in this state. There is plenty of it, with Mark Warner's administration. He has apparently been a popular governor here. You call on oil companies to contribute some of their profits to the public, but you did not say where. I think it is a good idea, and I think the money should go to develop mass transit and alternative energy sources. But you also did not mention alternative energy sources.
You ended the speech with "America can do Better", but then you alienated people who don't believe in God with your "God bless the USA". The President also mentioned God, which I feel should stay out of the State of the Union address.
So, Mr. Kaine, good speech, but like the President, you missed the energy boat.
