Well, there's nothing I could do to stop it, and so there it was: George W. Bush giving his first State of the Union address of his unfortunate second go-round in the White House. However, I am a citizen of these United States, and perhaps now more than ever, I feel it is my duty to watch this address and let all of you know what I think about it. (Please hold all applause 'til the conclusion of this post.)
For a complete transcript of the speech click here.
The President says the State of the Union is "Confident and strong." Well, good. That makes one of us anyway. After getting that one out of the way he peppered in some legislative proposals including:
- A call for responsible spending, including a promise to halve the national debt by 2009. Now, I'm sure this "responsible spending" includes paying for the War on Terror, right??? Because I'm sure we will be able to afford the $3.8 trillion it would take to pay off half of the national debt while financing a war...
- Further pursuit of alternative energy sources including the use hydrogen in cars, and ethanol as a renewable energy source. I can't complain about either of these proposals too much. Although I would venture a guess that good ol' Dubya was merely giving them lip service. I could be wrong. I hope I am.
- The call for the creation of a "bipartisan" panel to review the tax code. The idea is to simplify the tax code while keeping it "fair." We shall see...
- A comprehensive immigration reform that allows for guest workers for jobs "Americans won't take" to help people who are merely trying to "help their families 'make it,' " while not committing to amnesty for said immigrants. I find immigration to be a difficult issue. I see it as impossible to close the borders, both from a practical standpoint and an ideological one (seeing as how our country was born on immigration to a large extent).
- A reiteration of 43's support for a Constitutional amendment in "defense" of marriage. I assume by this he means he wants to alter our great Constitution, the "living" document, so that it includes a section that lets the whole world know that the United States of America has no tolerance for homosexuality. Ugh. I may not be as passionate about this as others, but this is silliness. Homosexuals are people too. But, hey, wait! I've got an idea! Let's change the Constitution to discriminate against them! We could make them count as 3/5's of a person in the next census. That's never been done before, right?
- A very cautious statement on stem cell research. He wants to protect embryos, yet push the boundaries of modern medicine. Sounds kind of like having your cake and eating it too. I won't even get into the embryo debate. That's an argument that can be discussed better at feministe or one of the myriad feminist links from there.
- A new initiative headed by First Lady Laura Bush to reach out to men in the inner-city. This sounds similar to a program headed by Nancy Reagan - "Just Say No."
- A call to renew AIDS legislation known as the Ryan White Act. I have no idea about this. I'm sure AIDS victims need the help though.
- A push for competent lawyers in capital punishment cases, complete with DNA evidence whenever possible. Well, that's good. If we're killing our criminals, at least we're affording them the very best legal advice the criminal justice system has to offer. This is exactly what we need...not! How about we abolish the death penalty instead of using our tax dollars to pay to make sure we don't have to use it.
And that was all. There were no other legislative proposals. Wait; there was something about Social Security, I think. I'm not sure. It wasn't real clear. Seriously though, this comprised a good 1/3 of the President's speech. He wants persons under 55 to be able to take 4% from the current 12% paid in payroll taxes and divert it into "voluntary personal retirement accounts" that can be invested in the stock market or wherever else. He claims the current system will be paying out more than it's taking in by 2018, and by 2042 it will be completely bankrupt. This, of course, was met by hearty boos from the Democratic congressmen in attendance. I'll be honest; I don't completely understand the complexities of this issue. But to me, it seems like it should be simple. You get out what you put in. If 12% of every paycheck you earn is paid to Social Security, keep that money in an account with your name on it, so that when it comes time for you to retire your money is there waiting for you. I don't know, maybe I'm missing the point.
Now, what kind of speech would it be without a large section devoted to the Bush Doctrine? Certainly not one you will hear our 43rd President give, that's for sure. Not surprisingly, much of what was said in Wednesday's address was much of the same rhetoric we've been hearing for weeks, if not months. We're still a target for terrorists. (Hmm...wonder whose fault this is???) Insurgents in Iraq are scared of democracy. (No, they're just scared of George W. Bush the warmonger.) We have no timetable for Iraq. (Mr. Bush, rational people call this "lack of an exit strategy." I don't know, maybe try that one on for size, eh?)
- On North Korea: We are in close contact with them as well as a - guess what - coalition of Asian nations discussing there nuclear capacity. This small mention seems far removed from three years ago when North Korea was a member of the "Axis of Evil."
- On Iran: A message to the Iranian people - "As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you." This sounds very much like a preamble to the kind of ultimatum issued to Saddam and his loyalists pre-Gulf War II.
- On Egypt: A challenge to step up and be a model for democracy in the Middle East
- On Syria: Mentioned the passage of the Syrian Accountability Act, a bill aimed to curb that nation's capability to harbor terrorists.
- On Israeli/Palestinian conflict: Asked for $350 million to aid in promoting peaceful negotiations between Ariel Sharon and new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas leading to what he termed "the goal of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace." This seems like a new, dare I say, positive step. The creation of a Palestinian state has almost never been a goal of American leaders. Rather our intentions have always been focused on the protection of Israel, or as I like to call it, America-MidEast.
The one thing I've left out is the touching moment at the end where the mother of a Marine killed in combat gave her son's ID tags to an Iraqi woman who had voted this past Sunday. Now, I'm not a particularly emotional guy, but I'll admit I had a tear well up in my eye when I saw that. Then it hit me, as great a moment as that was, I'd bet anything that it was set up. I almost guarantee it was suggested by someone on the president's staff or even the President himself. I could be wrong, but if I'm not, I am very disappointed that this administration would play on America's emotional heartstrings like that.
Overall, it was a very good speech. Obviously, I didn't agree with a lot of it , but I do recognize the quality of what was said. So kudos to Bush for delivering a good speech. I've made clear, I think, how I feel, and I would be more than happy to hear from the rest of you.
