State of the Union: Volume 2 (Sigh), Part 1

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?)

Don't fret faithful reader, there were also juicy new tidbits of foreign policy to be had. No one left this speech hungry.

• 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.

(This post is also available here at Twinkies & Coke.)

Post-Election Thoughts

It took me a couple of days to gather my thoughts for this one.

This was my first election. Let me just say, there has never been a better time for a young person to get involved. That said, I feel let down by the system. I did more than just vote. I worked with (and against) the candidates in order to get the people I thought were best suited into office. I worked the polls. I showed up at 5 o'clock in the morning. When we opened at 6am, we already had a line. That line remained until 7:30 pm when everyone that was in line at the official closing time of 6pm finally got to vote. I went to the Vanderburg County Democrats "Victory" party in downtown Evansville. By the end of November 2nd, I hadn't just partaken in the process; I was part of the process.

Here in conservative, red-state Indiana I knew that only a few Democrats would win. I may be optimistic, but I know this state swings heavily towards the right. That said, I would like to extend my congratulations to a few Indiana Democrats who shined Tuesday night:

• Senator Evan Bayh
• State Representative Phil Hoy
• State Representative Trent VanHaaften
• State representative Dennis Avery

I have personally met each of them except Sen. Bayh. They are all very kind men. Both Reps. Hoy and Avery told me I could get in touch with them in a couple of years to work in the Indiana Statehouse as an intern. Yay for me, already making political connections!

With all that said, Tuesday night and into Wednesday was very disappointing. I wasn't expecting huge things. The races I had really high hopes for were a Kerry presidency, Gov. Joe Kernan to get re-elected, and for challenger Jon Jennings to defeat incumbent US Representative John Hostettler. When neither of those things happened, I was crushed. Jennings actually gave his concession speech 5 feet in front of me at the "Victory" party. That kinda sucked. He choked up at one point, and, to be honest, I almost did too. You see last week the University of Evansville College Democrats held a rally. It was an "Ass Kicking Good Time." That name was contributed by yours truly and made its way all over campus. A bunch of great candiates came out including Jennings, Avery, Hoy, and VanHaaften.

Seeing the results came in made me lose faith in the entire American public. I actrually would have traded state victories in every race for a Kerry victory. When it became apparent that that wasn't the case, I started playing the "Four years ago" game. I dare all Americans to look me in the eye (or in this case the comments below) to truthfully tell me that they are better off now than they were before Dubya took office. I don't think anyone whose name isn't Ken Lay or is working for Halliburton (or really any big business type) can make that claim. I know I'm not the only person who felt/feels this way.

Even with all the depression, I am trying to remain optimistic. Senator Kerry said it best, "Now is time for healing." As much as I am not looking forward to it, we have to deal with this administration for four more years. I say let's make the best of it. We can hold them accountable for every action they take. We have Congressional elections in just two short years. In four more years, let's vote for Hillary, Edwards, Bayh or whoever else may pop up between now and then. (On the possibility of a Bayh presidency, somebody keep reminding me, and I'll make a post on that one. I've got some ideas...)

Now is definitely not a time to roll over. We always talk about change. We embrace "good for the country" ideas. But let's face it, unless you or I are president or at the very least in Congress, ideals like that are lots of talk with no results. We need to start embracing small, local charities and things of that nature. By widely helping on the small-scale, we can make a huge difference on the large-scale. Let's stop talking and actually go do something!

Please everyone leave some sort of reply. I would love to hear everyone's ideas. We all took the last couple of days differently, and I for one would love to hear how everyone coped (or didn't cope).

I thought he was dead

That was my Dad's reaction when I told him I was going to hear former US Senator from IN, Birch Bayh, speak today in downtown Evansville.

I did go, and it was really, really cool. He was in town to promote the re-election of Govenor Joe Kernan. He did his little schpiel as did a few others like the Mayor, and city-council people.The really cool part was afterwards.

I went with my Political Science professor. He told Bayh afterwards there was a group of students. The Senator was excited and came over and told us to sit down. He ended up talking to us for about a half hour.

Sen. Bayh was very active in the civil rights movements of the 60s and 70s. He told us about him writing the ERA, reforming the Indiana public school system, and helping block the approval of two Nixon Supreme Court appointees. He also let us ask questions.

Q: Does your son (Sen. Evan Bayh) consult you for help with his re-election campaign?
A: Is he running again? (Very telling. Shows The Junior Bayh should have no worries defeating Republican challenger Marvin Scott.)

Q: Is it likely that if Bush is re-elected, he will appoint judges to overturn Roe v. Wade?
A: No, it's not likely. It's certain. If there is only one issue in this election I would say it's making sure he doesn't get the opportunity, besides being a bad President, to foul up the judiciary, which is supposed to be our last line of defense against the government.

Wow! What an indictment of this President. It's one thing when Kerry or Edwards flings harsh words like this. Or even if a partisan like myself said it, it wouldn't be so bad. But when a respected 3-term Senator and former Presidential candidate offer harsh criticisms like this, I think it is very telling. I think a man like this knows a thing or two about Washington. He was there for Kennedy, LBJ, Nixon, and part of Reagan.

Anyway, y'all already knew I wasn't voting for Bush. But now I feel very good about it with a old Washington vet on my side.

What the hell, I'll be a little political.

Watched the President's State of the Union address tonight. Interesting, to say the least. Overall, I thought it to be bland and mostly inoffensive. As expected there were ups and downs. I will touch on a few of each.

We'll go negative 1st, saving the "best" for last. Dubya called for renewal of both his taxcuts and the Patriot act. While I may not be a pro economist, I'm pretty sure his cuts are going only to him, and those like him (greedy, rich bastards). At the same time, I'm not sure how you can give taxcuts to a lower class that receives most, if not all, of their tax money back when tax checks come out each year. On this, I need to become more learned. The Patriot Act, however, I am more sure on. I will applaud 43 on his intentions. While some may disagree, I don't believe he's an evil man aiming to strip American's of their Constitutional rights. At the same time, it's time to realize that, as my father once told me, "Good intentions pave the road to Hell." (Thanks, Dad) It's time to, if not completely reject then majorly re-haul, the Patriot Act. No doubt we need to protect our homeland and keep a lookout for terrorists, but we can't do that at the expense of our own personal freedoms. One other thing I am severely conflicted on is this "sanctity of marriage" business. Being raised in a Christian household, I am still ingrained that homosexuality is morally wrong, though I really am trying to keep an open mind. That said I can understand the stance of man & woman, man & woman, man & woman. At the same time, however, I see no reason from a legal perspective for us, the heterosexual majority, to condemn those different from us. I learned in my basic government class that our government works on a "majority rules, minority rights" basis. Of all I learned, this is perhaps what stuck with me the most.

Not withstanding my last 298 words, I was, on the whole, pleased with this speech. I think a reformed prisoner relief system would be beneficial not only to those it helps directly, but also to the economy as a whole as it would open up an entire new sector of workers for employers, giving opportunity to those who need it most. This move would get good face, therefore encouraging consumers to consume in said company, spurring the economy as a whole. I especially liked Bush's proposed expansion of federal Pell grants, as this would apply to me. The idea of rewarding students for their academic success and not only their determined "need" may truly encourage young people to strive for achievement.

I know there was more. There are ideas Bush through out that sound good. I require more background info 1st. Specifically on immigration, healthcare, monies for faith-based organizations, I would like more info.

This was a long post. And, to be honest, it would have been longer if I would not have waited for so long to start my post after the speech. If you read this far, you get a gold star.

If only I could make myself write like this for that English paper due on Thursday.