So I watched the State of the Union , and I was rather unimpressed.
Most of the address, in my view, led up to “We need to STAY in Iraq.” In fact, I predict President Bush is going to say this over and over until, finally, we HAVE to leave. Then it will become, “We never needed to be there in the first place.”
I will admit, I cheered with joy when Bush said he will bring some troops home. He also promised to support the needs of those who have fought in the war. That is what's needed, most of all. I may not agree with the war, but I support our troops 150 percent of the way. Similar to how I may respect the office of president, but I don't support the man holding it.
As I know already, we'll be in Iraq for the long haul, but the Bush Administration is planning to slowly draw troops back. Am I happy? Yes and no. I want our troops home, but I realize Iraq would fall to extremist groups overnight if we just pulled out completely. So, I'll take this small pull out as - realistically - what can be done.
Overall, the speech is what I expected - a lot of words to express a few key facts. But, props to Bush for admitting that the government has to stop using Social Security as its personal piggy bank. Boos to Bush for wanting to stop stem cell research.
At the end, Bush did say he wanted to fight world hunger, give better child care to the families of soldiers, and fight the spread of AIDS.
It is about time that we hear something like this coming from our president, in my humble opinion. I've been waiting to hear President Bush say JUST this. But, I disliked that Bush coupled it with another plug to stay in Iraq. As I said at the beginning, it is what I expected for a State of the Union speech from our current president - an unimpressive speech from a sadly unimpressive man.
Chris
January 29, 2008 at 04:13 PM
Nothing like a last State of the Union from a lame duck - like going to a wake and having to watch the corpse drink and dance. To his credit, he did make this shockingly coherent statement:
Yet we also need to acknowledge that we will never fully secure our border until we create a lawful way for foreign workers to come here and support our economy.
Dave
from Oceanside
January 29, 2008 at 05:19 PM
Of course he wants to stop world hunger.. everyone does.. But he has the power to do something..
It would take money to stop hunger... money that we pour into fighting "terror" in Iraq... money spent training to fight terror ..
Money spent on Naval operations using sonar that kills sea animals under the pretense of needing to be prepared to find "silent" submarines... we are, after all in a war... But.. how many silent subs does Al Quaeda have??
Thanks for the review of the State of the Union address... I didn't watch it. It's not that I don't like what he's doing (though I don't).. it's that I don't like being reminded that the most powerful nation in the world is being led by a cheerleader.
Rah rah.. sis boom bah!
Alma from San Diego
January 29, 2008 at 06:49 PM
What, no mention of an Iranian threat? It is good to hear President Bush paying homage to the troops. It's the least he can do for the men and women serving repeated deployments in war zones. Let's hope, for theirs and their family's sakes, the president keeps the promises he's made to financially support the people sacrificing their lives so he can fulfill promises made to Iraqis.
aaryn b.
from san diego
January 29, 2008 at 07:20 PM
Oh, Bush puffed up his chest and made at least one reference to the Iranian threat. He also offered lip service and feigned emotion to our troops serving two and three and four tours in this "War on Terror," though I do not recall him extending condolences to the families of our five troops killed yesterday.
On the domestic front, he discussed how successful No Child Left Behind truly is, how Americans deserve the right to make private medical decisions with their physicians (who, exactly, was he talking about here? or, rather, not talking about?), and how those earmarks---those nasty, dubious earmarks that managed to avoid his veto pen for six of the past eight years---will not be tolerated!
Yes, the Emperor *still* has no clothes, the congress *still* stands to applaud him and the American public is *still* not demanding accountability.
David Edmondson from San Diego, CA
January 29, 2008 at 07:49 PM
I stopped putting stock in anything President Bush said about Iraq a long time ago. As for his commitment to fight world hunger and AIDS, I find it funny that now, he wants to help, when the people along the Mississippi Delta and New Orleans, have still not received the help they needed after Hurricane Katrina. I'm glad that he's leaving! Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Steven
January 29, 2008 at 09:44 PM
"Yet we also need to acknowledge that we will never fully secure our border until we create a lawful way for foreign workers to come here and support our economy."
Yeah, I was surprised by that line, and meant to comment on it. It was a surprising bit of clarity to hear from our Head of State.
Jeanne Brown from Point Loma
January 29, 2008 at 11:49 PM
The President could do something about the immigration, too. If we had a "surge" at Immigration (not on the border but in the offices) so that it didn't take people sometimes as long as 20 years to come in legally, then more people would go through the legal way. Double or triple the number of people working to clear up the paperwork for a year or two. Then the people who are crossing illegally would be decreased and it would be a manageable problem. As long as there is a logjam for people to come in the legal way, there will be thousands trying to come in illegally.
James Almeida
from Homeless with a Mortgage
February 02, 2008 at 04:49 AM
I have been trying to get this corrected and have had
every door slammed. Every Goverment official kick me
out, advising this is a voting year and they will not
help, or care too????
I have tried to hire 11 attorney's and none want to
ruin their career, but gladly took my money. I am
broke and homeless for the last 2 years with a
MORTGAGE???
Please if you can post a link on your web page, talk
about this on your show, if you have an emailing, let
everyone know so they can have their friends and
family also help.
Thank You James Almeida
And my to you and your obvious ability to ignore a
voter/resident/civil rights victim.
Fl was listening,Yes I work hard being HOMELESS WITH A
MORTGAGE.
Beware of Mit Romney and his lies, Obama and his
hidden life, and inability to work for U.S.A. And
Senator Clinton and her unwilling to help us (citizens
of THE U.S.A).
True Story:
Real Property:
Please help, email your local Senator and Congress
Person, DON'T BECOME HOMELESS WITH A MORTGAGE LIKE ME:
absolutely secluded, deeded to lies by Fidelty
National Title. Only way to this beautiful newer cape
with 62 feet of beach is by helicopter or by boat. No
ability to drive to home, Town of Tiverton
(administrator and Chief of Police ensured this). With
the help of Senator Reed and Senator Whitehouse and
Governor Carceiri,Than Governor Mit Romney, homeowner
kicked out, unable to go home (though town and
neighbors have come up with new cover story, different
than Fidelty's agent to get home sold).Homeowner
unable to now get any real estate attorney to help him
sue or sell to prospective homebuyers(avoid any lender
that uses Fidelty National Title, or you too can be
sleeping in your car for almost 2 years). Water views,
and no police can get there for anyone who wants
privacy. Hurry voting year this year and Senator Reed
wants to help you too.
Call Senator Reed for more info (lies of course for
your vote this year) 401-943-3100.124 Line Rd,
Tiverton R.I now changed to 130 St Mary St, Fall
River, Ma (again to cover it all up) magical property
moves all the time, you too can enjoy this call
now.(sorry bad audio)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1839503411637812975&hl=en
