State of the Union
By Denise Best | Related entries in Blogging, General PoliticsOk, everyone who caught all, or at least parts, of the President’s State of the Union address, please stand …
I know, the viewership probably wasn’t stellar, (which has been the case ever since cable access took a stronghold : ) but for those of you who did catch any of the coverage, here’s a commentary …
Whether George W. Bush is, at best, the worst president since Herbert Hoover — as a seemingly sizable number of Americans appear to believe — he acquitted himself fairly well and came off as basically competent when he delivered his fifth State of the Union speech last night.
The address, televised on all the networks from the House chamber of the Capitol, was capably presented, well organized and sometimes lofty in tone. But it was also lackluster, ordinary and, most of all, generic. With only a few changes, the same speech could have been delivered a year ago, and maybe it was. Nobody remembers these things from one year to the next anyway.
Wow — darn near close to complimentary, isn’t it?
Well, not gushing by any stretch, but it does convey at least a modicum of respect as to the skills of this president.
George W. is a strong speaker when it comes to prepared speeches and last night validated that he can come through in the clutch.
Particular points of interest …
- “Addicted to Oil” (wonder if there’ll be a Robert Palmer like video parody on one of the late night shows?) It was heartening to hear official acknowledgement, and a strategic direction, for pursuing alternate energy sources.
- Leave the war planning and related decision making to the military and leave the politicians out of that mix … makes a great deal of sense.
So, what speech points struck a chord with you?
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February 1st, 2006 at 10:25 am
The line-item veto demand was a little peculiar, especially since it had been passed in the 1990s and then its use struck down as unconstitutional in New York v. Clinton. I assume he’s pushing for yet another constitutional amendment?
February 1st, 2006 at 10:48 am
I like his consistent use of the false dichotomy of having to choose between either isolationism or bombing the crap out of the world. Comparing the Iraq war to MLK’s non-violent push for civil rights in the U.S. was also classic.
February 1st, 2006 at 10:52 am
What was up with Kaine’s left (right to viewers) eyebrow?
February 1st, 2006 at 10:57 am
At best, the worst pres. since HH. And ‘basically competent’;from that you draw ‘darn near close to complimentary’.
If I was doing a review of someone here at work, and said the last 12 people (at least) that did the job before you were better, and you were basically competent. The next words would be that we were sorry we were having to let you go.
February 1st, 2006 at 11:16 am
His comments about energy and being addicted to oil were nice and all, but I don’t think he really cares about it, as evidenced by a lack of an actual plan and funding. This issue is important for SO MANY reasons, the least of which being our problems with the Middle East.
I thought it was hilarious when all the Dems gave him a standing O when he said they rejected his Social Security crap! YEA!!!!!!
Basically, I was not impressed.
February 1st, 2006 at 11:20 am
Oh, and I forgot about his call to ban stem cell research and cloning in all of its forms because, among other things, we need to make sure we don’t have any human-animal hybrids.
WHAT??????????
February 1st, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Meredith,
Suppose he has a copy of the Island of Dr. Moreau on his nightstand?
That was indeed odd. Maybe he saw the green glow-in-the-dark pigs and immediately jumped to the conclusion that human-animal hybrids are next.
February 1st, 2006 at 12:09 pm
I caught that too. God, I hope somebody, somewhere, is really working on this before it gets banned. That would be so COOL :)
On the funding for alternative forms of energy…
Why should the government fund this? There’s clearly demand, and the first company to come out with a VIABLE alternative will make plenty of money. They aren’t waiting for the government to incentivize them, (but they’ll take the money if it’s offered).
February 1st, 2006 at 12:12 pm
I like how the Republicans felt like they had to respond to the Dems Social Security standing O, so after Bush’s next line,”The problem won’t go away,” they automatically cheered like crazy as if to say,”Hooray for problems!”
This speech can become a pretty silly show.
February 1st, 2006 at 12:15 pm
rob,
Don’t you know sarcasm when you read it? :)
Actually, as rabid as most commentaries have been on George W., this one is complimentary in comparison.
I didn’t want to be pushing that point too hard though and having Justin take me to task :)
February 1st, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Rove to George W. … “No more adlibbing!”
February 1st, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Aside from being an interesting choice of words (does this mean a “War On Oil” is in the offing?), Bush’s “addicted to oil” meme does have one big shortcoming: It doesn’t address the oil “addiction” of countries like China and India. By the time the U.S. energy infrastructure is fully ready to move on to other energy sources, oil consumption elsewhere in the world (at the rate at which it’s currently growing) will probably pick up most if not all of the slack. To the extent that oil money funds terrorism, breaking this “addiction” probably will not have much of an effect, unless Bush intends for the U.S. to share the alternative-energy technology of which he speaks (once it its developed) with the rest of the world.
February 1st, 2006 at 1:50 pm
As one who believes in the need for privatization of social security — the Dems self-congratulatory applause at scuttling a “plan” to let me save some of my own money did irritate me. I thought it was childish and I’d bet that most middle-class taxpaying voters did too. I look forward to the day when the Democratic Party is controlled by grown-ups who can do math. Appartently, Howard Dean has problems with math in many facets of his public service.
February 1st, 2006 at 5:23 pm
Andrew Sullivan seems to agree with me (albeit for a different reason) that the “addiction to oil” meme is pretty silly.
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:41 am
DosPeros
When you say “I thought it was childish and I’d bet that most middle-class taxpaying voters did too” I can only assume that you think most middle class taxpayers supported the President’s plan. I’d be interested to know why you say that, since every poll indicated that it was a dog with the public. I think you might be projecting just a little.
February 2nd, 2006 at 10:34 am
Chris —
I probably am projecting and doing some wishful thinking. I still think it was the height of tackiness. Maybe it is what the applause exposed that I find so revolting — a kind of hardline, blind love for a failing system of government redistribution. No doubt the Dems consider it a grand victory. Just from a professional prespective — it really demeaned the Dems in my eyes.
I hope that even those people who oppose privatization of social security would not gloat over the defeat of a legitimate reform proposal.
By the way, when am I or any my friends or, in fact, anyone I know going to be part of one of these polls. Am I just incredible unlucky, am I on some black list of people not to poll?
February 2nd, 2006 at 10:43 pm
“What was up with Kaine’s left (right to viewers) eyebrow?”
My wife had the same comment.
“we need to make sure we don’t have any human-animal hybrids.
WHAT?????????? ”
Stuff along these lines:
Genetic Mingling Mixes Human, Animal Cells
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=715561
“The University of Nevada-Reno researcher talks matter-of-factly about his plans to euthanize one of the pregnant sheep in a nearby lab. He can’t wait to examine the effects of the human cells he had injected into the fetus’ brain about two months ago.”
Kinda creepy, no?
February 3rd, 2006 at 1:09 pm
Hey Tom,
Thanks for the info about the human-animal hybrid thing. It does sound a little creepy, but it sounds like the scientific community is aware of the ethical issues, as is the government. I’m quite sure that we won’t have to worry about any “humanzees” roaming around anytime soon. I definitely think there needs to be a close watch on the ethical considerations surrounding stem cell and cloning issues. However, an outright ban because of bizarre centaur-like creatures running around, which is what I thought Bush was talking about.