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January 31, 2006
State Of the Union 2006
All of the SOTU speeches that I've seen are well done. Bill Clinton, I admit, gave some of the best. And they do give a good idea of where the president wants to go, what his policy prescriptions are. And they are great American moments. Unlike in so many countries, there are no catcalls, and very little booing. Everyone stands and applauds at the beginning and the end. These are very good things, for they are one more bit of evidence that we are the most mature and stable democracy on the planet.
Often more interesting than the speech itself, though, is the reaction from Republicans and Democrats, who gives a standing ovation to what part and who sits silently.
Unfortunately Bush does have a way of looking like he's smirking when he means to grin. It's a look that drives the left insane, which kind of amuses me, I'll admit. All in all, though, I wish he could somehow change it. Not gonna happen, though.
The full text of the speech can be found here. LGF had it up seconds after it ended. Amazing.
The President started off with a strong defense of the war in Iraq, as he should have. Contrary to the naysayers, we are making steady progress, and we must stay until the job is finished.
I'm glad he spoke so strongly about Iran. He made it clear that he will not accept an Iranian nuclear weapon. Just as important he was conciliatory to the Iranian people, maiking it clear that our argument is not with them.
The Democrats certainly didn't like it when Bush asked Congress to renew the Patriot Act. Their misfortune, because I think that while Americans may be uncomfortable with some aspects of it, they definately want most of it reauthorized.
Hillary grinned and shook her head ever so slightly when Bush said "If there are people inside our country who are talking with al-Qaida, we want to know about it because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.". She couldn't even bring herself to laugh when he said that "This year, the first of about 78 million Baby Boomers turn 60, including two of my Dads favorite people me, and President Bill Clinton". And she wants to be president? First she needs to become human.
The Democrats outright booed when Bush urged them to make his tax cuts permanent. W justgrinned.
Says he'll cut the deficit in half by 2009. I'll believe that when I see it. As every conservative knows, Bush has let us down on this and other domestic policy issues. Our only consolation is that the Democrats would spend more. Anyway, it was the Democrats turn to smirk.
The Democrats cheered when Bush said that "Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security", showing once again that they are the party of Alfred E Newman "what me worry". The bad news is that he recommended another commission to study the issue. We don't need another commission. What we need is for politicians of both parties to recognize that there is a problem, and to form some bipartisan way to fix it (see, I can be reasonable).
Overall I thought the speech was pretty non-confrontational and not terribly partisan. Bill Kristol on FoxNews said it was "conciliatory", which I think was going to far. Bush didn't throw out a lot of red meat for conservatives, but it was a SOTU speech, after all.
The new governor of Virginia, Tim Kaine, gave the Democrat response. Interestingly, it was fairly tepid affair, with lots of calls for bipartisanship. I imagine the Kos crowd will skewer him. His recommendation that we should "restrict corporate profits to encourage greater investment in energy resources and lower energy prices, however, would be a disaster.
Nice try on both sides, but it won't happen. Nor, on many issues, should it.
Oh, and apparently that whackjob Cindy Sheehan was arrested for unfurling a banner in the Congressional gallery just before the speech started.
Posted by Tom at January 31, 2006 9:33 PM
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Comments
Neil Cavuto's "Common Sense" the day after the SOTU address was priceless. He said that were he Prez, he would have said exactly seven words, "Get off your asses and do something!"
Posted by: Anna at February 3, 2006 5:05 PM
