...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Wednesday, January 21, 2004
      ( 1:20 PM )
 
Post SOTU Blues

If you want really good post-State of the Union speech reviews, check out Maru. Let's just review a few of Bush's glowing comments last night.

First of all, I note that the transcript inserts "(Applause)" lines, and it actually inserted the spontaneous applause that followed this line:

Key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to
expire next year. (Applause.)

He clearly didn't mean to get claps for that one, but it sure as heck was funny! Meanwhile, he spent a good 45 minutes trying to scare us about all the dangers we face and why we must preemptively strike out at all costs, no matter what.

We're seeking all the facts. Already, the Kay Report
identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-
related program activities and significant
amounts of equipment

Woohoo! We've invaded a sovereign nation and killed thousands of our own soldiers, but we're in the right, because we've found weapons of mass destruction-related program activities! And it all makes sense too, because we're still saying we went into Iraq because of 9/11:

After the chaos and carnage of September the 11th,
it is not enough to serve our enemies with legal
papers. The terrorists and their supporters declared
war on the United States, and war is what they got.

In fact, he invoked 9/11 four times and said "terror" or "terrorist" 21 times in the course of an hour. He tried to pretend that making tax cuts permanent wouldn't put us into a cripling deflation and balloon our deficits. He seemed to think that making us put away "medical savings accounts" (presumably out of the vast savings we have left over after trying to live paycheck to paycheck) was a good way to provide us health care. And he really did seem convinced that legislating No Child Left Behind and then bankrupting it really is good for our children.

Any way you slice it, this president is ready for retirement. If this country is dumb enough to allow him an election where he actually wins, based only on the stirring images of his "leadership" after 9/11, then it gets the president it deserves. Hopefully, we will be able to stir enough voters out of their stupor to make sure this doesn't happen. In fact, if you haven't done so this week, go and make sure everyone you know is registered and committed to voting this year. It actually DOES matter.


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