Judging by the last two years, the next two years are going to be hellish.
In his 2nd Inaugural Address in January 2005, Bush never uttered the word Iraq once. Can you believe it? Tonight it will be different.
The Constitution, of course, doesn't require him to personally him to deliver a SOTU every year, only
. . . from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.He doesn't even have to appear before Congress, but could even get by mailing or phoning his SOTU in. But he will appear before our Congress, Nation and world and tell us of his pride in his performance. Plan on feeling embarrassed.
We have a president who is proud of his Bush Doctrine of preventive war: a doctrine which the world thought was thoroughly discredited, dead and buried among the ashes of the 20th century. Bush has opened the 20th century with it. It is alien to the American experience and self-image. No matter. Thanks to this moron and my inattentive fellow Americans who elected him, we Americans have been branded and stigmatized as 'aggressor', 'imperialist' and 'international bully'.
In doubt? Look at BBC's Poll released today. While the world prefers American leadership to the leadership of any other single country, (China, Russia, Japan, Germany, or England), the majority of those polled (26,000 people in 25 countries) felt America misleads itself and misleads the world.
On Iraq- On Torture
- On Guantanamo detainees
- On the Israel-Hezbollah war
- On Iran's nuclear program
- On North Korea's nuclear program.
- On global warming.
I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night. I mean, we've got a fantastic economy here in the United States, but yet, when you think about the psychology of the country, it is somewhat down because of this war.With a President who unabashedly believes in the doctrine of preventive war, who stands behind an Attorney General who believes in torture and doesn't believe in habeas corpus, our union is in a state of deferred maintenance in extremis. But not so much (yet) that it couldn't be repaired by a compassionate resignation speech tonight.
That's what I am counting on for my peace of mind.
My caption to this, Vigilante, is
ReplyDelete"DREAM ON"
or
"FAT CHANCE"
Still it is not all bad news, please visit Guido at http://5thnovember.blogspot.com/ to see that US counter surveillance is paying off and that the boys in Iraq are having some fun.
ReplyDeleteSorry the footage is under GuyNews
ReplyDeleteWe-ell, hubby said he'll give me a few thousand for my funny-money slush fund if Bush manages to not say something entirely stupid.
ReplyDeleteNot counting my dinero yet. (the good news is he'll give it to me anyway just 'cuz he's cool like that).
Seriously though, I know I've had a rough few weeks and all which does tend to make me a bit gloomier than usual but still....it's like watching an oncoming train wreck with millions of people on board.
I can't even begin to imagine at what point most people will begin to get it.
Looking forward to hearing Senator Jim Webb's response to the Ferret's speech. Given the recent poll numbers and the extiction level event some Repubs see happening in 2008 if Iraq is not resolved in some way his reception won't just be cool it will be outright artic.
ReplyDeleteLike it makes any difference whether its Bush or Hillary up there talking shit to the American people.?
ReplyDeleteOur President, and Congress are bought and paid for by special interest.
Special interest by its nature deprives others of their rights and benefits.
Our system can not be reformed and must be re-imagined in a more creative way. It has been captured , and is no longer connected to the People of North America.
Caution: Guthrum's post above on Military Surveillance is not rated GA or SFO!
ReplyDeleteBeach, I can't guess who will be sitting next the the Stepford Wife! I'll guess I'll be watching to see. Theatre is theatre: doesn't have to be good theatre.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. Tonight, I have a high privilege and distinct honor of my own -- as the first President to begin the State of the Union message with these words: Madam Speaker.
ReplyDeleteMAJOR KISS ASS
This makes me sick. I can't hang any longer. Bailing out on Leaving Schools Behind. I have stuff to do. Call me when Senator Webb gets to speak. (Excuse me, I have to go now and puke.)
ReplyDeleteVigil, I've had two margarita's with a third sitting beside my chair. Chips, salsa, sour cream, and jalapeños. I'm feeling no pain right now. Thank God for spell check though, damn keyboard keeps moving.
ReplyDeleteBragging about stopping terrorist attacks now. Madam Speaker is sexy and Cheney looks more like Jabba the Hutt each day. Holy cow, Bush is looking like Jar-jar Binks. Thats it, I'm leaving now.
Jim Webb was terrific, especially the closing paragraphs!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't watching, so I'll have to ask a couple of questions.
ReplyDeleteHow often was New Orleans mentioned?
How often was Osama bin Laden mentioned?
Just curious.
And I have to say, reluctantly, that Hillary Clinton sounded very presidential during an interview with Keith Olberman. Reluctantly, because her record has never been very stellar on the invasion. But she sounded electable.
ReplyDeleteWhen asked for her summation of the state of the union, she responded "troubled, anxious, insecure disheartened". I agree with her there.
Hillary and Bush are the same people under different masks.
ReplyDeleteThe same people run both sides of our Political Establishment.
Humans are gullible as to believing in myths and fairy tales about our Political Establishment.
Dems and Repubs both are captives now of Special Interest.
I want to start spelling it $Hillary--it's too bad that the first woman running for president is already bought and paid for. My dream candidate is that proud Virginian of UK origin that helped made our President appear like the privileged fratboy that he is last night--but what CEO will fund Webb?! I must say that he is proof that the Democrats do have a populist heart on occassion (even if his appearance was only meant to be politically convenient)--I'd be thrilled if our country required publically funded campaigns.
ReplyDeleteThe most annoying part of the speech for me was when Bush was talking about nightmare scenarios as if they didn't already exist.
Have you all noticed anyone raising the issues discussed by Carr and Sullivan's points from this blog? They are so important for our national debate.
In his State of the Union address, President Bush made clear that he still considers cooperation to be a one-way street. He asked the Democratic-controlled Congress to cooperate with him on his agenda while offering little cooperation on its agenda.
ReplyDeleteBush tossed out some domestic platitudes on energy and healthcare, but I am not waiting for a decent plan to be offered to Congress.
What I heard repeatedly was "9/11" and "Al Qaeda." We aren't buying it anymore. More Americans have been killed in the Iraq war than on Sept. 11, so he should stop saying that he is protecting us.
He and his contractors are looting our treasury while skimping on our troops, both in the field and in the veterans' hospitals, where thousands have returned with their wounds. If this does not frighten you, then our American experiment is truly near its end.
The good news is that the people have become wise to Bush's deceptions. Only a diminishing minority will fall for his rhetoric now.
Quote of the day from Paul Krugman quoting FDR in 1936:
ReplyDelete“We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace — business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. … Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred.”