Anyone watching the State of the Union?
Well - you probably can figure out where I stand after 7 years of President Bush with less than a year to go. I’m not happy, to say the least..
Did you catch the spread in the paper on Sunday? A bunch of readers wrote in and gave their opinions on President Bush’s Presidency.
There were two letters titled History will judge favorably and One of America’s Best presidents that struck me.
Bush’s success is measured, as the writers say, by these are complete or parsed sentences from both letters;
The highly successful military campaigns in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Opposition to stem cell and same sex marriage are “nothing less than heroic”
His economic program, centered around tax cuts, resulted in deficit reduction, low unemployment and economic growth. His tax cuts helped pave the way for an almost unprecedented streak of economic growth and record low unemployment.
He also is to be praised for his two Supreme Court appointments.
His main contribution has been his unfailing purpose in doing what the Constitution asks of him: to protect U.S. citizens.
His proposal to save Social Security by allowing younger workers to invest a portion of their earnings in private investment accounts is an exciting idea that hopefully will be brought to life in the near future.
In the area of diplomacy, President Bush single-handily backed down North Korea’s nuclear aggression and forced that country to engage in multilateral talks.
There are a few other sentences but that’s enough
Where to start.
That’s it? 7 years? A divided country. Endless war, uncalculated consequences both here and abroad, an economy in the tank, subprime mortgages, loss of liberties, Torture, Gitmo, record national debt and that is only last year.
7 years of divisive politics - where people measure success, like folks represented by these letter writers, because gay people can’t get married or stem cells can’t be researched. Success is measured because there are two Supreme Court Justices that could over turn long standing decisions - like Roe v Wade.
Oh boy.
I’m sure the guys on their 4th tour in Iraq, who may still not be getting armored vehicles or body armor or worse, being fitted with artificial limbs, care about Roe v Wade or stem cell research with regards to other priorities in their lives.
Or, the folks who are watching their jobs go overseas, or the white collar workers heading over seas to train their replacements - only to return here and collect unemployment.
Or the elders on fixed income, choosing which medicines to take because of what they can actually afford. Or the millions of people without health care who are one simple fall away from bankruptcy.
Yep - 7 years, one more to go. Tonight we will probably hear plans or proposals designed to help President Bush’s legacy.
Unfortunately, he’s already secured it.
God Bless America
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I watched. Unfortunately, the only interesting things to see came when Bush entered the room. He was walking down the “handshake line” and was approaching Congressman Walsh. Just as Bush was about to come eye to eye with Walsh, Bush turned to the other side of the aisle. It really looked like it could have been a Presidential snub.
Farther down the line, was smiling Randy Kuhl. Bush and Kuhl exchanged big smiles and a handshake. No snub for Kuhl.
ABC’s Charlie Gibson remarked before Bush went down to the well of the House that members had lined up hours earlier to get in the aisle to greet Bush. That was followed by a stomache-turning, grinning Shotgun Randy and the Divider-in-Chief…Randy, still the faithful dog, eh? Oh wait..what’s that sound..? It’s you…slipping in the polls, buddy. I hope that photo op was well worth it.
Why is it that they treat the president like some sort of rock star? Would it be that way if there were no cameras? Was that always the case with presidents?