State of the Scandals Address….

Last night’s State Of The Union address was pretty much what many expected to be. It was the same old, same old with Bush attempting to exploit his troops and wave patriotism in the face of what have been his biggest defeats. 2005 was not a good year for Boy George, so to hear him attempt to say otherwise was laughable. As predicted, he used 9/11 to try to weasel his way out of less than presidental conduct, and attempted to look honest when talking about reform in Washington when his hands are just as dirty as his fellow Republicans.

Boy George did his best to downplay what had happened over the last year, but failed miserably. It was a poor speech, and here are some highlights, complete with a few comments:

“Ultimately, the only way to defeat the terrorists is to defeat their dark vision of hatred and fear by offering the hopeful alternative of political freedom and peaceful change.”

You mean like the “peaceful change” you offered Iraq, Blunder Boy? Using cluster bombs, phospherous white and other naplam like weapons doesn’t exactly scream ‘peaceful’ in my books. Care to try that again?

“We are grateful to all who volunteer to wear our Nation’s uniform – and as we honor our brave troops, let us never forget the sacrifices of America’s military families…”

Is that so George? You have a strange way of honoring the sacrifices made by military families. Just minutes before the address, peace activist and mom of a killed soldier, Cindy Sheehan, was arrested and taken off the floor in hand cuffs. Her crime: all she did was wear a t-shirt that said “2,245 Dead — How Many More??” Is that your idea of honoring military families? Boy George also said a lot about freedom, yet since when was a peaceful (and silent) protest considered a crime? Did they pass something a few years ago that I missed?

Sheehan was invited to the house by Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., as her guest. So she had a legitimate reason to be there and wearing a t-shirt with the number of troops dead so far in Iraq is not offensive, just dissenting, which is not what the Repubs wanted I guess.

The last time I checked, freedom of speech was still part of the constitution. Let’s hope the American Civil Liberties Union hires a top knotch attorney and mops the floor with this trumped up charges. So much for supporting the troops and their families. I think Bush really meant honoring those who keep their comments to themselves and fall in line…

“And tonight, let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran: America respects you, and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom. And our Nation hopes one day to be the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran.”

I hate to burst George’s bubble, but Iran has a democratically elected President. There is no dictator in that nation and to give the people the impression that is how things are going in Iran are a tad over the top and in error. I’m sure comments like that are not going to be received well by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who just last year (June 25th, 2005 to be precise) managed to get 17,046,441 votes out of a total of 27,536,069 votes cast in what was a democratic election. So for George to give the impression that Iran doesn’t elect their leaders and are oppressed is not accurate.

“It is said that prior to the attacks of September 11th, our government failed to connect the dots of the conspiracy.”

This coming from the guy who chose to go on vacation than read a memo on his desk titled “Bin Laden wants to strike America”. The fact is George, the only person who failed to connect the dots was you, because you didn’t feel like working that summer…

“I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected al-Qaida operatives and affiliates to and from America. Previous presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have…”

Someone needs to tell that moron about the FISA court, which would in no way delay him from tapping the phone of a suspected terrorist. But the court does require oversight and, of course, it would uncover wiretaps that were unjustified. This is why they don’t apply for warrants, and why some of the taps are likely illegal.

Speaking of other Presidents, the last one who did something like that was another Republican President named Richard Nixon. We all remember what happened when he tapped people without a warrant, right?

“A hopeful society expects elected officials to uphold the public trust. Honorable people in both parties are working on reforms to strengthen the ethical standards of Washington – and I support your efforts. Each of us has made a pledge to be worthy of public responsibility – and that is a pledge we must never forget, never dismiss, and never betray.”

This coming from the same guy who too over $100,000 from Jack Abramoff. George has a lot of nerve trying to act high and mighty when he himself took dirty money from Abramoff during his re-election campaign. When you give back that money George, then you can preach ethical standards in Washington. Until then, you’re just another one of the crooks who needs to be tossed out of the capital.

“A hopeful society acts boldly to fight diseases like HIV/AIDS, which can be prevented, and treated, and defeated. More than a million Americans live with HIV, and half of all AIDS cases occur among African-Americans…”

AIDS used to be a gay disease… since when did it become an African-American disease? Was there really a need to keep latching AIDS to African-Americans as if it was exclusive just to them? Did I miss a memo or something? Am I the only person who found this part of the speech to be a tad disturbing? Why couldn’t he just say that he would make an effort to fight the disease on all fronts and in all parts of the world? Doesn’t make sense…

“By 2030, spending for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid alone will be almost 60 percent of the entire Federal budget…”

I wouldn’t mind seeing some numbers on that. I find this number a tad unrealistic since the federal budget is a huge number. The fact that three programs will take up 60% of that is hard to believe. I’m surprised he even brought up Social Security at all, especially since it was his biggest defeat of 2005. Something the Democrats didn’t hesitate to remind him of when they stood up and applauded when Bush was trying to downplay it. That was a sweet moment for the democrats.

“On September 11th, 2001, we found that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state seven thousand miles away could bring murder and destruction to our country. Dictatorships shelter terrorists, feed resentment and radicalism, and seek weapons of mass destruction. Democracies replace resentment with hope, respect the rights of their citizens and their neighbors, and join the fight against terror. Every step toward freedom in the world makes our country safer, and so we will act boldly in freedom’s cause…”

The first and only reference to 9/11, and it came at the 17 minute mark of the speech. Did anyone happen to notice anything missing from this paragraph… like the name of the country the terrorists were hiding in?

Counting on ignorance of geography to get people to tie Iraq to 9/11 is a pretty solid bet, but it’s still dishonest. The last time I checked, the Terrorists are in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and worst of all… right here in North America. The fact that he’s trying to tie Iraq to 9/11 again is a cheap tatic which I hope everyone notices and rejects.

“Human life is a gift from our creator.”

So much for the Separation of Church and State.

Let’s see how much comfort America gets from that when other nations use stem cell research to discover curse to diseases and then makes America pay through the nose to use them.

And since when did someone try to clone a human/animal hybrid? Where the hell did that bit of nonsense come from?

Overall, the state of the union was more or less what a lot of thought it was going to be: Propaganda from start to finish. This lame duck is doing his best to get out of his funk… but things are only going to get worse as the year goes on. More troops are going to die, eventually pictures of Jack Abramoff and Bush being chummy chummy are going to surface or be leaked to the press and his wiretaps will be heard in court and judged on their merits as necessary or illegal. Last but not least, the Democrats are going to lead the charge for reform and challenge for power in the house and the Senate. If they manage to take both back, I guarentee impeachment articles will be the first thing they pass. So this year has the potential to be worse for Bush than 2005 was. One can only hope, eh?

Also, the winner of the State Of The Union Pool is “JustLikeHeathen”. Thanks to those who left notes, private notes, entries in their own diaries and sent emails to partake in the pool. A lot of us overshot some of the questions, as the writers toned down the 9/11 stuff which was significantly lower than last year’s speech. The Pool was a bit of a success and maybe we’ll do it again next year. A prize of a book and a few coffee crips will be sent out when I get a mailing address. Thanks again and have a good Wednesday!

Peter