So I half-watched the State of the Union Address last night. Actually, I first tuned in on my way back from the library, listening in my car, and I flipped off my stereo no less than five times in ten minutes. I shouldn't have. My stereo has been nothing but faithful to me. This was a case of blaming the messenger. Tres unfair.
Here's something that irks me: hearing commentators and others talk about listening to W. with an open mind, as if there's a chance the president could have redeemed himself in this speech, found a way to really turn things around. And I recall the same sort of talk when he gave his "stirring" speech about rebuilding New Orleans. Back then we were going to, "Do what it takes" and other such rhetoric. And commentators discussed how Bush nailed it, connected with fellow Americans, blah blah blah. Has anything happened in New Orleans? Not really. Does Bush actually care? Not really. He cares about his well-off friends from the region. He's made sure his pals get more than their fare share of government contracts.
Love Bush or hate him, here's an absolute fact about the man: He's a liar. He doesn't accidentally "mislead", he tells boldfaced lies to achieve his goals. So what does it matter what he says in a speech? What does it matter what we FEEL about his speech? How 'bout we just look at what he does? Has he rebuilt New Orleans? No. Do our troops have the body armor they need? No. Are our seniors getting the medication they need under his brilliant new plan? No. Is freedom really on the march? Yes, actually. Freedom IS on the march. Like Elvis, Freedom has just left the building. I don't know where it's marching, I just know it's marching away from Americans. Two people were thrown out of the SOTU address for "protesting." Is wearing a t-shirt with an undisputed, yet disconcerting fact against the law? I don't know if you realize it, but laws don't matter much anymore. They're inconvenient.
By the way, what is a culture of life? Is that respect for the dignity and humanity of every person except for those we torture? Bush said a society is measured by how it treats its weak and vulnerable. I guess that means he's being compassionate when he cuts taxes for the wealthy and cuts aid to the poor.
The parts of this speech I watched made me want to scream. Do people really buy into anything he says? Amazing.
9 comments:
I heard it on the radio, and had to switch over when the bile started to rise in my throat. I liked the back-and-forth that happened between Dems and Republicans when he mentioned how his medicare plan was stymied by Congress. He's not even a good liar, and still he gets away with murder.
Laura,
Samuel Alito in now on the Supreme Court. Ebay arefulcay atwhay ouyay aysay.
You know something funny. For more than a year I thought I was reading the blog of Lauras Wisher.
Of course there's a culture of life. It is like when you rent an apartment and have to make a deposit of the first and last month rent before you move.
Believers only talk about the first and last nine months of life where there is a question as to when life begins and ends, but that's just the deposit. Just because they are so late paying their rent that they are about to be evicted, doesn't mean their heart isn't in the right place.
How dare you criticize our president's character. Neither I, good God-fearing Americans, or Lauras Wisher would ever do something like that.
If Bush really wanted to find out what the terrorists are doing, all they would have to do is use one of the bots that post those "Your blog is so insightful. You might want to check my butt cream blog"
This is the first time I've seen a post from libertarians. I'm not sure what word was searched for.
It might have been Lauras Wisher.
Laura, I tell myself I’m going to watch the state of the onion address every year. But, as soon as I flip it on I remember how much trash I have to sit through. I can’t take the standing ‘O’s after every few syllables. Last night the scene was one side of the isle standing first, then the other. Back and forth. Jump up and clap. Up and down, up and down. Many of the attendees seeming to rise in perfect Stepford unison. The President was interrupted so many times his speech probably actually contained only about as much text as an old Lifebouy soap commercial. But of course every political speech nowadays is styled to produce this type of involuntary audience reaction.
And yes Laura I agree with you. (Gee... No surprises there) The President is a liar. Anyone with a bit of a brain could figure that out. But Americans eat it up because it makes us feel bigger and better about ourselves. Many people desperately want to believe in something, or be in on the winning side so badly they’re willing to overlook anything. In this day and age how in the world could we attack another country only to find out afterwards that every reason given for doing so turned out to be laughingly wrong or just plain non-existent? Berretta received better ‘intel’ from Huggy Bear. All those terrible war criminals and now the US can’t seem to release Iraqi prisoners fast enough. And if Hussein had anything at all to do with 911 why isn’t he in an American court answering for that catastrophe? He’s not even in an Iraqi court half the time. How many of those mugs on that deck of cards are still in custody, or in the country?
I had a funny feeling (pub’d here for the first time) a good three years ago that told me that Hussein would somehow again be ruler of Iraq. Everyday we goof around over there gets him just a little closer.
The trouble with rhetoric is it's just so rhetorical.
I can say all the well-intentioned things yesterday then do all the malicious things I might choose to do and later claim I had good-intentions. It comes down to what has been done/accomplished by this administration?
I'll never forget the banner on the aircraft carrier "Mission Accomplished".
That for me was beyond the "read my lips, no new taxes" from Bush senior and it was far greater an injustice to the American public than Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
The man needs to get it over with and grow a Charlie Chaplin mustache.
I think Bush Sr. and Clinton and joining forces to keep the country from revolting.
Funny how Oprah knows when to call someone out when they've been lying and not our press or Congress.
Oprah for President. There, I said it.
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