Bush’s State of the Union
Nothing like a leap-year winter; one extra chilly January day and the last State of the Union address of a presidential term. Except for the 30% of Americans who still approve of Bush (guess that would be the thirty percent who haven’t been keeping up with the news over the last seven years), most probably shared me experience of sideways jokes punctuated by the akward silence as the room contemplates that eternal Bush musing, “can he really mean that?”
Some of my favorite excerpts:
In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth, but in the short run, we can all see that that growth is slowing.
Sure we’re confident in the long run. We’ll have (heavens willing) a brilliant former law professor in as President for the next eight years. And growth isn’t slowing. We’re fucked. First hint: the disgusting fall in the value of the US dollar since Bush took office ( chart). Second: every time Bush comes up with a “plan” to fix the economy, the market heads south.
We have other work to do on taxes. Unless Congress acts, most of the tax relief we’ve delivered over the past seven years will be taken away.
Members of the Congress should know, if any bill — raises taxes reach — reaches my desk, I will veto it.
And yet $300 checks to American taxpayers? How many morgages will that keep from going into default? Is that something this jackass thinks we can afford? We’ve been portioning our economy off to foreign countries to finance a war that has lost it’s support (domestically, internationally, and ideologically) and was founded on lies (I’ll never know how Powell sleeps at night) because we had to build a nation (sorry, fight terror. . . or was it spread democracy?) and have gotten utterly quagmired. NOW Bush thinks he can afford to buy off the American people with money that isn’t his and is becoming less and less ours? How about listening to Congress once and a while? You know, those people we elected when we couldn’t kick you out?
Just as we trust Americans with their own money, we need to earn their trust by spending their tax dollars wisely.
Twit
On trade, we must trust American workers to compete with anyone in the world and empower them by opening up new markets overseas.
Hehe. . . as poor as the Dollar is doing, I don’t see how giving Corporate America more outsourcing options is going to help the American work force. Ah, but herein lies the genius of Bush; the weaker the Dollar gets, the less benefit there’ll be for moving a job overseas. Sweet.
To keep America competitive into the future, we must trust in the skill of our scientists and engineers and empower them to pursue the breakthroughs of tomorrow.
Except for stem cells, cloning, and things related to that evolutionary gobbledygook.
On matters of life and science, we must trust in the innovative spirit of medical researchers and empower them to discover new treatments while respecting moral boundaries.
Did anyone see “defining moral boundaries” in his job description?
On matters of justice, we must trust in the wisdom of our founders and empower judges who understand that the Constitution means what it says.
Wasn’t there something about powers not within the constitution being reserved for the people? Maybe I got that backward. Constitution didn’t say anything about illegal wiretapping so they must be included?
Tonight, the armies of compassion continue the march to a new day in the Gulf Coast.
Is that the army that blows up hospitals or the one that blows up the checkpoints of an occupying force?
I won’t go further into the mess of military stuff he dumps on the table like so much soiled, rotten cabbage, but if you didn’t get the chance to watch it, the transcript is up on CNN ( link).
Well, I’ll sleep a lot better (whiskey helps)