The obvious hub of the Presidential State of the Union address was his desperate plea to support his plan to send a surge of troops to Iraq. Madame Speaker Pelosi remained firmly in her seat while V.P. Cheney rose to give his predictable support to Bush's plan.
Freshman Senator Webb gave an excellent
response, one worth reading if you did not hear it...or reading again if you did get to see it live. Senator Webb very smoothly pointed out that Americans' have no reason to trust President Bush's new plan to "win" in Iraq as he said:
"this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years. Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world."
When I heard the President
address the nation from the library on January 10th, I felt that that there would be little resistance to his change in strategy, which can be summed up by his simple statement that:
"This will require increasing American force levels. So I've committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq."
His description of the dire consequences of leaving Iraq without first sending this surge were indeed frightening, and his recent change of commanders the week prior gave this address an air of confidence that it was all a done deal. That was how I felt even though the American public had seemed to vote overwhelmingly Democratic in the November election, a statement that also seemed to say that Americans wanted to see a big change in how Iraq was handled.
In his State of the Union Address, President Bush again emphasized that American would not want to leave Iraq without finishing the job. He said that the course of the war may not be the war that we planned, but it is the war that we have....and
WHY is the war as it is?? From his poor planning, from his failure to take advice. Why did we not send in adequate troops and supplies earlier? Why did the war seem to be run on the cheap when it is so important?
Pres. Bush seems intent on increasing the military presence in Iraq. His concept of winning is military. I think that what it means to WIN and what it means to leave successfully should emphasize political and economic outcomes for Iraq and not military outcome.
After listening to Webb, I am more eager to hear plans of how we can begin to phase troops out of Iraq, while also stabilizing the safety of its citizens and its political economy.
I agree with Bush's assertion that America is a nation of great heroism and great people. We need to take seriously that we have been given much and so from us much is expected.
That members of Congress could come together to address educational issues in the first term of Bush's presidency was, hopefully, the beginning of a heroic effort to finally address educational inequalities. I hope that there will be serious revisions to
No Child Left Behind. With the new Democratic leadership in the Senate and the House, I am certain there will continue to be bipartisan efforts to make each child's educational experience quality.
I am also hopeful that the United States will continue to make international aid a priority. President Bush has made many promises to meet the millennium goals by putting funds into the millennium challenge account, which he formed in 2002.
I was somewhat surprised that in his reference to PEPFAR and AIDS relief he did not also mention abstinence-only. Abstinence-only-until-marriage had been mentioned in every previous speech of his Presidency. Abstinence-only was also being included as a stipulation on how funds in African nations were being spent with the Global AIDS Funds. Abstinence-only was also a powerful rallying cry to his conservative supporters. I think people should all take note that it was missing from this Presidential address.
Although the conservative war against sexual freedom and reproductive rights is far from over, it is very interesting that this key policy issues, which had been gaining momentum was absent. There are many other topics from the address that are worth exploring. The issue of spending reform seemed to get solid, positive responses from the Republican side of the aisle. He has a very interesting tax proposal. I am intrigued the connection between lowering taxing to help more Americans' afford private health insurance. It is a powerful scheme that does everything Republicans like--privatize and cut taxes--and is destined to make them look good, if it works.
Everyone agrees we need to act wisely, spend wisely...develop alternative fuels and alternative plans to fight the war on terror. It is too bad that Bush promotes this ideas now, on his way out. This is probably why he has the worst approval rating for any president in the last 50 years, or so said Wolf Blitzer.
I am eager to see how well Congress responds to the President's call for troops. Let us all pray everyone begins to think wisely, and consider how the well being of America is connected to the well being of all the residents of this planet.
Try printing out different sizes, and let people choose which ones to hold. 
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