who saw/heard the state of the union? what were your thoughts? i must say i did not see it or hear but one snippet. i was very busy and would have been hard pressed to make myself watch it...so what did others think?

I watched the entire thing. It struck me as mainly spin and vague pronouncements without any detailed plans of action to back them up. He also briefly tried to justify his administration's warrantless and unchecked spying on Americans. These are scary times, and Bush didn't say anything last night to help calm my nerves about the ever-expanding powers of the executive. The only really good moment occurred when Bush tried to scold Congress for not enacting his recommendations on Social Security. The Democrats stood up and cheered when he brought this up, which seemed to catch him totally off guard. Otherwise not much to change my mind about the direction and intentions of this administration.

Good things:

"Americans need affordable health care". Amen, brother..let's develop a better plan for implementing that.

..promises to develop alternative fuel to reduce dependence on oil

..the whole spiel about conducting debate in a civil tone and not letting it "harden into anger"

The bad and the ugly:

"there in no honor in retreat" Really? What about when you're losing the battle? Keep fighting anyway? Weren't those Napoleon's last words? What about all those troops in Fallujah, etc. who do retreat every day (because sometimes it's smart to do so). Are they not honorable? I know he meant to suggest "retreating" from Iraq as a whole..but what a poor choice of words.

"revolution of conscience" re: abortion. That is, those who are pro-choice need to adjust their consciences. This one brought me out my seat. People who think those warning about the overturn of Roe v. Wade are just hysterical..take note. :no: He lumped abortion in with drug abuse, crime and welfare (gasp! welfare)

The whole b.s. about listening to terrorists in America because "we don't want to sit back and get hit again". What crap. The court has approved over 99% of his requested warrants. The Democrats (and some Republicans) don't want him to sit back (what an offensive, arrogant statement)..they just want him to follow the law.

Hamas...they have to "work for lasting peace". Hmm...doesn't Israel need to do this too?

Call to revive the Patriot Act...let it go already.

No judge should "legislate from the bench". I think lightening should strike down the next politician who utters this tired, crap-filled line. Liberals and conservatives alike are guilty of this offense, let's be honest already.

My favorite sidebar story to the speech:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/01/politics/main1271567.shtml

Some nice grammatical goofs too, but I digress.

..promises to develop alternative fuel to reduce dependence on oil


There aren't any practical alternatives, but what the heck, might as well pretend there are. To state the truth would be too darn scary.

I'd argue with that Ludi, but perhaps it belongs in a new thread. Actually, there's probably one already out there in VB land. :)

IAJ i suspected i could count on to fill in my lazy not wanting to watch through my fingers self! whaddya do take notes?? thanks!

*chuckle* I'm a pretty auditorily-oriented gal, so phrases stick in my brain easily (plus that's what the speech writers designed some of them to do :D )

I do pay attention though. Much of the SOTU speech is just pomp and circumstance, but it is when the residing President outlines his plans for the coming year as well.

I had a random VB moment too, watching the speech. I was thinking about what a dull speaker Bush is, and I thought about Soilman's thread re: MLK. Heh.

wanna really get ticked off? Check out this article about Bush's comments about reducing our dependence on oil from the Middle East:
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/13767738.htm?source=rss&channel=krwashington_nation

He didn't mean it literally? It was purely an example? This is basically acknowledgment that his words on this subject were total b.s. The obvious question is how much of the rest of his goals and promises were total b.s. too, although I think I know the answer to that one......

I watched Ocean's 12 on tape instead. I can't stand when every network is taken up by some moron.

I work as a tele-fundraiser, and I heard the last ten minutes of the speech when an elderly contact didn't hang up the phone correctly. It was boring. His meetings with the media are much better, as he has the chance to make some jokes. Bush is a lousy President, but I bet he would make a great drinking buddy.

wanna really get ticked off? Check out this article about Bush's comments about reducing our dependence on oil from the Middle East:
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/13767738.htm?source=rss&channel=krwashington_nation

He didn't mean it literally? It was purely an example? This is basically acknowledgment that his words on this subject were total b.s. The obvious question is how much of the rest of his goals and promises were total b.s. too, although I think I know the answer to that one......


Ha ha, yeah, and to think we took it seriously for a second or two! heh.

It was just the same old stuff that he's been saying for the last two years. Reguritated into a box and wrapped up pretty with a blue ribbon.