State of the Union address 2006
If you're an American citizen, you owe it to yourself to read the State of the Union address by President Bush.
If you're not an American citizen, I recommend you read it as well due to the tremendous influence the US has on the rest of the world.
Click here for the full text of President Bush's speech.
As for what I think of it personally...
Seems like President Bush's stance on many key issues dividing Democrats and Republicans remains unchanged: He says we need to stay in Iraq, he attacks the idea that we should retreat, and says that "we are winning". He brings up issues such as his eavesdropping program, Iran, the US dependence on oil, healthcare, immigration, and medical liability. Read the full text for details.
He also proposed many initiatives, a good many of which may well get nowhere due to his weak position as a "lame duck" President, although he managed to look and sound confident about them. Unfortunately, to anyone watching the speech, the partisan divide was quite evident: At some parts in his speech, half the room would be standing up, and the other half standing down. This is akin to practically screaming "we don't agree with you, Mr. President."
It is sad to see that partisan politics still manages to rule the day, even if it's not in the best interests of the American people. At this point the US needs unity, not division. I commend President Bush for his speech tonight, but I'm afraid not much is going to change and not many of his initiatives are actually going to go anywhere.
Edit @ 10:38PM / 2.2.06:
What I didn't hear angered me as well: President Bush devoted approximately 150 words to addressing the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. I know most of the country doesn't really care much about New Orleans, but to see the President spending so little time on the subject was infuriating. It was a disaster, make no mistake about it. And it's his job to make sure the area gets the aid (financial or otherwise) it needs, public opinion be damned. New Orleans took about 75% of the damage Hurricane Katrina caused, and it's only getting a little more than 50% of the aid sent to the Gulf Coast region.
If you're not an American citizen, I recommend you read it as well due to the tremendous influence the US has on the rest of the world.
Click here for the full text of President Bush's speech.
As for what I think of it personally...
Seems like President Bush's stance on many key issues dividing Democrats and Republicans remains unchanged: He says we need to stay in Iraq, he attacks the idea that we should retreat, and says that "we are winning". He brings up issues such as his eavesdropping program, Iran, the US dependence on oil, healthcare, immigration, and medical liability. Read the full text for details.
He also proposed many initiatives, a good many of which may well get nowhere due to his weak position as a "lame duck" President, although he managed to look and sound confident about them. Unfortunately, to anyone watching the speech, the partisan divide was quite evident: At some parts in his speech, half the room would be standing up, and the other half standing down. This is akin to practically screaming "we don't agree with you, Mr. President."
It is sad to see that partisan politics still manages to rule the day, even if it's not in the best interests of the American people. At this point the US needs unity, not division. I commend President Bush for his speech tonight, but I'm afraid not much is going to change and not many of his initiatives are actually going to go anywhere.
Edit @ 10:38PM / 2.2.06:
What I didn't hear angered me as well: President Bush devoted approximately 150 words to addressing the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. I know most of the country doesn't really care much about New Orleans, but to see the President spending so little time on the subject was infuriating. It was a disaster, make no mistake about it. And it's his job to make sure the area gets the aid (financial or otherwise) it needs, public opinion be damned. New Orleans took about 75% of the damage Hurricane Katrina caused, and it's only getting a little more than 50% of the aid sent to the Gulf Coast region.