state of the union preview(summized)

[88Mariner]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

Freedom, Liberty, Security, Democracy and Republic. Five words to look for in any SOTU speech. From last night, here's your count.
Freedom: Three references, and in one of these references the president was actually quoting someone else. In the other two references he spoke of the terrorist fear of human freedom, and of speaking out for freedom in places like Cuba, Belarus and Burma. Not one reference to the role of freedom in our own society.

Security: Eight mentions. Typical. Two real mentions of freedom, eight of security. This is the way it has been for decades. People like to hear the word security spoken much more than they like to hear about freedom. It's as if they're saying "Take care of me! Control me if you need to ... but at least take care of me!"
In one passage bush mentions the establishment of a "democratic Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel in peace and security." There was a time when that phrase would be "peace and freedom." No longer.

Democracy: Four references to democracy. In one passage he referred to the United States as "a great democracy." Our founding fathers warned us against the establishment of a democracy. They were very clear in their fear of democracy. Historians of that era loudly warned against the creation of a democracy after the Revolutionary War ... but here we are in 2007 listening to the President of the United States referring to us as "a great democracy." I know that, thanks to government education, not one one hundred people in this country have a clue why our founding fathers abhorred the idea of democracy ... and that is no accident.

Republic: Now this is the type of government our founding fathers established. Not one mention. No surprise there.

[Lorn]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

-The bizarre, shit-eating grin Cheney had on his face while Bush was discussing energy policy. He looked like the cat that ate the canary. Again, it probably didn't have anything to do with anything, but the timing was ironic.

Maybe he was champing at the bit.

[Garrick]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

i heard mccain actually fell asleep. he does have a sleeping disorder, btw....

[SibuOne]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

I heard Sasha was in the crowd and someone threw a drink at him, missed him by a hair. I think it was a Republican.

I enjoyed the end when he introduced the outstanding Americans from the entrepreneurial business woman, the heroic soldier and the life saver from New York. I could only imagine how he felt, must have been like “damn look at all the white folk”.

[superdave]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

I watched only about 15 minutes of Bush's speech before I changed the channel due to boredom. I felt as already mentioned in this thread that we already knew what he was going to say and didn't see the need to listen to Bush.

My highlights were Bush and Pelosi acting like they are best friends. It's funny the show that politicians put on when in front of a large audience. And someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't heard the usual "The state of our union is strong" or something like that. Tired of hearing that phrase.

[toasty]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

And someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't heard the usual "The state of our union is strong" or something like that. Tired of hearing that phrase.

He did use it, but he put it at the end instead of the beginning like he has every year since 2002. Way to mix it up.

[Kobe]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

I missed it. Did he declare war on Iran yet?

[BSully828]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

Listening to NPR during lunch and apparently some of the Dems are pissed because Bush referred to them as the "Democrat" Party and not the "Democratic" Party. It seems this has been an issue in the past and they felt he was taking a subtle jab at them.

Suddenly the guy with the public speaking skills of a 3rd grader is subtle?

[toasty]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

Listening to NPR during lunch and apparently some of the Dems are pissed because Bush referred to them as the "Democrat" Party and not the "Democratic" Party. It seems this has been an issue in the past and they felt he was taking a subtle jab at them.

Suddenly the guy with the public speaking skills of a 3rd grader is subtle?

Yeah, that's pretty silly. Asking Bush to go beyond 3 syllables is asking a lot, IMO.

[subterFUSE]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

I can't believe why did they applauded him every sentence that was a joke I thought the dems where an opposition.

Like Sully said.... The State of the Union Address follows a strict, ritual-like procedure. It is always the same. The applause are just part of the ritual.

[Lorn]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

Yeah, that's pretty silly. Asking Bush to go beyond 3 syllables is asking a lot, IMO.

[runningman]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

did everyone hear the most important line in the speech

"A contagion of violence could spill out across the country — and, in time, the entire region could be drawn into the conflict."

I mean really who would care if the entire region went to battle.. I wouldn't.. but oh ya Oil.. I say let the Muslims kill each other.. so we the people can sit back and see how brutal they are, what what they teach and what they stand for.. I am sick of people thinking that the Saudis are our friends. That is a direct lie.. They fucking hate everything you stand for.. they are our ally only because of oil.. But when it comes to ideals they are completely somewhere else. An ally is someone who believes in what you are doing. I say send in the whole military once and for all from every free country and clean house.. Take their money and there oil.

so it means now we are in this war because we are protecting the Al' Saud family in Saudi Arabia.. It always comes back to Saudi Arabia.. the ones we are protecting are the ones who hate us the most..

[Lorn]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

Maybe true. But I will fully admit we WANT OUR OIL.

[subterFUSE]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

Maybe true. But I will fully admit we WANT OUR OIL.

EXACTLY.


Most people who criticize our involvement in the Middle East as being all about oil.... I think they simply don't get just HOW important oil is to our existence.


Get this.... without oil.... life as you know it ceases to exist. PERIOD. Millions of Americans and Europeans would die. Economies would tumble. People would freeze to death across the globe. Violence would break out everywhere, as people make a mad scramble for basic necessities like food. It would be complete anarchy, beyond comprehension.

Our governments understand this.... all of them. USA, China, Europe... they all know the importance. Oil is like the blood of a nation. Without it, you can't survive in the modern world.

You think that countries like France cared about the Iraqi people when they opposed the war? You're nuts if you do.... All they cared about was losing their oil deals with Saddam.

Do you know why nothing is getting done about Darfur? Oil. China doesn't want anything to disrupt their oil supply coming from that area. So every time the UN tries to pass a resolution about Darfur, China is killing it. (one of the powers of the perm 5 members)


I really do hope we can find a way to get off the stuff..... but until we do, we better have a good way to have access to it..... or the world is SERIOUSLY fucked.


Not trying to justify it, really.... Just pointing out that I think most people who criticize our quest for oil somehow think it's as simple as just saying.... Hey, let's use something else.



Of course, we have reserves in case some catastrophy strikes.... but just try to imagine if something happened where it was all gone suddenly. Yikes.

[Lorn]

Re: state of the union preview(summized)

As much as I understand how important oil is to our society I don't believe for an instant the powers that be have our best interests at heart. If they did, all the political bullshit over other viable forms of energy (ie. nuclear) would vanish and an all out campaign to build an infrastructure would commence. Look how quickly the internet and the cell phone infrastructure was built without government involvement.