State of the Union

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I'm not sure how much of the President's State of the Union Address was viewed by members of this board, but I found it absolutely shocking. Never in my 31 years have I seen such a divided country. Whenever Bush said something popular to the Republicans, all the Republicans in the one half of the room stood and clapped loudly, while the Democrats just sat there and did nothing.

Then, when Bush mentioned that "Congress did not pass my Social Security Reform last year", all the Democrats stood up and gave thunderous sarcastic applause.

I don't see how Bush is going to accomplish much of anything in his last three years in office. There seems to be no impetus for either party to want to work with the other party.

 

Bush is a uniter, not a divider.

 

Yeah, he united the Democrats against him and the Republicans for him.

 

@ Drew - do you have a really dry sense of humor or was that meant to be serious? Because I've never seen a more divided government that what I see right now. Not under Clinton, not under Bush I, not under Reagan. I don't remember Carter's administration well enough (I was 6 when he lost to Reagan), but it's more divided now than in the last 26 years at least.

 

What are you talking about? I've never seen an America so unified in its ideals and deeds. The great unity of America that we see now is such a heartening thing. Republicans and Democrats are finally seeing eye to eye- reveling in each other's beautiful humanity (rather than engaging in partisan bickering), sitting naked around a campfire, singing kumbaya and eating smores. This is surely a momentous time which will be remembered by history as the dawn of the new Golden Age. I, for one, am humbled to be given the great honor of living in such a momentous era.

 

Ok, humor noted.

 

I was amused, though not surprised, that Bush mentioned 9/11 a mere two minutes into the speech.

I was dumbfounded when, early on, Bush said something to the effect of "We cannot retreat or the world will know America's word means nothing." I thought we'd left that rhetoric behind in Saigon.

Then the blatant politicizing of the Clay family's loss drove me away from the television. For all that Cindy Sheehan became a similar symbol for the left, at least she began with the appearance of sincerity before she became revolting. The Clay incident was nauseating from the beginning.

 

Bah, it was al kabuki. Bush pretended to present his vision, the others pretended to believe him.

( Knight Rider ) who is surprised by this

Did you pick up the thing about Sheehan being arrested ? For wearing an antiwar Tshirt, no less. Apparently it counted as a demonstration:

Oops, it was just a mistake.

 

Who are we kidding, the media runs this country. They tell us only what they want us to know, not the truth.

 

Aldeth, I have lived a few years longer than you have and thought we'd been through some bad times but I don't ever remember such a state of politial disunity, including the Vietnam War.

 

Nakia,

It's really scary. I divided nation is a weaker nation. All this means is that it is going to be very difficult to get ANYTHING done politically. We're only going to get the base requirements out of Congress, at least until the mid-term elections, because of this disunity. They'll pass a budget, the Dems will get strong-armed into extending the Patriot Act, and that's about it.

 

It seems nobody remembers the entirely partisan impeachment proceedings for Clinton. It's always this divided.

 

Well, the impeachment trials were obviously very partisan, however, Clinton made progress in a lot of domestic areas and it was accomplished even though the majority of Congress was Republican at the time, so the only way that happens is if there is some level of cooperation. I never remember Republicans refusing to clap or stand during Clinton's State of the Union Addresses.

 

Look at the bright side - at least they won't be able to screw anything else up.

 

Yes, between a Democratic president (Clinton) and a Republician Congress, they even managed to balance the federal budget. When was the last time that happened?

 

Well, one could argue that Clinton's impeachment was pushed mostly by vast right wing conspiracy (and many people went on with it because, well, they were republicans, and would have liked to see him embarassed). But even during the impeachment proceedings Clinton had something like 60% approval rating.

So in a sense the Clinton affair was not a consequence of divisive politics (hell, it was personal stuff in the first place), but rather one of the first shows of strength of the republican party machine.

Compare this with the Bush period: only the party faithful still follow him. Moreover, there are more important matters at stake now (like if you have a right of not being arbitrarily detained, or if a president is bound by the Constitution, or if the US has the right to torture other people.)

 

It's really sad that we can say that and not be tongue-in-cheek about it. It's bad decision after bad decision, so yeah, there's a lot of truth in what you say.

Yup, if you said 2000, you're a winner. Actually, I think Bush is a magician. He made a trillion dollar surplus disappear.

 

What is overwhelmingly obvious to me is how we continue to choose the diplomacy of "Might makes Right" We are coming to a time when the might of our military will be dwarfed by the political power of up and coming super powers as the EU. They already dictate how we do business and out number us on every international committee. Yet we still continue to attempt back door dealings and pressure that continue to insult the rest of the politcal world. It tells them that they are nothing and the rules do not apply to us in the US. I have never been more embarrassed to be an American as I am in the current time.

 

I remember many times one party did not show support for a president from the opposite party. Perhaps we live in a slightly different day where rudeness is accepted in such areas. I personally would decline to vote for a person that showed such an open lack of respect for the office of the president (not just the person in office). The politicians can say what they wish of Bush -- but they should show proper respect for the President at official functions. The behavior displayed by many of the democrats is more a show of their character than of Bush's leadership.

Aldeth, what is this trillion dollar surplus? We were still in debt. We never paid off the deficit only slowed it's growth. The 'balanced budget' only meant were not deficit spending -- it didn't even cover the interest on the amount the government owed.

BTA: Nadrion's comments are more geared for the other post about human rights, his mistake though not yours -- but my comments there apply: Move. I have often disagreed with things the leaders of this country have done, but I have never been embarrassed to be an American. If you are not proud of your heritage you should immigrate to another country.

[ February 02, 2006, 20:17: Message edited by: T2Bruno ]

 

More to the point. We say that we are the defenders of the world. But what about the defeneders of the homeless, ones without healthcare, jobless, and so on. We pour an average of 36% of our GDP into defense. The average country in the EU is 9%. They take pride in the welfare of their citizens and we scrutinize those in need. It is time that we withdraw as the world defenders and become a champion at home. My embarrassment is not to be an american, simply the stigma that is now attached to the nomenclature. We view ourselves with blinders that do not allow any type of alignment with the world society and we are being trampled because of it in world markets which also means the loss of american jobs and in politics where we DESPERATELY need the other countries to defend themselves and pay for their own defense.