Wednesday January 21, 2004 at 3:15 PM
The 2004 SOU: Now Back to Reality
Appearing in Politics
In case you haven’t already heard enough reaction to last night’s State of the Union Address, allow me to add to the mix. My first response to the speech is that the President didn’t say anything that’s going to change anybody’s mind. If you were a Bush supporter you clapped when told and if you were a detractor you grimaced and hoped this would be the last SOU ever delivered by a Bush.
That’s not to say however, that certain parts of the address weren’t more disappointing that others. A particularly frustrating ommission was the subject of the environment in general and a response to climate change in particular. Despite countless scientific studies and ominous warnings, the President continues to ignore the tremendous and dire threat posed by our current course of action.
It’s clear that in this and other arenas — fiscal responsiblity, global geo-politics, domestic divisions — the President completely lacks the ability to recognize or identify the long-term consequences of short-term action. A perfect companion to our credit card culture, the Administration continues to follow a “minimum payment” philosophy hoping all the while for some rich uncle to save us from our eventual economic, social, and environmental bankruptcy. Unfortunately, the last time I looked there wasn’t quite enough money in the Treasury to buy us a new planet.
Speaking of which, what the heck happened to the President’s grand vision for space exploration. Wasn’t it just last week that he called for a return to the moon and a manned expedition to Mars? If he’s going to commit the country to a $500 billion, 30 year project you’d think he’d have the enthusiasm to at least mention it while he’s got everyone’s attention. And while we’re at it, what happened to the AIDS initiative? Did everyone in Africa get well during the past year?
Finally, a brief point about Iraq. The President does us all a disservice by pretending that those against the invasion of Iraq are simultaneously supporters of Saddam Hussein. False dichotomies and black and white pronouncements rob our nation of the honest, spirited, and public debate on which our democracy and freedom depend.
The President’s ongoing attempts to bifurcate the world into those “with us or with the terrorists” only fuels a fire that is already raging out of control fire. Unfortunately, such reasoning is all too consistent with the style of fundamentalistic, ideological, and belligerent rhetoric that his come to characterize this administration.
On one point however, I’m sure we can all agree: there is no greater threat to our collective security than nuclear weapons in the hands of religious fundamentalists. I’m starting to doubt however, if that’s not already the case.
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For more on the 2004 SOU see:
