February 03, 2005

Semi-Live Posting on SOTU

Below are my notes from watching the State of the Union. Here's the text if you want to read along. I haven't read any other analysis. I'm just treating this as a stream of conscious text. Expect weirdness. That's just the way my brain thinks. Take this for what it's worth.

State of the Union 2005:

Bush went with the red power tie; Cheney has burgundy; Hastert a gold tie; Kerry dons a pink tie

Feingold, Jeffords, and Clinton sat together

For the first time, I've noticed lots of grey in the mirror (Bush says "a lot of grey")

Is Charlie Rangle doing homework at a table?

will submit a budget that holds spending growth to below inflation

"Taxpayers' dollars must be spent wisely or not at all." Must see action, not just words.

protect small biz from "junk lawsuits;" "pass legal reforms this year"

Expand health savings accounts

Grassley looks like Mr. Rodgers in his red sweater

He just had to mention crappy ethanol.

"Social Security was a great moral success of the 20th Century." I beg to differ.

Handled well the Democratic moans and groans about Social Security's problems.

Wants to make part of Social Security an actual property right the government can never take away.

Personal accounts still have a paternalistic feel.

I support these accounts. They're far from perfect. Ideally I want to be allowed to opt out of S.S. That won't happen. The government needs my payroll taxes to pay retirees.

"Must strive to build a culture of life."

"To build a culture of life, we must also ensure that scientific advances always serve human dignity, not take advantage of some lives for the benefit of others.

We should all be able to agree on some clear standards. I will work with Congress to ensure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts and that human life is never bought or sold as a commodity." [Must think about that because selling organs would help with current shortages.]

Wants to start a three-year program to stop men from going into gangs. Oh, boy. I can see that idea dropped by the wayside.

Great, there's a one-armed soldier in the gallery. Sob story to come I'm sure.

Am I the only one to think Bush's "force of human freedom" line is a bit oxymoronic?

I can see how some conseratives feel "the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world" is unconservative.

It sounds like Bush has internalized some of Thomas Barnett's thinking about connecting the Gap with the Core.

It also sounds like Bush has consumed R. J. Rummel.

Wants $300 million for Palestinian reforms. That's money going down a sewer.

Good Bush's is calling out Saudi Arabia and Egypt to become more democratic.

It took Bush this long to finally make the case for the Iraq War that combined Saddam as a threat and the need for increased human liberty to forge peace.

I want our troops to get the job done--get Iraq on its feet--then come home.

Here we come to sob story time...

The hug of the soldier's mother and the Iraqi woman was the image of the night. Very moving.