State of the Union: Bipartisan Finger Pointing

It never ceases to amaze me that any two supposedly intelligent people can look at an issue and come up with diametrically opposed opinions. Such is the case with last night’s State of the Union Address and the rebuttal.

If you watched George W. Bush deliver his seventh, and final, State of the Union address you may not have been ’stopped dead in your tracks’ by any of his pronouncements. However, it was obvious that Bush was far more relaxed than in many previous speeches. In fact, several commentators mentioned that he appeared to be “having a good time”. While he briefly addressed the economy and focused more on the gains in the War in Iraq, he did state unequivocally that he would use his veto power during the remainder of his term if Congress sends him packages that he deems unacceptable.

He forecast his budget proposal cuts, stating that he was eliminating massive wasteful programs and government spending that would completely eliminate the National Debt by 2012. And he also stood by his assertion that No Child Left Behind was good for education, even though it has proven, in my opinion, to be a failed program.

Emphasizing the War on Terror for most of his speech, Bush recapped aborted terrorist attempts that had been foiled by anti-terrorist surveillance efforts and exhorted Congress to renew those surveillance rights before they expired. He also gave tribute to our military personnel and especially injured Marine, Andrew Kinard, of Spartanburg, SC.

Bush did manage to slap the hand of Congress on a couple of other issues and punctuated his address by asking Congress several times to work with him in a bipartisan effort to complete issues for the good of the country. It was entertaining to watch the responses of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi during the 70 or so interruptions for applause.

Offering the ritual rebuttal, Governor Kathleen Sebelius, the current Governor of Kansas and Barack Obama’s alleged proposed running-mate, defended Congress by stating how much Congress wants to work in a spirit of bipartisan harmony and asking the President to PLEASE join Congress in their unbiased bipartisan efforts.

Seems each side is ready to work for the good of the country if only they could get the other side to cooperate! SIGH!

Well, the Florida Republican primary voting is continuing at this very moment, to see which of the Republican candidates will come out on top. Look what the winner has to look forward to if his campaign is successful today and on Super Tuesday. Yup! Bipartisan finger pointing.

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One Response to “State of the Union: Bipartisan Finger Pointing”

  1. Dean Rader Says:

    Like you, I was disappointed by the president’s gloss of education. As you note, No Child Left Behind has been a failure, and the fact that Mr. Bush did not mention the program by name suggests he may intuit this as well. I actually write about the speech in yesterday’s post on The Weekly Rader, where I read the president’s State of the Union address through my normal lens as a writing professor. You can see what grade I give the president here:
    http://weeklyrader.blogspot.com

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