Yeah, I know I said I was "taking the day off" but that's like saying I think I'm gonna start eating tortilla chips without salsa con queso.

Anyway, I went through my prediction of what Bush would say last night to see how I did.

Click "read more" to find out. 1) WeÂ’re still at war. The enemy isnÂ’t letting up but we are killing lots of bad guys every day. America must not be complacent. The reason we havenÂ’t been hit again is not because they havenÂ’t tried. NSA surveillance is critical. This is not spying on grandmaÂ’s cell phone conversations; this is identifying threats before they materialize. Despite the complaints of some, it is lawful, it is Constitutional and weÂ’re going to continue to do it to protect American lives. End of story. (If only Jack Bauer could be up in the gallery next to Laura Bush!)

Pretty much what I expected. He put a word to what my phrase "American must not be complacent" - Isolationism. And he was quite confrontational with Democrats over this. I liked that a lot. Stand-out quotes:

"Far from being a hopeless dream, the advance of freedom is the great story of our time. In 1945, there were about two dozen lonely democracies on Earth. Today, there are 122. And we are writing a new chapter in the story of self-government — with women lining up to vote in Afghanistan ... and millions of Iraqis marking their liberty with purple ink ... and men and women from Lebanon to Egypt debating the rights of individuals and the necessity of freedom. At the start of 2006, more than half the people of our world live in democratic nations. And we do not forget the other half — in places like Syria, Burma, Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Iran — because the demands of justice, and the peace of this world, require their freedom as well."

Someone in the Weekly Standard said he was channelling Peggy Noonan on this paragraph. I agree.

"But our enemies and our friends can be certain: The United States will not retreat from the world, and we will never surrender to evil."

He looked right at the camera at the end. Many of the enemy pulling this in via satellite got the message.

"Yet there is a difference between responsible criticism that aims for success, and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but failure. Hindsight alone is not wisdom. And second-guessing is not a strategy."

Two words: Smack Down. I may just put that quote somewhere in my sidebar.

"If there are people inside our country who are talking with al-Qaida, we want to know about it — because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again."

Two more words: B*tch Slap. He may not have been seated next to Mrs. Bush, but the President was definitely channelling Jack Bauer. Every citizen understands those words. And here is Hillary, shaking her head with a tight smile on her face. Does this woman go out of her way to look unpresidential? I've always suspected that she was politically "tone-deaf". Now I'm convinced of it

A strong start. Very good.

2) The economy is strong. Quote employment statistics, job creation numbers, GDP growth, Federal Tax revenue increases, etc. It's not a coincidence that these strong numbers have come about since cutting taxes. Tax relief for all who pay taxes is a good thing. WeÂ’re going to do more. We need to reform and simplify the IRS code.

Carried the "isolationism" theme into economic matters (i.e. protectionism). Good economic numbers. We've created more jobs than Japan and Europe combined? Wow, not too shaby. Tax relief should be permanent. If it's not, they're not going to blame Bush and he reminded the Congress of this: "Yet the tax relief is set to expire in the next few years. If we do nothing, American families will face a massive tax increase they do not expect and will not welcome." Ahem.

"In the last five years, the tax relief you passed has left 880 billion dollars in the hands of American workers, investors, small businesses, and families — and they have used it to help produce more than four years of uninterrupted economic growth."

Wow, the Dems must have been kicking themselves thinking about how they could have spent all that money.

Social Security: Hillary couldn't even show a sense of humor at Bush's legitimately funny joke. What a humorless woman. She probably took it as an insult.

"Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social SecurityÂ…"

Dems stand up and cheer? Are they insane or just incredibly stupid? They were probably so sour at Bush admonishing their defeatist attitude that when he referred to something that they actually see as a victory on their part, they couldn't help themselves. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"...yet the rising cost of entitlements is a problem that is not going away — and with every year we fail to act, the situation gets worse."

Some of them (not many) may have just realized how stupid they were.

3) Congratulations to Sam Alito and his family and thank you Justice OÂ’Connor for your 24 years of service on the court. (He should gloat but he wonÂ’t.)

Did that nicely. But I swear Sandra Day O'Connor seems to have been deified over the last seven months. It was a really GOOD feeling being able to see Sam Alito in his robe seated with the other Justices.

4) List the under-reported accomplishments in Congress over the past year.

**crickets** DidnÂ’t do much here.

5) Lay out a few proposals (in a “big picture” way) for the coming year. Set the agenda (emphasize Immigration reform).

This is where the speech got tedious. Bush has always tried to avoid the "small ball" approach in these speeches. To someone like me, it's really not necessary. But you know what? A Gallup poll this morning had 75% of respondents approved of the speech. Maybe they like to hear this kind of stuff. Conservatives don't. And it was "take your medicine" on immigration. Yuck.

6) We must reform the current political system that has compromised members of both parties and the GOP must take the lead. Reign in spending. Elect a strong majority leader (wink to Shadegg). Enact sweeping institutional changes to restore the integrity of the Federal Government (meaning Congress) to a level that voters can once again be proud of.

Did a little of this. The Congress needs to listening here. Spending? The programs he outlined above kind of fly in the face of fiscal restraint. An "American Competitiveness Initiative"? Columnist Mark Steyn wryly observed: "Isn't there something a little ridiculous about the government, which has no competition, running a competitiveness initiative?" And they're going to reduce and eliminate 140 programs to save $14 Billion? Umm, that's like a squirt of pee in the pond. Going to have to better than that.

7) Thank you and God Bless the United States of America.

Dammit, he ALWAYS says "the United States of America". It's like his signature sign-off. Tonight he just says "God Bless America". Can't I even get a break on THAT?

Overall, it was a good speech. I stand by my initial B+. It would have been an A+ if he lopped off the last third of it. It was very optimistic, ending on the idea of a "hopeful society". Not exactly a catch-phrase that anyone will remember, but it sounded good at the time.

Posted by: Gary at 02:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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