Few Days Late and A Few Dollars Short: The State of The Union Address
State of the Union Address Text
“the men and women of our new Homeland Security Department are patrolling our coasts and borders.” – Lie. Bush cut 800 Million dollars worth of funding to the states for the Homeland Security. He is also taking credit for a program that he opposed, he delayed funding for the Homeland Security Office until 2004. The Office isn’t even fully functioning yet, let alone “patrolling our borders” Think Tank gives Bush a “D” on Homeland security Report Card.
“Inside the United States, where the war began, we must continue to give homeland security and law enforcement personnel every tool they need to defend us. And one of those essential tools is the Patriot Act, which allows Federal law enforcement to better share information, to track terrorists, to disrupt their cells, and to seize their assets. “ - Lie. I cannot find evidence that The Patriot Act has contributed to the capture of any terrorists. The capture of the terrorists Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Hambali that Bush alludes to in the next paragraph were joint efforts of international intelligence and police communities. Spying on Americans did not contribute to their capture.
(No one has ever been able to explain to me how the FBI reading my pelvic exam results helps capture terrorists.)
But nice to see Bush giving the useless and invasive Patriot Act a plug while he cut funding to “first responders”: The local Police and Fire Departments. Apparently he's done it again with the new proposed budget.
“Having broken the Baathist regime, we face a remnant of violent Saddam supporters.” - Lie. The Insurgents of Iraq are comprised of many groups, the dienfracnhised Ba-athist are only a protion of them. Newsweek Article “Unmasking the Insurgents”
“The work of building a new Iraq is hard, and it is right. And America has always been willing to do what it takes for what is right.” – Except in Liberia. And Dafur. And not sending in the Army Corps of Engineers to actually get reliable power, water and sewage in any area of Iraq. And then there the missing oil.
“Our closest allies have been unwavering.” - Funny, Canada who contributed to most troops to the invasion Afghanistan (2,500) troops to the invasion of Afghanistan dropped out, as the #2 Afghan contributor Germany.
Now the real figures on the “Coalition of the Willing”: Britain has 45,000 troops in it’s prior-colony Iraq and the next biggest contributor is Australia with 2,000 troops. For all the countries “involved” only Albania (70 troops), The Netherlands (350) have contributed combat troops. Lets-Not-Forget-Poland has contributed 200 non-combatant troops and Bulgaria, Romania and the Ukraine have collectively contributed 928 WMD decontamination specialists.
So basically “our closest allies” are the U.K. and Oz.
“Many of our troops are listening tonight. And I want you and your families to know: America is proud of you. And my Administration, and this Congress, will give you the resources you need to fight and win the war on terror.” – Gee, nice of him to do it now, after our troops spent a year plus scrounging through rubble for steel to amour their vehicles with. I guess they’ll finally get that ceramic armour Bush and Cheny have been promising for 2 years?
“I know that some people question if America is really in a war at all. They view terrorism more as a crime -- a problem to be solved mainly with law enforcement and indictments. “ Strawman, no one has ever argued this, only the effectiveness of military invasion as a means of fighting it, which is inefficient and incites more rage at the U.S.
“We are seeking all the facts -- already the Kay Report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations. Had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day.” – LIE! By reports from the U.N. inspector Hans Blix Iraq "probably" had destroyed most of their stockpiles and were complying with the UN terms. We have found no evidence of any WMD programs ongoing or in start up phases, captured only one nuclear specialist. Bush ignored a set of evidence to continue with his own agenda to invade Iraq.
“Iraq's torture chambers would still be filled with victims -- terrified and innocent.” – No, they fill our torture chambers now. Well, ours and the Brits.
“The killing fields of Iraq -- where hundreds of thousands of men, and women, and children vanished into the sands -- would still be known only to the killers.” – How many have we killed since we got there? 3,274
“America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.” – Our country was NOT AT RISK from Iraq! Their army was ill equipped, they had no long range air force capability, no navy, their launch capability was 94 miles and they evidence that they had WMD was dubious at best. Jeezus!
“We also hear doubts that democracy is a realistic goal for the greater Middle East, where freedom is rare. Yet it is mistaken, and condescending, to assume that whole cultures and great religions are incompatible with liberty and self-government.” Another Strawman. No one has said this; only that trying to force a nation to be democratic is not effective in the long term.
“So America is pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the greater Middle East. We will challenge the enemies of reform, confront the allies of terror, and expect a higher standard from our friends.” & “will send you a proposal to double the budget of the National Endowment for Democracy, and to focus its new work on the development of free elections, and free markets, free press, and free labor unions in the Middle East.” – I’m sure the Saudi Royal family will just love hearing that.
“To cut through the barriers of hateful propaganda, the Voice of America and other broadcast services are expanding their programming in Arabic and Persian -- and soon, a new television service will begin providing reliable news and information across the region.” – The Voice of America is a government agency. Can you say “Pravda” boys and girls? I knew you could!
“We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace -- a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman. America acts in this cause with friends and allies at our side, yet we understand our special calling: This great Republic will lead the cause of freedom.” – From the same people who brought you the Patriot Act, tried to institute Star Chamber Justice for suspected terrorists and disenfranchised black voters in Florida Ladies and Gentlemen! Someone needs to look up the word “Dichotomy”.
O.K. Bush then goes onto take credit for the “No Child Left Behind Act” (which he slashed funding for), babble on about training people for future jobs (without explaining where these people are supposed to work when our fastest export right now is jobs), discuss his brilliant immigration proposal which I have discussed before and completely misrepresent his Senior Drug Plan, make a stupid statement to the athletic world about steroids (duh!) and try to recreate a SexEd program that frightens kids to death rather than teach them anything about sex (like we all know how well that works) and another pitch for DOMA.
In one of the most disturbing aspects of the speech, he also makes yet another strawman argument against the separation of Church and State.
“It is also important to strengthen our communities by unleashing the compassion of America's religious institutions. Religious charities of every creed are doing some of the most vital work in our country -- mentoring children, feeding the hungry, taking the hand of the lonely. Yet government has often denied social service grants and contracts to these groups, just because they have a cross or a Star of David or a crescent on the wall. By Executive Order, I have opened billions of dollars in grant money to competition that includes faith-based charities. Tonight I ask you to codify this into law, so people of faith can know that the law will never discriminate against them again.” Oh those poor religious institutions, with their tax-exempt status and their millions of dollars in grants every year. Poor, poor babies.
(Actually, I think the Salvation Army rules. Of all the chartible organizations out there, the S.A. has the lowest adminstrative overhead. Meaning their head of the Salvation army makes around 40K a year, as opposed to the 200+K a year the head of the Red Cross makes which equals more bang for your charitable buck. I was just pulling this out to show that religious institutions do get federal funding, quite a bit in fact.)
Despite what the neocon pundits scream daily they are not being discriminated against”, not even by the ACLU and quite frankly, the “Faith Based Initiative Executive Order” is a violation of Federal Law that requires such grants to be approved by congress.
What happening here is that the Christian Right, part of the largest, most wealthy religious institution in the western world, is simply clamoring for more power, more influence over government and the Christian Right whines like babies, "Wah! We’re being discriminated against! Wah!” whenever they aren’t getting their way. Native and Jewish American’s laugh in their general direction of the cries of "Discrimination!", but many of us in the “alternative religions” get a little nervous when there’s a “True Believer” making policy in the White House.
About the only good thing was his encouragement to “make American less dependant on foreign sources of energy”, by drilling for 6 months worth of oil in the ANWR I guess. At least, that’s the only thing he has done as for as “alternate energy sources” is concerned. Yeah, like that’s really going to help us long term. And as we all now know what the neocon “good steward(ship) of taxpayer dollars” looks like (and from CNN) Even the Republicans aren’t are not happy with it.
There was one good program he proposed and that the Job Re-Entry program for Prisoners. That is a great idea! Though where the 300 million is going to come from I don’t know.
So that’s that. On with the show…
“the men and women of our new Homeland Security Department are patrolling our coasts and borders.” – Lie. Bush cut 800 Million dollars worth of funding to the states for the Homeland Security. He is also taking credit for a program that he opposed, he delayed funding for the Homeland Security Office until 2004. The Office isn’t even fully functioning yet, let alone “patrolling our borders” Think Tank gives Bush a “D” on Homeland security Report Card.
“Inside the United States, where the war began, we must continue to give homeland security and law enforcement personnel every tool they need to defend us. And one of those essential tools is the Patriot Act, which allows Federal law enforcement to better share information, to track terrorists, to disrupt their cells, and to seize their assets. “ - Lie. I cannot find evidence that The Patriot Act has contributed to the capture of any terrorists. The capture of the terrorists Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Hambali that Bush alludes to in the next paragraph were joint efforts of international intelligence and police communities. Spying on Americans did not contribute to their capture.
(No one has ever been able to explain to me how the FBI reading my pelvic exam results helps capture terrorists.)
But nice to see Bush giving the useless and invasive Patriot Act a plug while he cut funding to “first responders”: The local Police and Fire Departments. Apparently he's done it again with the new proposed budget.
“Having broken the Baathist regime, we face a remnant of violent Saddam supporters.” - Lie. The Insurgents of Iraq are comprised of many groups, the dienfracnhised Ba-athist are only a protion of them. Newsweek Article “Unmasking the Insurgents”
“The work of building a new Iraq is hard, and it is right. And America has always been willing to do what it takes for what is right.” – Except in Liberia. And Dafur. And not sending in the Army Corps of Engineers to actually get reliable power, water and sewage in any area of Iraq. And then there the missing oil.
“Our closest allies have been unwavering.” - Funny, Canada who contributed to most troops to the invasion Afghanistan (2,500) troops to the invasion of Afghanistan dropped out, as the #2 Afghan contributor Germany.
Now the real figures on the “Coalition of the Willing”: Britain has 45,000 troops in it’s prior-colony Iraq and the next biggest contributor is Australia with 2,000 troops. For all the countries “involved” only Albania (70 troops), The Netherlands (350) have contributed combat troops. Lets-Not-Forget-Poland has contributed 200 non-combatant troops and Bulgaria, Romania and the Ukraine have collectively contributed 928 WMD decontamination specialists.
So basically “our closest allies” are the U.K. and Oz.
“Many of our troops are listening tonight. And I want you and your families to know: America is proud of you. And my Administration, and this Congress, will give you the resources you need to fight and win the war on terror.” – Gee, nice of him to do it now, after our troops spent a year plus scrounging through rubble for steel to amour their vehicles with. I guess they’ll finally get that ceramic armour Bush and Cheny have been promising for 2 years?
“I know that some people question if America is really in a war at all. They view terrorism more as a crime -- a problem to be solved mainly with law enforcement and indictments. “ Strawman, no one has ever argued this, only the effectiveness of military invasion as a means of fighting it, which is inefficient and incites more rage at the U.S.
“We are seeking all the facts -- already the Kay Report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations. Had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day.” – LIE! By reports from the U.N. inspector Hans Blix Iraq "probably" had destroyed most of their stockpiles and were complying with the UN terms. We have found no evidence of any WMD programs ongoing or in start up phases, captured only one nuclear specialist. Bush ignored a set of evidence to continue with his own agenda to invade Iraq.
“Iraq's torture chambers would still be filled with victims -- terrified and innocent.” – No, they fill our torture chambers now. Well, ours and the Brits.
“The killing fields of Iraq -- where hundreds of thousands of men, and women, and children vanished into the sands -- would still be known only to the killers.” – How many have we killed since we got there? 3,274
“America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.” – Our country was NOT AT RISK from Iraq! Their army was ill equipped, they had no long range air force capability, no navy, their launch capability was 94 miles and they evidence that they had WMD was dubious at best. Jeezus!
“We also hear doubts that democracy is a realistic goal for the greater Middle East, where freedom is rare. Yet it is mistaken, and condescending, to assume that whole cultures and great religions are incompatible with liberty and self-government.” Another Strawman. No one has said this; only that trying to force a nation to be democratic is not effective in the long term.
“So America is pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the greater Middle East. We will challenge the enemies of reform, confront the allies of terror, and expect a higher standard from our friends.” & “will send you a proposal to double the budget of the National Endowment for Democracy, and to focus its new work on the development of free elections, and free markets, free press, and free labor unions in the Middle East.” – I’m sure the Saudi Royal family will just love hearing that.
“To cut through the barriers of hateful propaganda, the Voice of America and other broadcast services are expanding their programming in Arabic and Persian -- and soon, a new television service will begin providing reliable news and information across the region.” – The Voice of America is a government agency. Can you say “Pravda” boys and girls? I knew you could!
“We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace -- a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman. America acts in this cause with friends and allies at our side, yet we understand our special calling: This great Republic will lead the cause of freedom.” – From the same people who brought you the Patriot Act, tried to institute Star Chamber Justice for suspected terrorists and disenfranchised black voters in Florida Ladies and Gentlemen! Someone needs to look up the word “Dichotomy”.
O.K. Bush then goes onto take credit for the “No Child Left Behind Act” (which he slashed funding for), babble on about training people for future jobs (without explaining where these people are supposed to work when our fastest export right now is jobs), discuss his brilliant immigration proposal which I have discussed before and completely misrepresent his Senior Drug Plan, make a stupid statement to the athletic world about steroids (duh!) and try to recreate a SexEd program that frightens kids to death rather than teach them anything about sex (like we all know how well that works) and another pitch for DOMA.
In one of the most disturbing aspects of the speech, he also makes yet another strawman argument against the separation of Church and State.
“It is also important to strengthen our communities by unleashing the compassion of America's religious institutions. Religious charities of every creed are doing some of the most vital work in our country -- mentoring children, feeding the hungry, taking the hand of the lonely. Yet government has often denied social service grants and contracts to these groups, just because they have a cross or a Star of David or a crescent on the wall. By Executive Order, I have opened billions of dollars in grant money to competition that includes faith-based charities. Tonight I ask you to codify this into law, so people of faith can know that the law will never discriminate against them again.” Oh those poor religious institutions, with their tax-exempt status and their millions of dollars in grants every year. Poor, poor babies.
(Actually, I think the Salvation Army rules. Of all the chartible organizations out there, the S.A. has the lowest adminstrative overhead. Meaning their head of the Salvation army makes around 40K a year, as opposed to the 200+K a year the head of the Red Cross makes which equals more bang for your charitable buck. I was just pulling this out to show that religious institutions do get federal funding, quite a bit in fact.)
Despite what the neocon pundits scream daily they are not being discriminated against”, not even by the ACLU and quite frankly, the “Faith Based Initiative Executive Order” is a violation of Federal Law that requires such grants to be approved by congress.
What happening here is that the Christian Right, part of the largest, most wealthy religious institution in the western world, is simply clamoring for more power, more influence over government and the Christian Right whines like babies, "Wah! We’re being discriminated against! Wah!” whenever they aren’t getting their way. Native and Jewish American’s laugh in their general direction of the cries of "Discrimination!", but many of us in the “alternative religions” get a little nervous when there’s a “True Believer” making policy in the White House.
About the only good thing was his encouragement to “make American less dependant on foreign sources of energy”, by drilling for 6 months worth of oil in the ANWR I guess. At least, that’s the only thing he has done as for as “alternate energy sources” is concerned. Yeah, like that’s really going to help us long term. And as we all now know what the neocon “good steward(ship) of taxpayer dollars” looks like (and from CNN) Even the Republicans aren’t are not happy with it.
There was one good program he proposed and that the Job Re-Entry program for Prisoners. That is a great idea! Though where the 300 million is going to come from I don’t know.
So that’s that. On with the show…
posted by KiplingKat | 2:36 PM
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