State of the Union?

   
    You know what would be cool? 

    Tonight is Bush's 'State of the Union' speech, and one of the things I would truly love to see, and it would do a lot to restore my faith in our government, is if everyone just got up and walked out when Bush starts speaking.  After all, he has said he doesn't care about the opinions of the House, the Senate and the American people, so why should we care about anything he may have to say?  I personally think it would send that wannabe dictator a message he really needs to hear.  And, that message is that we the people have a voice, and it can and should be heard.

    Unfortunately, I have to watch Bush stutter and stammer his way through the web of irrelevant (and sometimes comical) posturing since I have to do a write up on this speech.  It's one of the more serious writing things I do when I'm not scribbling here.  So, I'll be sitting with my little note pad keeping track of, among other things, his use of 9-11 and how he clumsily tries to tie it together with the War in Iraq as though he were cramming a large, square peg into a small, round illogical hole. 
   
    Anyway, I know it'll never happen, but how great would it be to see Bush take the podium, only to have his entire audience simply walk away? 

    Oh well...  I know it would probably lead to more problems than solutions to this nation's troubles and fears, but still, I can dream, can't I? 

-DP

(update)   Well, it didn't take long.  In excerpts of Bush's speech released a short time ago, he is once again going to use 9-11 to justify his bungling in Iraq, and the fact that we are using the innocent citizens of that country as human shields in much the same way their previous dictator did.

For all of us in this room, there is no higher responsibility than to protect the people of this country from danger.

[To] win the war on terror we must take the fight to the enemy. From the start, America and our allies have protected our people by staying on the offense.

The enemy knows that the days of comfortable sanctuary, easy movement, steady financing, and free flowing communications are long over.

For the terrorists, life since 9/11 has never been the same.

[Our] military commanders and I have carefully weighed the options. We discussed every possible approach.

In the end, I chose this course of action because it provides the best chance of success. Many in this chamber understand that America must not fail in Iraq - because you understand that the consequences of failure would be grievous and far reaching.

The war on terror we fight today is a generational struggle that will continue long after you and I have turned our duties over to others. That is why it is important to work together so our nation can see this great effort through.

Both parties and both branches should work in close consultation. And this is why I propose to establish a special advisory council on the war on terror, made up of leaders in Congress from both political parties.

We will share ideas for how to position America to meet every challenge that confronts us. And we will show our enemies abroad that we are united in the goal of victory.

    This is going to be a long night, methinks.  However, one thing which immediately leaps out at me is his mention that this war will be a "generational struggle."  That's a big change from his usual chest-thumping rhetoric that the insurgency is in its "last throes," and the banners reading "Mission Accomplished."  The thing is, it's only a veneer --a saccharine sweetening of the war-mongering verbiage he's used previously as he faces perhaps the most difficult two years any president has ever faced in our nation's history.

    I can only consider the source of this new candor is the direct result of the November elections and the inevitable investigations and oversight that lay ahead for this president.  It's a lonely road he's traveling.  This country is not "united in the goal of victory," and it never will be so long as he continues to ignore the people he serves and those who serve under him.  Many have come to him with a myriad of options, and he's tossed all alternatives aside in an irrational pursuit of defeating an enemy who did nothing to harm us and has since been proven to have never been a legitimate threat. 

    However, they are a threat now.  And that is the direct result of this president's mismanagement and utter, embarrassing ineptitude.  The blood of the many who have fallen in Iraq is solely on the hands of President Bush.  And, try as he may to blame the terrorists for our losses, the simple reality is that they had absolutely nothing to do with the war that occupies the bulk of our troops' attention.  They are shooting at strawmen in the desert while those whose existence is a genuine threat to our nation are allowed to grow in numbers and plot potentially more horrendous and heinous attacks upon America and her interests abroad.

    Oh yeah...  It's going to be a busy day tomorrow.      
  
Tags: State of the Union, George Bush, Lame Duck, DPoem