1.31.2006

State Of The Union

I got in from work at around 10:15 this evening, so I read the SOTU over at LGF. Consequently, I can't really comment on its delivery, but I can comment on its content. There's good stuff in there, but the first thing that really caught my attention was this:

The road of victory is the road that will take our troops home. As we make progress on the ground, and Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead, we should be able to further decrease our troop levels but those decisions will be made by our military commanders, not by politicians in Washington, D.C.

Yep, one more way that Iraq is absolutely not Vietnam. Just another f-you to all the lousy no-good sons of bitches that have said otherwise.

The reference to Iran was just right.

The same is true of Iran, a nation now held hostage by a small clerical elite that is isolating and repressing its people. The regime in that country sponsors terrorists in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon and that must come to an end. The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons. America will continue to rally the world to confront these threats. And tonight, let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran: America respects you, and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom. And our Nation hopes one day to be the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran.

America will bring the stick to your insane leaders, but we offer you, the Iranian people, the carrot of friendship.

There was a brief mention of immigration.

Keeping America competitive requires an immigration system that upholds our laws, reflects our values, and serves the interests of our economy. Our Nation needs orderly and secure borders. To meet this goal, we must have stronger immigration enforcement and border protection. And we must have a rational, humane guest worker program that rejects amnesty allows temporary jobs for people who seek them legally and reduces smuggling and crime at the border.

It sounds good, but lip service often does. Personally, I'm pretty happy to see some states leading the charge.

But the talk of the town has been about energy.

The best way to break this addiction is through technology. Since 2001, we have spent nearly 10 billion dollars to develop cleaner, cheaper, more reliable alternative energy sources and we are on the threshold of incredible advances. So tonight, I announce the Advanced Energy Initiative a 22-percent increase in clean-energy research at the Department of Energy, to push for breakthroughs in two vital areas. To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants; revolutionary solar and wind technologies; and clean, safe nuclear energy.

We must also change how we power our automobiles. We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. We will also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips, stalks, or switch grass. Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years. Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment move beyond a petroleum-based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.


Even if the Middle Eastern Oil Weapon really is a myth, this is certainly a good thing. Transfer of wealth to terrorist states (even ones we don't want to call terrorist) is definately not doing us any good and won't in the future either. Besides, we totally need more math and science teachers.

Tonight I announce the American Competitiveness Initiative, to encourage innovation throughout our economy, and to give our Nations children a firm grounding in math and science.

Apparently POTUS feels the same way.

Not Everything is wine and roses though.

Today marks the official retirement of a very special American. For 24 years of faithful service to our Nation, the United States is grateful to Justice Sandra Day OConnor.

Well.... I guess it would have been rather inappropriate to throw in a "thank God" at the end of that last part. Still....

Then there was this:

A hopeful society has institutions of science and medicine that do not cut ethical corners, and that recognize the matchless value of every life. Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research human cloning in all its forms creating or implanting embryos for experiments creating human-animal hybrids and buying, selling, or patenting human embryos. Human life is a gift from our Creator and that gift should never be discarded, devalued, or put up for sale.

This little shctick about cloning and stem cell research comes off like a bad sci-fi novel at best and religious alarmism at the worst.

Still, it ends well.

Before history is written down in books, it is written in courage. Like Americans before us, we will show that courage and we will finish well. We will lead freedoms advance. We will compete and excel in the global economy. We will renew the defining moral commitments of this land. And so we move forward optimistic about our country, faithful to its cause, and confident of victories to come.

That's the highlight real from me folks. And I can't end it any better than that quote up there.

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