At
roughly 8:05 pm Central Standard time the words “Madame Speaker the President
of the United States” rang out through the House Chamber for the first time in
the History of the United States of America and President George W. Bush walked
up to the podium to give his final  State
of the Union Address. There was much speculation by TV analysts, columnists and
anyone who decided to flap their gums and spout out their opinion, but all that
was thrown out the window at the beginning of the speech.

President
Bush began talking about the economy right off the bat. He threatened to veto
any bill that Congress would pass that would increase taxes. The Republicans in
the chamber stood and applauded, while the Democrats sat without applause, one
of the many times this split was shown. 
He also said that we must balance the budget and that any bill
containing “earmarks” will be vetoed immediately and sent back to Congress. He
also said that the current stimulus package must be passed quickly and
efficiently and people need to “weather” the current housing foreclosure storm.

The
president proceeded to talk about healthcare and that it needs to be more
affordable and better healthcare. He suggested that the government needs to
stay out of healthcare and give more choice to the people.

He
then talked about the “No Child Left Behind Act”. He said the “bipartisan”
program is working and should remain in place. He urged Congress to renew the
bill when it expires. He also advocated that $300,000,000 in Pell Grants for
students.

He
also asked for Congress to set up more free trade agreements.

President
Bush then began to discuss science and energy. He advocated that our nation
should pursue less dependence on oil and that we should work for international deals
that will lower greenhouse gases and increase emission standards. He also
talked about stem cell research and how they can be made without embryos and
not “destroy life.” When the camera panned towards Vice President Cheney, he
appeared to be asleep.

He
then began to talk about foreign relations. He said that we need to “watch
liberty inspire” other countries that lack democracy. His main point was “we
will deliver justice to our enemies.” He praised the surge in Iraq and stated
it was working. He also asked for a blank check to spend money on the war and
that we cannot allow for an immediate withdrawal of troops. He said Iraqis were
taking control of their future but have a long way to go. He proceeded to
explain that a free Iraq “denies al Queda” a safe haven. He also said that a
failure in Iraq would strengthen Iran. 
He then described how Iran was aiding terrorism and that the Iranian “regime”
hates freedom and that America will protect it’s vital allies and interests. He
said that we have thwarted many terrorist attacks and that Congress must expand
the FISA Bill this week, to “protect our safety.” 

Well,
what is there really to say after an unpopular, lame duck president gives his
final State of the Union Address? For short, I would use the term complete
disaster. Now, in defense of the President, I did agree with what President
Bush had to say about the environment, the genocide in Sudan, and Veterans
Affairs reform, but that’s about it. He gave a pro-war, partisan speech that
did nothing but split the country along party lines once again. He began is
administration claiming to be the “Uniter” but in fact over his presidency has
split the nation in two.  In the final
State of the Union Address the president generally touts what he has done
during his term to better America, Bush did not do this. He said what we needed
to do and it was scary.

If
one looks back to the time before the Iraq war, we were told at the State of
the Union about how evil and cruel Saddam Hussein and his regime were, last
night we got the same story different country. The drums of war towards Iran
are beating and as an eighteen year old male, that is not a good sign, simply
because we do not have the troop numbers. He also described how Iran hates
freedom, supports terrorism, has ballistic missiles, they can create nuclear
weapons and that “America must support its allies and interests.” This sounds
way too familiar to Iraq for me and I am disturbed that he would promote
another war in the Middle East.

President
Bush also outlined a plan for very unpopular legislation he would like passed
and renewed. He asked Congress to renew the No Child Left Behind Act, which is not
helping America because teachers are losing jobs and students are staying in
school longer or dropping out. He also asked for renewal of the FISA bill, that
allows domestic spying and wiretapping without a warrant. This is atrocious
legislation that hopefully will be shot down this week. It is high time
Americans looked at the Constitution and realized this fear mongering, blatant
lying, and other behaviors are unconstitutional.