Roommate's Response to the State of the Union

Posted here unedited but for a couple grammatical corrections. He decided to write topically instead of stream-of-consciousness-ly.
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The President began the speech with a memorial statement for Coretta Scott King, which was a good and noble sentiment especially considering the recent death of Rosa Parks and the recent acknowledgment of the Civil Rights Movements.

President Bush’s remarks about party cooperation and civility comes quite late from a President who has done nothing to reconcile one of the most divided Congresses in history, and has in election campaigns used some of the most harsh political attacks to gain political ground.

I do not believe that what President Bush means when he talks about isolation and protectionism what I mean or what many other people mean. Is it isolation to wish to build an international consensus before entering into a war that destabilizes an entire region of the world? If the U.S. acts without the international community's consent it is Imperialism. I would also point out that of the 122 democracies that President Bush mentioned only a handful are functioning well, and with a strong tradition of civil stability. Those democracies that came to the ideals of the rule of law themselves have done the best. Democracy is not grafted easly into soil that is hostile towards it. That said we have invaded Iraq and managed to incur only grumbles from the international community, so we must see it through. To leave Iraq before there is a government and military in place is not possible nor should it be seriously brought forth for discussion. Instead we must focus on not making policy mistakes such as these in the future. I believe that President Bush’s remarks to Iran went to that, and for that I am grateful. I do believe that to continue reforming and stabilizing Iraq we need to recruit old allies to help us.

President Bush seems to believe now that military commanders should be entrusted with decisions reguarding the military in Iraq. This is a far cry from the micro management that Donald Rumsfeld used when he threw out the Pentagon’s plans for invading Iraq especially as to the lists of which groups to activate and in what order. Despite my own feelings, I believe it is Congress's job to determine when we have met our objectives in Iraq because they are the ones that control the purse strings for the budget. This is as it should be. President Bush believes in Presidential power, and the Imperial Presidencies need powerful checks.

I wish that fallen soldiers and their families would not be used to generate applause, and by extension applause for military policies for governments.

I also wish that when members of the opposition see that they are on camera they would try to look polite instead of smiling as though they are suffering through some idiot. Hilary Clinton looks like Martha Stewart on crack when she smiles like that.

President Bush believes that our economy cannot be maintained without immigrant workers. Good! I am glad of the acknowledgment, and hope that we can allow them greater opportunities than to pick fruit for us. Also, I think that to believe that you cannot have completely secure borders. So to attempt to tighten up our borders against smugglers without excluding the workers we need too.

I think that urging Congress to act fiscally responsible when he spends a dime for every nickel he gets is a bit of a hypocrisy.

Wiretapping without a warrant violates search and seizure laws. Consulting Congress is nice, but you don’t need to consult with Congress you need a warrant. Even under the Patriot Act you need a warrant. Safety is important but the idea of what governmental officals could do with that power presents a threat of a different kind.

As regards education I think that to encourage math and science is not enough for an educational policy. The No Child Left Behind Act has not been a good initiative. We need to encourage a culture of education, erudition and excellence in all aspects of academics. We ultimately lose if we compete in the sciences, but create a culture without vestige of a culture.

I have to say it I belive in cloning research and that it is not the job of the government to legislate morality and to categorically dismiss stem cell research when some strains are legal seems to be a compromise to me.
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My own comments will come in a comment, or two, or three, or possibly a subsequent post.