President Bush’s Final State of the Union Address

For one thing, my wife and I were sitting around a crackling radio (lousy reception in our area) listening to NPR … that’s something. For those of us with nostalgic streaks, that was a nice thing.

Check out the transcript here.

President Bush opened by talking about the challenges over the past seven years, and mentioned that it is an election year (just in case you hadn’t noticed). He encouraged cooperation between the parties and mentioned that what they do will be important for years to come.

His first significant point had to do with the economy, and was mostly his encouragement of making the earlier tax cuts permanent. He promised to veto any tax increase, and pointed out that adding extra spending to the agreement will hold it up.

This year, President Bush is sending over a balanced budget with a projected surplus, cutting 151 areas. Now, he does this? Is he kidding?

He also attack earmarks. Nice, but it’s really a token gesture. This is his last year. Where was this commitment when it would have mattered?

… I just gave up my running commentary.

Now, the speech is over. In a way, that’s too bad, because it got a lot better after the first half hour. I found that to be very weak.

However, he went on and it actually got better. I raised both of my hands, rather triumphantly, as the spoke about the breakthrough in stem cell research:

On matters of life and science, we must trust in the innovative spirit of medical researchers and empower them to discover new treatments while respecting moral boundaries.

In November, we witnessed a landmark achievement when scientists discovered a way to reprogram adult skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells.

This breakthrough has the potential to move us beyond the divisive debates of the past by extending the frontiers of medicine without the destruction of human life.

So we’re expanding funding for this type of ethical medical research. And, as we explore promising avenues of research, we must also ensure that all life treated with the dignity it deserves. And so I call on Congress to pass legislation that bans unethical practices such as the buying, selling, patenting or cloning of human life.

I would have liked for him to push the issue one step further. For his various failings and for all the disagreements I have with him, he is an anti-abortion President. I would have liked to hear him remind people of that in this address. Sigh …

Still, I’m not going to fault him for that too much. He took the issue and did well with it. I applaud him for that.

I appreciated his energy statements, though he was a bit lean on the specifics of what he has in mind … except for granting China special help as a developing nation. What China is developing is a relationship with us in which they own a whole lot of US property and US debt, yet we keep on treating them as if they aren’t one of the greatest economic powers on the planet.

I don’t think we should be helping them with that.

When he moved on to immigration, I was really hoping that he was finally going to announce the complete and unconditional pardon of Campeon and Ramos, the two border guards convicted of shooting a drug dealing illegal immigrant who was escaping from them. No such luck. I will never understand why he refuses to pardon these two men.

His description of the rest of the world and the various nations experiencing new freedom was very good … among his best speeches ever.

In the work ahead, we must be guided by the philosophy that made our nation great. As Americans, we believe in the power of individuals to determine their destiny and shape the course of history. We believe that the most reliable guide for our country is the collective wisdom of ordinary citizens.

And so, in all we do, we must trust in the ability of free peoples to make wise decisions and empower them to improve their lives for their futures.

If only he could speak worth a darn, that would have been amazing. In writing, it is amazing.

On Iraq, President Bush did something he hasn’t been doing very well at all. He took the argument back to the nay-sayers:

The Iraqis launched a surge of their own.

In the fall of 2006, Sunni tribal leaders grew tired of al Qaeda’s brutality and started a popular uprising called the Anbar Awakening. Over the past year, similar movements have spread across the country.

Today, the grassroots surge includes more than 80,000 Iraqi citizens who are fighting the terrorists.

The government in Baghdad has stepped forward as well, adding more than 100,000 new Iraqi soldiers and police during the past year.

While the enemy is still dangerous and more work remains, the American and Iraqi surges have achieved results few of us could have imagined just one year ago.

The man has a point … and if he’s trying to convince people that he’s on the right course in Iraq, then that was the way to do it.

I’m actually fully prepared to mock the speech in a couple different ways, but I’m going to pass right now. Partly that’s out of respect, but mostly because I want it to be clear that I think this was a pretty good address for President Bush. He’s not a great speaker, and he never will be. But this was pretty good, and one of his best. If he spoke this well and this clearly, and even tried for this level of definitive speaking, his approval ratings would be far higher than they are, I believe.

And so I, surely not a Bush fan, will simply say that this was a good State of the Union address.

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