State of the Union Review

The other night President George W. Bush delivered his seventh State of the Union. This was the first time he did so in front of a Democratic Congress. This post will analyze his speech.

On the Democratic Control:
The President was very sincere in congratulating the Democrats, for the first time in front of all of them, on their majority. He couldn't have been any nicer to the first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. The President gave her all do respect that she has deserved.

"I have the high privilege and distinct honor of my own
as the first president to begin the State of the Union message with these words: 'Madame Speaker' ... Congratulations, Madame Speaker!"

On the Iraq War:

President Bush did not turn his back on his new plan
to send more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq. He continued to say that victory is necessary in Iraq for success in our fight against terrorism. The President did not go into much detail about the war, except for the fact that he wants the public to understand the importance of the war. He also asked for Americans to support the troops, and the mission. The President has been given much negativity under his handily of the war, and this new policy, but he came to Congress with a strong outlook, and talked very powerful on this issue. For that, he was successful.

"Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq and I ask you to give it a chance to work. And I ask you to support our troops in the field and those on their way."

On The War on Terror:

The President spoke about the threat that we are facing here at home based on terrorism. He mentioned all the attacks that we have prevented, and the cause to make sure we continue too. He also said that he feels success in the Middle East is a necessity for us to continue to succeed in the fight against terrorism. I felt that when he brought up all of the attacks that could have occurred was one of the strongest points in his speech because it made people realize that we are still facing a large terrorism threat, which shows we need to continue our fight, but more importantly that our nation is able to handle the threat.

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

On Energy:

President Bush mentioned once again the need to look into alternate fuel sources. He said that our dependence on foreign oil is not only not good, but not safe for our country. To deal with an insecure region of the world, is not the smartest thing for us to do, especially when we are dealing with oil. This is one issue that I feel almost everyone agrees on, and wants to do something about it.

"Tonight, I ask Congress to join me in pursuing a great goal. Let us build on the work we have done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20% in the next 10 years - when we do that we will have cut our total imports by the equivalent of three-quarters of all the oil we now import from the Middle East."

On Health Care:

The President mentioned this issue for one of the first times in the past few years. He tried to reach across party lines because it was part of his bi-partisan approach in his address. He stressed the need to be able to solve the health care burden that we face, in an attempt to try to gain some support for his policies and presidency.

"We must remember that the best health care decisions are made not by government and insurance companies, but by patients and their doctors."

On Immigration:

President Bush decided to bring up an issue that his party is tending to not want to talk about. Immigration has become a rising problem for our country, and our border security is so important for our safety. This will be an interesting issue to watch Congress follow especially because we face it here in Danbury.

"Extending hope and opportunity in our country requires an immigration system worthy of America - with laws that are fair and borders that are secure."

This wraps up the review of the State of the Union Address of 2007. President George W. Bush tried to salvage his presidency the other night in his speech, though the public still doesn't support him, and his beliefs. It isn't right to say that he is a lame-duck President yet, but it is looking like history will be giving him that title. He did much better than last years address, but he is going to have to do a lot of convincing to get his approval ratings up to a number that is even worthy of an okay presidency. Overall the President deserved a grade of a B on his speech, mainly due to his bi-partisan approach, and call for unity.

"This is a decent and honourable country - and resilient, too. We have been through a lot together. We have met challenges and faced dangers, and we know that more lie ahead. Yet we can go forward with confidence, because the State of our Union is strong, our cause in the world is right - and tonight that cause goes on. God bless."