2004 State of the Union Address

The entire speech (with applause markers, interestingly) is available here.

I'll develop my reactions here in this article as I get time. To start out, I am not pleased.

It wasn't all bad, really. I fully appreciated the uproar of applause when GW stated that the Patriot Act was slated to expire -- There are some sane people out there who don't like limiting the rights of their constituants. Of course, GW had to immediately follow that up with a plea to RENEW the damn thing, since infringing on the citizen's rights is supposed to be good for security or any other totalitarian agenda he has.

The plan to spend money to help reintegrate ex-convicts back into society actually sounds like a good idea. That got applause from both sides of the house.

There were lots of pie in the sky budget numbers about magically reducing taxes and the deficit, but increasing spending on war efforts, etc. No real math could support such conclusions.

One of the parts that continue to be outrageous included his claims that the Kay report justifies the war, since they found signs of programs to develop weapons of mass destruction, but Kay himself has come out saying he feels there were no programs.

Finally, I could not believe he brought up the constitutional ammendment to forbid gay marriage. I could believe such schemes exist as backroom politics and disturbing pet projects, but it's just not an issue you'd expect someone to seriously propose. He talks of defending Christian marriage from the liberal judges forcing their opinions on others. Wow! Who's forcing who? Allowing 2 people of the same sex to pledge their lives to each other and reap the legal benefits does not diminish whatever value is placed on a heterosexual union. Allowing people of a different sexual orientation the same rights and protections does not rob anyone of their existing rights. I can only hope that such sentiments will hit home with the modern, freedom-loving citizens and we'll all band together to vote him the hell out of office! You just can't do that to people, and I'll be sorely disappointed if the nation affirms the notion that a homosexual is sub-human and undeserving of common rights accordingly. It almost brings tears to my eyes that people are so closed minded and need to control others for no reason.

Bush is out of control, waging war on other countries and his own citizens, and he has completely lost touch with the reality in the nation he's supposed to be serving. (At least I really hope he does not represent the majority in this country.)