Notes on The State of the Union
by John Riet

As I sat and watched the State of the Union address by President Bush this evening, I realized what a game politics has become. Instead of throwing punches or clashing swords, the modern day warriors of Washington – Democrats (otherwise known as the Communist Party) and the pseudo-conservative Republicans – use public address as their weapon of choice. Tonight's speech was the business as usual, take-that-political-rival-party speech as always.

The same themes crept up again: We must work together; Some people are pessimistic about America's future while I am optimistic; Freedom for all; We must reduce government's role, but let me tell you about some new programs I'm proposing; and so on, and so on, and so on.

We've had the Democratic Response. Now, I offer the response from a free market capitalist and Constitutionalist. I'll respond to different parts of the speech. Some of them are favorable… but honestly, the majority will be unfavorable:

Democracies replace resentment with hope, respect the rights of their citizens and their neighbors, and join the fight against terror. Every step toward freedom in the world makes our country safer, and so we will act boldly in freedom's cause.

Really? Hope and respect of their citizens and neighbors? Join in the fight against terror? Am I wrong, or did Hamas just get elected as the Palestinian leadership? I just hope acting boldly in freedom's cause means we won't send penny one in aid to the Palestinians. If we do, I'll just blow myself up and save the terrorists the trouble.

No one can deny the success of freedom, but some men rage and fight against it. And one of the main sources of reaction and opposition is radical Islam, the perversion by a few of a noble faith into an ideology of terror and death.

Someone! For the love of crap, give George a copy of the Koran! A noble faith? A religion that calls for either the oppression, conversion, or death of those who don't accept the teachings of Mohammed and glorifies the act of dying in the name of Allah? Perhaps if he actually sat down and read this thing, he'd understand that the supposed “Islamofascists” are simply strict followers of this religious text. Only then will he realize that the way to deal with these people is by breaking their will to fight, not appeasement and war without “innocent casualties.”

If we were to leave these vicious attackers alone, they would not leave us alone. They would simply move the battlefield to our own shores. There is no peace in retreat. And there is no honor in retreat. By allowing radical Islam to work its will by leaving an assaulted world to fend for itself, we would signal to all that we no longer believe in our own ideals, or even in our own courage.

Something the multi-culturalists fail to understand. To quote intellectual Thomas Sowell in a recent interview with Fox News, “We haven't had a terrorist attack in this country since 9/11. And I don't think it's because the terrorists have gotten nicer.

Yes. Biologically, we're all the same. Philosophically, we are different. When we all accept that as fact, we will be able to work together to actually solve the problem.

We are the nation that saved liberty in Europe…

Something of which we might want to remind Europe every now and then.

The Palestinian people have voted in elections; now the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism and work for lasting peace.

My fear is that Hamas will actually do this, and we will actually fall for it.

The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions, and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons.

So why are our planes still on the ground? Why do our bombs remain dormant? Are we going to take responsibility for our own protection as a sovereign nation? Or are we going to follow the teachings of John Kerry and wait to get approval from the U.N.?

Here's the bottom line: Iran is the #1 sponsor of terrorism in the world. And if Osama bin Laden had a nuclear weapon on 9/11, he would have used it. It doesn't take a genius to speculate on the results of that combination. All nuclear capabilities in Iran must be made non-existent.

…let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran: America respects you, and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom. And our nation hopes one day to be the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran.

But just as we held accountable the German citizens for allowing Nazi fascism into power and Japanese citizens for allowing radical Shintoism to blossom, we should hold you to the same responsibility. We made no distinction between the government and the people in World War II, and we should not make the distinction here. If you want to be spared the sins of your government being visited upon you, it's time to take action against your oppressors. Ultimately, we cannot allow our pity for your situation to restrain us from protecting ourselves.

In recent years, you and I have taken unprecedented action to fight AIDS and malaria, expand the education of girls, and reward developing nations that are moving forward with economic and political reform… I urge members of Congress to serve the interests of America by showing the compassion of America.

Hooray. More money for people who perpetually engage in irresponsible behavior – all in the name of feeling good about ourselves.

If there are people inside our country who are talking with al-Qaida, we want to know about it because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.

Amen. Hey. If the NSA wants to listen in to my cell phone conversations, they're welcome to. But they'll be extremely bored. A word of advice George – Stop trying to justify those powers given to you as Commander in Chief.

Our economy is healthy, and vigorous, and growing faster than other major industrialized nations. In the last two-and-a-half years, America has created 4.6 million new jobs, more than Japan and the European Union combined. Even in the face of higher energy prices and natural disasters, the American people have turned in an economic performance that is the envy of the world.

Just imagine what we could do if we didn't have all those unnecessary socialist government programs and didn't tax our average citizen more than a third of their incomes.

Others say that the government needs to take a larger role in directing the economy, centralizing more power in Washington and increasing taxes. We hear claims that immigrants are somehow bad for the economy even though this economy could not function without them. All these are forms of economic retreat, and they lead in the same direction toward a stagnant and second-rate economy.

If Americans can't learn from the New Deal and the Great Depression, we deserve economic failure. This shouldn't even be a debate anymore. Less government equals a greater economy.

Yet the tax relief is set to expire in the next few years. If we do nothing, American families will face a massive tax increase they do not expect and will not welcome.

Stop giving into the position of the left. Your tax cuts aren't the problem. Don't even acknowledge them. Keep focus on the real problem (which you didn't even mention) – runaway spending!

This year my budget will cut it again, and reduce or eliminate more than 140 programs that are performing poorly or not fulfilling essential priorities.

There are a lot more than 140, George. Let's stop thinking small.

By 2030, spending for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid alone will be almost 60 percent of the entire federal budget. And that will present future Congresses with impossible choices: staggering tax increases, immense deficits or deep cuts in every category of spending.

In 70 years, the Soviets couldn't make it work. The Europeans can't make it work. The Canadians can't make it work. The Cubans can't make it work. Communism is communism. You can call it a, “social program” if you like, but it's still communism. And it's destined for failure.

With all the history and present-day evidence we have, we still don't have the stomach to stop this impending disaster. And to make things worse, good ol' hypocrite George initiates the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. If economic collapse is our future, we definitely deserve it.

Since 2001, we have spent nearly $10 billion to develop cleaner, cheaper, more reliable alternative energy sources, and we are on the threshold of incredible advances.

Imagine what a more efficient private industry could have done with that money.

So tonight, I announce the Advanced Energy Initiative, a 22 percent increase in clean-energy research at the Department of Energy to push for breakthroughs in two vital areas.

Yay! More money for bureaucracy! Two words George: Free markets. They've always given us what we need. This will be no different.

Preparing our nation to compete in the world is a goal that all of us can share. I urge you to support the American Competitiveness Initiative and together we will show the world what the American people can achieve.

How about taking away their safety nets and instituting good ol' fashioned personal responsibility?

For 24 years of faithful service to our nation, the United States is grateful to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Thanks for the ears you and your cronies have legislated from the bench!

So far the federal government has committed $85 billion to the people of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans.

So long as we bail out those who continue to live in hazardous areas, the American taxpayer will hear, “cha-ching” everytime there's a natural disaster.

In New Orleans and in other places, many of our fellow citizens have felt excluded from the promise of our country.

I don't understand. Louisiana has been a liberal Democratic-run haven for decades. So, who exactly has been excluding them from the promise of our country? Amazing that the Republican run states of Mississippi and Alabama seemed better prepared for Hurricane Katrina.. or at least doing far less whining. The conservative agenda leaves people behind? The only shots you saw of cars and buses under water and people retreating to their rooftops came from New Orleans.

Yep. The liberal agenda really takes care of people, doesn't it?

We have entered a great ideological conflict we did nothing to invite.