2008 Woodie Awards
State of the Union in a bind
Sat Paul Goyal
Issue date: 1/29/07 Section: Voices
President George W. Bush delivered his sixth State of the Union Address last Tuesday. It was his first address to a Congress with Democrats in majority.
In his address the president congratulated the new Democratic majority, specially praising the first female House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and asking for bipartisanship.
In his domestic agenda Bush emphasized the need to pursue energy solutions, health care affordability and educational reform in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil, provide health benefits to American working families that have been left behind despite recent economic growth, and make math and science more attractive to our youth.
Suggesting immigration overhaul, Bush also urged "a serious, civil and conclusive debate" on immigration issues. His comments on immigration brought more Democrats than Republicans to their feet. Democrats have supported Bush's proposal for guest-worker program and path to citizenship in the past.
Health care, energy, and education dominated Bush's domestic agenda.
President Bush couldn't avoid discussing Iraq when he finally came to foreign policy. He asked the skeptical Congress to give his New Iraq Strategy a chance since they "didn't vote for failure." Referring to the "decisive ideological struggle between violent and malignant ideology and the brave voices for democracy," Bush reiterated his resolve to establish a free and democratic society in the Middle East.
But wars are not won by rhetoric. What the outcome of this hot pursuit of war with more American troops in Iraq will be only time will tell. Bush has ignored the voice of American people as well as the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group to envision an "exit" rather than an escalation policy. His obsession with victory in Iraq may result in more chaos and instability in the region and an economic crisis for American economy.
President Bush also touched on issues of HIV/AIDS, hunger, and malaria in the continent of Africa. An increase in funds to help the affected is a laudable step.
The president was very straightforward in acknowledging the many challenges America faces both at home and abroad. Securing our homeland, expanding access to health care, exploring alternative sources of energy, and making our education more competitive are worthy and achievable goals. Our politicians need to be more committed and integrated. If they have integrity, nothing else matters; if they don't have integrity, again, nothing else matters.
Terrorism and nuclear ambitions of some evil empires, hunger and disease among the poorest of the poor, and academic and economic waste in the affluent and powerful West remind me of William Butler Yeats' lines from his "Second Coming":
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
Let's hope the center can hold!
In his address the president congratulated the new Democratic majority, specially praising the first female House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and asking for bipartisanship.
In his domestic agenda Bush emphasized the need to pursue energy solutions, health care affordability and educational reform in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil, provide health benefits to American working families that have been left behind despite recent economic growth, and make math and science more attractive to our youth.
Suggesting immigration overhaul, Bush also urged "a serious, civil and conclusive debate" on immigration issues. His comments on immigration brought more Democrats than Republicans to their feet. Democrats have supported Bush's proposal for guest-worker program and path to citizenship in the past.
Health care, energy, and education dominated Bush's domestic agenda.
President Bush couldn't avoid discussing Iraq when he finally came to foreign policy. He asked the skeptical Congress to give his New Iraq Strategy a chance since they "didn't vote for failure." Referring to the "decisive ideological struggle between violent and malignant ideology and the brave voices for democracy," Bush reiterated his resolve to establish a free and democratic society in the Middle East.
But wars are not won by rhetoric. What the outcome of this hot pursuit of war with more American troops in Iraq will be only time will tell. Bush has ignored the voice of American people as well as the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group to envision an "exit" rather than an escalation policy. His obsession with victory in Iraq may result in more chaos and instability in the region and an economic crisis for American economy.
President Bush also touched on issues of HIV/AIDS, hunger, and malaria in the continent of Africa. An increase in funds to help the affected is a laudable step.
The president was very straightforward in acknowledging the many challenges America faces both at home and abroad. Securing our homeland, expanding access to health care, exploring alternative sources of energy, and making our education more competitive are worthy and achievable goals. Our politicians need to be more committed and integrated. If they have integrity, nothing else matters; if they don't have integrity, again, nothing else matters.
Terrorism and nuclear ambitions of some evil empires, hunger and disease among the poorest of the poor, and academic and economic waste in the affluent and powerful West remind me of William Butler Yeats' lines from his "Second Coming":
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
Let's hope the center can hold!
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