Note To Dubya On The '08 SOTU: STFU

Actually, I really should thank George W. Milhous Bush because, for almost each year of this abomination of a presidency at this time, he provides all kinds of blogging material for your humble narrator and various other like-minded miscreants who do this for a profit motive or out of masochistic impulses (I of course am in the latter category).

And last night was no exception of course; I’m linking here to the text of the speech from the White House web site because that way you can note each time Our Dear Leader received applause from those in attendance (of course, there’s no way you can quantify who it was who applauded, how strenuously or for how long, or whether or not at times it was just from Deadeye Dick, Dubya's family and select other suckups, but such is life). And this includes his snarky BS about how the IRS “accepts both checks and money orders,” forever harping about tax cuts (ha ha, laugh it up, funny boy – your approval ratings will remain in the toilet until you are mercifully gone and you will also leave office with the worst record of job creation of any president in at least half a century).

So I’d better get right to the ugly excerpts; I’ll probably find more, but this will have to do for now…

We must also do more to help children when their schools do not measure up. Thanks to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarships you approved, more than 2,600 of the poorest children in our Nation's capital have found new hope at a faith-based or other non-public school. Sadly, these schools are disappearing at an alarming rate in many of America's inner cities. So I will convene a White House summit aimed at strengthening these lifelines of learning. And to open the doors of these schools to more children, I ask you to support a new $300 million program called Pell Grants for Kids. We have seen how Pell Grants help low-income college students realize their full potential. Together, we have expanded the size and reach of these grants. Now let's apply that same spirit to help liberate poor children trapped in failing public schools.

Funny how Dubya mentions expanding Pell Grants; as U.S. House Rep. Elijah Cummings notes here, our preznit should properly fund the grants for college first before he tries to expand the original program (and as we know, to Dubya's less-than-childlike way of thinking, there's no way a public school can do anything but "fail").

I thank the Congress for approving a good agreement with Peru. Now I ask you to approve agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. Many products from these nations now enter America duty-free, yet many of our products face steep tariffs in their markets. These agreements will level the playing field. They will give us better access to nearly 100 million customers. And they will support good jobs for the finest workers in the world: those whose products say "Made in the USA."

As this BBC article notes, the Colombia agreement was signed shortly after the 110th Congress was elected in November 2006 while the loathsome 109th still took up space in the House chamber, so many of our current reps thus had no time to review it. Some particular objections are noted below…

…it fails to protect internationally agreed worker rights such as the abolition of child labour, protection against discrimination and freedom to join a union.

Opponents of the Bush administration also claim that such deals do little to protect US companies from unfair trade practices.

And I have found no evidence to indicate that Bushco, working with Colombia, has addressed those concerns.

Trade brings better jobs, better choices, and better prices. Yet for some Americans, trade can mean losing a job, and the Federal Government has a responsibility to help. I ask the Congress to reauthorize and reform trade adjustment assistance, so we can help these displaced workers learn new skills and find new jobs.

I realize that “trade adjustment assistance” is just a catchphrase, like many others sprinkled through this latest exercise in deceit from this bunch (of course, they’ll NEVER top the 2003 SOTU address, one of the grossest documents of wall-to-wall lies ever seen), and Dubya could in fact care less about the American worker. And as proof, here’s the latest on this subject from Paul Craig Roberts.

(An) agreement (concerning greenhouse gas emissions) will be effective only if it includes commitments by every major economy and gives none a free ride. The United States is committed to strengthening our energy security and confronting global climate change. And the best way to meet these goals is for America to continue leading the way toward the development of cleaner and more efficient technology.

“Gives none a free ride,” huh? How pathetic is it that we have been an industrialized nation for at least a hundred years while India and China have only approached that status recently, yet we refuse to lead on this issue and insist that they catch up with us first (which they seem to be doing; not crazy about India and China particularly when it comes to trade – nothing personal – but fair is fair).

I think the blogger The Green Miles had some really good thoughts on that here.

Update: And by the way, just to let you know, the Iraq "government" is going to sign off on the Kyoto Protocols while Dubya continues to sit on the sidelines (here - how sad is that?).

To keep America competitive into the future, we must trust in the skill of our scientists and engineers and empower them to pursue the breakthroughs of tomorrow. Last year, the Congress passed legislation supporting the American Competitiveness Initiative, but never followed through with the funding. This funding is essential to keeping our scientific edge. So I ask the Congress to double Federal support for critical basic research in the physical sciences and ensure America remains the most dynamic nation on earth.

Concerning the so-called American Competitiveness Initiative, by the way, I just wanted to note that, according to this Wikipedia article, “The ACI proposes $380 million in new Federal funds to invest in the Nation’s education system.”

Sounds nice until you consider that, according to this, the American Friends Service Committee has calculated that the cost of the Iraq War is $720 million a day.”

Also…

In communities across our land, we must trust in the good heart of the American people and empower them to serve their neighbors in need. Over the past 7 years, more of our fellow citizens have discovered that the pursuit of happiness leads to the path of service. Americans have volunteered in record numbers. Charitable donations are higher than ever. Faith-based groups are bringing hope to pockets of despair, with newfound support from the Federal Government. And to help guarantee equal treatment for faith-based organizations when they compete for Federal funds, I ask you to permanently extend Charitable Choice.

I haven’t been able to find any updates on Charitable Choice, but this recent New York Times article by Sheryl Gay Stolberg tells us that Dubya’s “culture of volunteerism” initiatives proposed in his 2002 SOTU address haven’t quite lived up to the original hype (so what else is new for this bunch - I've taken shots at her rightly in the past, but this is solid reporting).

And finally (mustn’t forget Terra! Terra! Terra!)…

One of the most important tools we can give them is the ability to monitor terrorist communications. To protect America, we need to know who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they are planning. Last year, the Congress passed legislation to help us do that. Unfortunately, the Congress set the legislation to expire on February 1. This means that if you do not act by Friday, our ability to track terrorist threats would be weakened and our citizens will be in greater danger. The Congress must ensure the flow of vital intelligence is not disrupted. The Congress must pass liability protection for companies believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend America. We have had ample time for debate. The time to act is now.

I’m actually not going to use this as a lead into another slam against Dubya and the Repugs (and cowardly Dems like Mary Landrieu) on FISA (though I could), but only to link to this article also from the New York Times telling us that our government decided that a petting zoo, popcorn factory, donut shop and an ice cream parlor should be designated as “terror targets.”

And this editorial in today’s Times really made some excellent points on the speech, and Hunter at The Daily Kos does so also here.

Thank God this clown will be gone a year from now.