Wednesday digest

- I wasn't able to watch last night's State of the Union address because of a phone call from my mom and a wife who insisted on watching the NHL Super Skills Competition. Aren't I lucky? However, thanks to the greatness of modern technology, I was able to watch it today online. In case you missed it, here's a summary.

President Bush began with a classy acknowledgement of Speaker Pelosi and went right into economic issues, discussing the need to eliminate both the deficit and earmarks (or, if you prefer, pork barrel spending). The words rang a little hollow in that neither the President nor the Republicans have done a good job of preventing either. Nor have they been able to adequately deal with the next issue Bush raised (and one which I comment on regularly); the need to reform entitlement spending - Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid - to ensure the sustainability of those programs well into the future, but at least he's talking about it again.

Next up was social policy. He briefly alluded to voucher programs for education and talked about introducing a tax credit targetted to making private health insurance more affordable, because as he says, patients and their doctors - not governments - are capable of deciding what's best for them. On immigration, he said that investments should be made on border security alongside the introduction of a temporary worker program which will allow agents to focus on the real criminals rather than the low hanging fruit. He also implored Congress to finally get this issue settled. I couldn't agree more, because I'm frankly sick of hearing about it.

On energy policy, he didn't pull punches talking about the need to wean America off of Middle Eastern oil dependence, another subject which I believe very strongly in. Bush spoke of diversifying energy sources to include solar, wind and nuclear power and suggested that the United States aim for a 20% reduction in gasoline use by 2017 on top of enhanced fuel economy standards for vehicles in order to prevent climate change (!) and to prevent terrorist fundraising via access to oil profits in Arabic countries.

The President then briefly mentioned the need for prompt judicial confirmation hearings before moving into the meat and potatoes part of his address - the war on terror. He emphasized the importance of taking the fight to the enemy rather than sitting back and allowing America to be attacked on her own shores, and then went through a laundry list of thwarted terrorist plots followed by a pat on the back to the dedicated public servants who are hard at work within the security and intelligence community.

Sadly, he then went into his familiar arguments about the nature of the enemy, saying among other things that if one "take(s) almost any principle of civilization and their goal is the opposite" in referring to terrorists. He shouldn't need to keep saying this by now, but with idiots like this enjoying a massively disproportionate amount of influence in society, I guess he has to. He then warned about Iran/Hezbollah, saying that Shi'ite extremists are the flip side of the Sunni Islamist coin, with both amounting to essentially the same threat to Western civilization. The President firmly stated that we must defeat them by supporting Middle Eastern reformers build democratic societies, encouraging those who would prefer to be motivated by freedom, choice of conscience and hope rather than resentment for the sake of the United States' own security. This was followed by a list of the milestones realized thus far in the region, acknowledging that a change in strategy is needed to respond to more recent challenges, as John Kerry was seen half-heartedly clapping and most other Democrats were sitting on their hands in stoic silence.

On Iraq, he placed the onus of progress on the Iraqi government but pledged to help via a troop surge, saying that al-Qaeda wasn't driven out of Afghanistan to be allowed to set up shop in Iraq. When the President said that retreat is the enemy's objective, I was stunned to see Nancy Pelosi remain seated. Very disappointing.

Bush then appealed for unity, saying that as both parties were united in their assumptions and convictions at the outset of the war, they should be similarly united in giving the new strategy a chance to succeed.

Not likely, George.

The foreign policy section of the speech concluded with more words of warning to Iran, North Korea and a reiteration of the two-state solution policy as it concerns Israel and Palestine, followed by a recgonizance of the problems in Cuba, Belarus (huh?), Burma and Darfur. He also mentioned work that is being undertaken to alleviate AIDS and malaria in Africa, and the need for more free trade and debt relief as well as less corruption to lift up the Dark Continent.

Finally, the President pointed to NBA star Diekembe Motumbo in the gallery, referring to him as a "son of the Congo but a citizen of the United States of America", followed by plaudits for an entrepreneur, a man who saved another fellow from an oncoming train in Harlem, and a sargeant in the US armed forces.

Overall, I give the State of the Union speech a thumbs up because in my opinion, it showed the correct way forward for America. Matching the rhetoric with results is quite another story as the case could be made that State on the Union addresses are more symbolic than anything else, especially from Presidents facing a Congress held by the other party and who only have two years left in office.

That said, I still support this Commander-in-Chief, perhaps more quietly but essentially as strongly as I have since 9/11.

Video and text here, Democratic response here.