Jon’s Journal - Jon Niola’s Official Blog

So last night I listened to the State of the Union address (cannot bring myself to watch that idiot speak with all his smirking) and I found it to be just like the all the previous ones - full of the usual grandiose statements and lies. At least there was nothing as huge as BIG lie - the 16 words in the 2003 State of the Union that led us into the Iraq war.

In the work ahead, we must be guided by the philosophy that made our nation great. As Americans, we believe in the power of individuals to determine their destiny and shape the course of history. We believe that the most reliable guide for our country is the collective wisdom of ordinary citizens.

This is a statement that on face value is true.

But what the president did not mention is that he does not follow the collective wisdom of ordinary citizens. In fact when the majority of Americans support an issue, he is likely to veto it on his own ideological grounds.

When almost 60% of Americans said they wanted out of Iraq and congress responded by passing a bill with timelines for withdraw, the president vetoed it.

When almost 90% of Americans polled say they wanted congress to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP) and 72% of Americans supported expanding the program to cover more children, congress passed bi-partisan legislation only to have the president veto it.

If there is anything that President Bush has proven it is that he does not really care what the American people think.

American families have to balance their budgets; so should their government.

This statement made me laugh the hardest. Coming from someone who rung up more debt than previous 42 presidents combined, I would hardly trust him to manage anything related to money whatsoever.

Please, go back to Texas and do your own thing. Oh wait, you were not good at that either.

The people’s trust in their government is undermined by congressional earmarks, special interest projects that are often snuck in at the last minute, without discussion or debate. committee reports that never even come to a vote.

Yeah excessive earmarks are bad. For example, your fellow republican Alaskan senator Ted Stevens’ now infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” that would have spent $230 million on a bridge serving just 50 people. Luckily congress had enough sense to get that shit out of there.

But I hardly think that these earmarks undermine the people’s trust in their government as much as you launching costly, prolonged wars over false intelligence. Or your poor leadership and even poorer response to Hurricane Katrina. Or your complete politization of the Department of Justice. Removing honest, non-partisan employees of our nation’s law enforcement in order to replace them with partisan hacks that put ideology and political gain above the rule of law.

The list can go on and on, but you Mr. Bush have done far more to undermine government credibility than any government earmark or entitlement program ever could.

Our security, our prosperity and our environment all require reducing our dependence on oil.

Let’s start by increasing the CAFE fuel standards from 27.5 miles per gallon, to the standards like that of China which are 38 miles per gallon. I know you oppose this. Not sure why, maybe it has something to do with who your friends are?

This is yet another example of you making a blanket statement that sounds good in sound bites, but then proceed to either not back it up, or take actions that are the opposed to the statement.

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.

Yes sir, you trust our scientists so much that when they say something you don’t like, you censor and edit their findings so that it suits your ideological needs.

Congress must pass liability protection for companies believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend America.

Ahh yes, the infamous “telecom immunity” - the very fact that the president wants retroactive immunity for telecom companies that broke the law and helped the Bush administration illegally spy on American citizens is quite amusing. I am not even sure what else to say. I guess I will leave it to senator Ted Kennedy who said it best:

The President has said that American lives will be sacrificed if Congress does not change FISA. But he has also said that he will veto any FISA bill that does not grant retro-active immunity. No immunity, no FISA bill. So if we take the President at his word, he’s willing to let Americans die to protect the phone companies.

Then there is this gem in the State of the Union:

Our military families also sacrifice for America. They endure sleepless nights and the daily struggle of providing for children while a loved one is serving far from home.

We have a responsibility to provide for them. So I ask you to join me in expanding their access to child care, creating new hiring preferences for military spouses across the federal government, and allowing our troops to transfer their unused education benefits to their spouses or children.

Our military families serve our nation. They inspire our nation, and tonight our nation honors them.

No one will argue with any of that.

Except yet again the president is full of shit.

He threatened to veto the Webb amendment which would have required that troops get time off equal to time they are deployed in the combat theater between deployments. So for example, if you serve 12 months in Iraq you would get 12 months of rest before being deployed on your next tour.

Fortunately for Bush his obedient lap dog republicans in congress voted against it and saved his veto pen some ink.

And when he vetoed pay raises for the troops while so many military families struggling to make ends meet, he must be showing his way of honoring the troops.

If that is how he treats people he honors, I hope he never honors me.

Full transcript of the State of the Union address is available at CNN.

Thankfully this is the last one we will EVER have to endure from this president.