President Bush’s last State of the Union

Same promise, same threat
by Reinout van Wagtendonk
29-01-2008
In his final State of the Union before handing over to the next president, George W. Bush called on Congress to approve the economic stimulation measures agreed last week. He also said he will continue to attack terrorism, adding that his troop surge in Irak had yielded successes. How does this last State of the Union compare to Bush’s first one? In 2002 president Bush delivered his first State of the Union speech under grim circumstances.
“As we gather tonight our nation is at war, our economy is in recession and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers. Yet, the state of our union has never been stronger.”
The first year of his presidency was the year of the September 11 attacks.
EvilSix years ago on January 29 Bush vilified North Korea, Iran and Iraq with a memorable phrase:
‘States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world.’The largest part of that speech focused on the threat posed by islamic terrorists and rogue nations, and the Bush doctrine of preemptive strikes to keep that threat far from the American homeland.Six years ago the economy wasn’t doing well either. President Bush emphasized lower taxes, calling for making permanent the tax cuts enacted in 2001 when the US budget had a few hundred billion dollar surplus.
TaxesMonday night, in his final State of the Union speech, Bush again asked Congress to pass a stimulus plan. The budget long ago sunk back into hundreds of billions of dollars worth of red ink, but the president’s economic priority remains the same:
“Most Americans think their taxes are high enough. With all the other pressures on their finances the American families should not have to worry about their federal governments, taking a bigger bite out of their pay-checks. There is only one way to eliminate this uncertainty: make the tax relief permanent.”
The cheering came from other Republicans. The Democrats sat in disapproving silence. A large difference with 2002 is that the Democrats now control both Houses of Congress.
SimilaritiesA large difference as well is George Bush’s approval rating: in January 2002 84%, now at 32%. In this final speech Bush changed the order of his two most important subjects: first the economy then terrorism and Iraq. But it was remarkable how little different his first and his last State of the Union speech seemed. The same threat…
“Evil men who despise freedom, despise America and aim to subject millions to their violent rule.” The same promise…
“Since 9/11 we have taken the fight to these terrorists and extremists, we will stay on the offence, we will keep up the pressure and we will deliver justice to our enemies.” But the applause sounded polite at best. Bush has already lost a lot of power. In this election year the lame duck president will have even less clout.Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton voiced the relief of many Democrats now that Bush is in his final year in office:
“The day may be beautiful and the heavens are smiling at us, because tonight will be the last time George Bush ever gives a State of the Union speech.”
Tags: axis of evil, economy, George W. Bush, State of the Union, terrorism
Source: Radio NL