The State of the Union

Ah where to begin. It is so frustrating for me to watch the President speak, especially with such backward rhetoric. But I am going to keep it short. Here is what I liked:
I liked the fact that he emphasized making AIDS in Africa among American foreign policy concerns. I like the fact that he has an idea that the environment needs to be fixed, but I don't understand why he has to make it a 15 year plan. What is good for the environment in 15 years, is good for the environment now!

Here is what I am not so happy about:
I don't like that George Bush has singlehandedly changed American secularism. I think complete separation of church and state is a really good thing for secular democracies and Bush's idea for a faith based initiative goeas completely against that--allowing religious organizations, who get federal money, to discriminate on who they hire is crap and goes against the constitution. And I think it is wrong to bring God up in the address in such a blatant manner, and not just in the typical "God Bless America" fashion. Specifically I think this was offensive and does not serve as an inclusive mechanism for all Americans, especially those Americans who don't beleive in Judeo-Christian traditions.
"We Americans have faith in ourselves - but not in ourselves alone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history. May He guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United States of America. "

I also don't like th cowboy attitude in which he portrayed American justice and I really, really don't like war mongering, especially without a coalition. The whole thing with Iraq, yes Saddam Hussein is a bad guy, yes he does bad things to his own people, and yes, he may have weapons of mass destruction. However, the resolution requiring him to disarm is a UN resolution that needs to be followed up by the UN. It should not be defended with unilateral American military action. This war with Iraq is an unjust war and America has had its hand in supporting a lot dirtier leaders. Anyway, that is my brief, brief recap. The text of Bush's speech can be found here, and the Democratic response can be found here.

posted by sajit @ 10:48 PM