Tuesday, January 29, 2008
STATE OF THE UNION 2008
It is the day after President Bush’s last state of the union message to Congress. Even though we should be glad that this is his last, some of us are not feeling so well.
Some of us still feel a little nauseous. We find his smirks repugnant. We find his manner offensive. We have heard most of his ideas before, over and over. We listen dutifully, but then we become agitated as we reason behind the words.
Sometimes our conscience bothers us a little for feeling about this president the way we do. We know that these feelings are not good for our nation. “Can we not moderate these in some way?” we ask ourselves.
During the last few years, 60% of our people polled said that the nation is heading in the wrong direction. That proportion has grown now to 68%, or to “3 out of 4,” depending on which poll interpretation. Mr. President, the people do NOT believe that the state of the union is good.
But we feel bad about the division in our country. We wish it were not so. The reasons were obvious during the president’s speech. He called for cooperation, and then a moment later scolded his opposition for not doing his bidding. He made provocative threats of vetoes if they what he did not like.
This president has never learned that there are two legitimate parties, thinking only of his and the disloyal opposition. He has never learned that there are supposed to be three branches of government. He thinks he has gained control of the Supreme Court, and he refuses to accept that he does not now control Congress.
Republicans hated President Bill Clinton. Some of us now understand a little about how they might have felt, although we have never experienced the vituperative intensity they apparently felt.
We have not resorted to the venom of well publicized character attacks and lies, both volunteer and paid. We have not subjected this president to impeachment proceedings for high crimes and misdemeanors in the conduct of his office, even though he may well have deserved that. We have not suborned admittedly libelous publications about him.
This president’s personal and private behavior has not been made the subject of court inquiry. Even his public, business, and military records were quickly lost or sealed off from examination. Alleged criminal activities in this administration have been covered up by stonewalling, lost files, lost e-mails, and now deliberately destroyed video tapes.
No person and no family have been as thoroughly vetted as the Clintons, both in the courts and in the public media. Strangely, when the former president suggested last week that the media should look at all democrat candidates with equal scrutiny, he was suddenly made out to be a racist by them.
There is little doubt that Hillary Clinton is the best qualified candidate for the presidency on the democrat ticket. She represents the mainstream, moderate democrats. She has practical ideas and practical proposals.
On the other hand, Barrack Obama is a wonderfully inspirational candidate. He represents the more liberal sector of the party. He brings youth and idealism to the political altar. The endorsement of the Kennedy family was meaningful, although perhaps not all that helpful.
It would be nice to have less divisive rancor and less vindictive political behavior in our nation. Fairness in media treatment would be nice. This election, both republican and democrat, does not offer much promise, however.
One can only cringe at the thought of how dirty the general election may be.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
Some of us still feel a little nauseous. We find his smirks repugnant. We find his manner offensive. We have heard most of his ideas before, over and over. We listen dutifully, but then we become agitated as we reason behind the words.
Sometimes our conscience bothers us a little for feeling about this president the way we do. We know that these feelings are not good for our nation. “Can we not moderate these in some way?” we ask ourselves.
During the last few years, 60% of our people polled said that the nation is heading in the wrong direction. That proportion has grown now to 68%, or to “3 out of 4,” depending on which poll interpretation. Mr. President, the people do NOT believe that the state of the union is good.
But we feel bad about the division in our country. We wish it were not so. The reasons were obvious during the president’s speech. He called for cooperation, and then a moment later scolded his opposition for not doing his bidding. He made provocative threats of vetoes if they what he did not like.
This president has never learned that there are two legitimate parties, thinking only of his and the disloyal opposition. He has never learned that there are supposed to be three branches of government. He thinks he has gained control of the Supreme Court, and he refuses to accept that he does not now control Congress.
Republicans hated President Bill Clinton. Some of us now understand a little about how they might have felt, although we have never experienced the vituperative intensity they apparently felt.
We have not resorted to the venom of well publicized character attacks and lies, both volunteer and paid. We have not subjected this president to impeachment proceedings for high crimes and misdemeanors in the conduct of his office, even though he may well have deserved that. We have not suborned admittedly libelous publications about him.
This president’s personal and private behavior has not been made the subject of court inquiry. Even his public, business, and military records were quickly lost or sealed off from examination. Alleged criminal activities in this administration have been covered up by stonewalling, lost files, lost e-mails, and now deliberately destroyed video tapes.
No person and no family have been as thoroughly vetted as the Clintons, both in the courts and in the public media. Strangely, when the former president suggested last week that the media should look at all democrat candidates with equal scrutiny, he was suddenly made out to be a racist by them.
There is little doubt that Hillary Clinton is the best qualified candidate for the presidency on the democrat ticket. She represents the mainstream, moderate democrats. She has practical ideas and practical proposals.
On the other hand, Barrack Obama is a wonderfully inspirational candidate. He represents the more liberal sector of the party. He brings youth and idealism to the political altar. The endorsement of the Kennedy family was meaningful, although perhaps not all that helpful.
It would be nice to have less divisive rancor and less vindictive political behavior in our nation. Fairness in media treatment would be nice. This election, both republican and democrat, does not offer much promise, however.
One can only cringe at the thought of how dirty the general election may be.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
