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Analysis: State of the Union Agitated (Ron Fournier Alert!)
AP on Yahoo ^ | 1/31/06 | Ron Fournier - ap

Posted on 01/31/2006 7:17:54 PM PST by NormsRevenge

WASHINGTON - The state of the union is fretful. President Bush acknowledged the public's agitated state Tuesday night when he gave voice to growing concerns about the course of the nation he has led for five years.

His credibility no longer the asset it once was, the president begged Americans' indulgence for another chance to fix things.

There is no shortage: the Iraq war, global terrorism, a nuclear Iran, a stingy global economy, skyrocketing health care costs, troubled U.S. schools, rising fuel costs, looming budget deficits and government corruption. All received presidential attention Tuesday night.

In his fifth State of the Union address, Bush sought to balance his usual optimistic message with an odd-fitting acknowledgment that many Americans are suffering beneath a crush of change.

"Fellow citizens, we have been called to leadership in a period of consequence. We have entered a great ideological conflict we did nothing to invite," Bush said. "We see great changes in science and commerce that will influence all our lives. And sometimes it can seem that history is turning a wide arc, toward an unknown shore."

Unknown and uneasy.

The problem for Bush is that few of these troubles are new. He's had four years to ease people's pain.

Nearly 46 million Americans have no health insurance, up nearly a million in the last year. Health care costs are increasing three or four times the rate of inflation.

One of Bush's first successes of his presidency was the 2002 No Child Left Behind, but parents still wonder about the quality of education in their schools. For the first time in generations, American children could face poorer prospects than their parents and grandparents did.

Calling for less dependency on foreign oil is a State of the Union evergreen. Bush has done so in every address.

The president who promised to be a uniter, not a divider, has presided over the hyper-polarization of Washington.

Osama bin Laden has not been caught.

Weapons of mass destruction were not found in Iraq.

Victory in that war seems elusive, with more than 2,240 American troops killed — and counting.

The solutions Bush offered were relatively small-bore and wrapped in familiar language: tax cuts, health savings accounts, alternative energy research and investments in education to help keep America competitive with emerging democracies; and a stay-the-course approach to fighting terrorism.

In a preview of his November election strategy, Bush accused foreign policy critics of "defeatism." He also took a jab at critics in his own party on immigration and trade.

Bush's goal in the address was to acknowledge the public's concerns, and if not solve their every problem, assure them he will try to do better.

"He's learned that the election is over — and now he's free to acknowledge that course change doesn't necessarily mean a mistake," said Republican consultant Rich Galen.

Bush spoke of the global economy and suggested that competitors like China and India are making gains on the United States. "This creates an uncertainty, which makes it easier to feed people's fears."

He said violent crime, abortions and teenage pregnancies are down in an era that has seen Americans take more responsibility — "a revolution of conscience" he called it. "Yet many Americans, especially parents, still have deep concerns about the direction of our culture, and the health of our basic institutions," he said.

The mood of the nation is unsettled. Nearly 7 of 10 American believes the country is headed in the wrong direction. Bush's job approval ratings are among the lowest of his presidency.

At the core of his political problems is his loss of credibility. Most voters believed he was a strong and principled leader in 2004, leading many to support him despite their opposition to the Iraq war and a sluggish economy.

They are no longer giving him the benefit of the doubt.

The proportion of Americans who credit the president with being honest and straightforward has fallen, as has the percentage who credit him for strong leadership qualities.

Democrats hope those numbers don't change after Bush's address. "It's an attempt to make himself healthy before the mid-terms," said Democratic strategies Dane Strother. Americans may be anxious, he said, "but they're not dumb."


TOPICS: Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: agitated; analysis; assholepervadedpress; fournier; ronfournier; sotu; stateoftheunion
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To: NormsRevenge
but parents still wonder about the quality of education in their schools.

Now, why would that be? The schools are controlled by the left.

I read something earlier today about how Detroit is the poorest American big city. Now, why would that be? Detroit has the highest concentration of Democrats of any American big city. Social security is on a sure course for disaster? It's a Democratic program that the left has refused to allow anyone to touch.

There's a lesson here, but one should never underestimate Democratic blindness to the bleeding obvious.

41 posted on 01/31/2006 8:19:10 PM PST by JCEccles
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To: NormsRevenge


Futilely searching for performance art pics of the pot banging brigade actually banging pots and pans to drown out Bush's SOTU.
42 posted on 01/31/2006 9:26:32 PM PST by Milhous (Sarcasm - the last refuge of an empty mind.)
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To: Milhous
Fournier must have spent a lot of time in therapy to be able to do this kind of quackery psychoanalysis on the SOTU. Where the hell does he see these bizarre things? Did he watch the speech with Cindy Sheehan and Joel Stein?

Bush wasn't 'asking' for a second chance. He was, in the words of Chili Palmer, the one telling you how it is. Period. No questions, no comments.

43 posted on 01/31/2006 9:33:39 PM PST by bpjam (Now accepting liberal apologies.....)
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To: bpjam
Where the hell does he see these bizarre things?

A LSD flashback seems most probable.

Luminaries of The World Can't Wait [to] DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME Regiment of Royal Rabid Barking Moonbats:

ACT UP, New York City
Mumia Abu-Jamal, political prisoner, journalist
Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, mosque of Islamic Brotherhood; Justice Committee, Majlis Ash-Shura, NY
Pam Africa, Move Organization and International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
After Downing Street Coalition
Vicente "Panama" Alba, Organizer, Laborers Union Local 108, New York
"Alberto Lovera" Bolivian Circle, New York
Aimee Allison, army conscientious objector (Gulf War
90)/counter-Recruiter
Tom Ammiano, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Aris Anagnos, Los Angeles
Anti-Flag
Carlos Arango, director of Casa Aztlan*
Edward Asner
Asociacion Tepeyac de New York
Axis of Justice
Rosa Ayala, Justice for Janitors*
William Ayers, professor and author
Russell Banks, writer
Father Luis Barrios
, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas, New York
Rev. Willie Barrow, Women Connecting*
Ed Begley Jr.
Harry Belafonte
Dave Berenson, Cleveland, OH, U.S. Green Party
Michael Berg, anti-war activist
Jessica Blank, writer, actor
Blase Bonpane, author
Bob Bossie, SCJ, 8th Day Center for Justice*
Father Roy Bourgeois, MM
St. Clair Bourne, film maker
Elombe Brath, Patrice Lumumba Coalition, NYC
Jane Bright, Co-founder, Goldstar Families for Peace
Carol Brightman, author, "Total Insecurity: The Myth of American Omnipotence"
Dennis Brutus
Gabriel Byrne
, Actor
Campus Anti-War Network(CAN)
Tim Carpenter
, Director, Progressive Democrats of America
Center for Constitutional Rights
Chicago ADAPT
Ward Churchill

Citizens For Legitimate Government
Kate Clinton, humorist
Clothing of American Mind
David Cobb, 2004 Green Party Presidential Candidate
Code Pink: Women for Peace
Steve Colman, poet
John Conyers, US Representative
Carlos Cornier, percussionist, Funkadesi, Old Town School of Folk
Music
Barry Crimmins, writer/
correspondent, Air America Radio 
Culture Clash
Charles W. Dahm (Father Chuck)
, Pastor, St. Pius V, Chicago
Chris Daly, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Julie Delpy, Actress
DC Anti-War Network
Democrats.com
Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist Party
Leonard "Len" Dominguez, Candidate for Cook County Commissioner
Dominican Women's Development Center, New York
Tom Duane, NY State Senator
Michael Eric Dyson, author, "Is Bill Cosby Right?"
Steve Earle, musician
Niles Eldredge, curator of the Darwin Show at the Museum of Natural History, NYC
Edwin Ellis, President of Veterans for Peace, LA*
Eve Ensler
Michelle Esrick, actress, poet, filmmaker
Donelle Estey, artist, Artists Against the War
Christian Ettinger, exec. prod. of film "The Weather Underground"
Jodie Evans, Code Pink
Nina Felshin, curator, writer
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Rev. John Fife

Jane Fonda
Prof. Barbara Forrest, Southeastern Louisana University (testifed in Dover against intelligent design)
Michael Franti, musician
Aaron Freeman, comdian
Samina Faheem Fundas, American Muslim Voice*
reg e. gaines, poet, playwright
Martin Garbus, NYC
Deborah Glick, NY State Assemblywoman
Ted Glick, Climate Crisis Coalition
Global Justice and Peace Ministries, Riverside Church,
New York
Frances Goldin, literary agent
Sam Greenlee, poet
André Gregory, theater director
Andy Griggs, US Labor Against the War, Exec. Board of United Teachers of LA*
Jose Guerrero, artist and muralist, Chicago
Lawrence Guyot, former SNCC member and former Chairman of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
Paul Haggis, Director/Writer of Crash, screenwriter of Million Dollar Baby
Haitian Coalition for Justice
Suheir Hammad, poet
Sam Hamill, Poets Against War
Kathleen Hanna, Le Tigre
David Harris, founder of The Resistance*, writer
Jon Hendricks, jazz singer/lyricist
Jon Hendricks
, artist
Hermandad Mexicana
Warren M. Hern, MD, MPH, PhD
, Director, Boulder Abortion Clinic
Hip Hop Caucus
Dorothy Hoobler, PEN
Marie Howe, poet and writer
Impeach Bush Coalition
Mesha Monge Irizarry, Idriss StelleyFoundation
Islamic Association of America
Abdeen Jabara, past president, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee*
Ron Jacobs, writer
Dahr Jamail, independent journalist
Alan Jones, Dean of Faculty at Pitzer College*
Bill T. Jones, dancer
Sarah Jones, poet and actor
Rickie Lee Jones, musician
Esther Kaplan
, author of With God On Their Side
Janis Karpinski, Brig. General (retired)
Casey Kasem
M. Ali Khan, American Muslim Council
C. Clark Kissinger
Frances Kissling, President, Catholics for a Free Choice*
Yuri Kochiyama
Ron Kovic, author, Vietnam Veteran
Jonathan Kozol
Joyce Kozloff
, artist
Jim Lafferty, Executive Director of the National Lawyer's Guild of Los Angeles
Ray Laforest, organizer, DC 1707, AFSCME*; member, Pacifica National Board*
Beth Lamont
Jessica Lange
Lewis Lapham, former editor, Harper's Magazine
Martha Lavey, Chicago
Mark Leno, California Assemblyman
Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine
James Levin, co-director of Cleveland Festival of Arts & Technology (Ingenuity)
Simon Levy, director, "What I Heard About Iraq" at Fountain St. Theatre
Toby Devan Lewis
Bruce Lincoln
, professor, History of Religions, University of Chicago
Margarita Lopez, New York City Council Member
Haki R. Madhubuti, chairman, publisher, Third World Press
Devorah major, poet & novelist
Make the Road by Walking, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY
Mike Malloy, syndicated radio talk show host
Lucinda Marshall, Founder Feminist Peace Network*
Bill Martin, philosopher
Father Matthius, Pastor, St. Pius V, Chicago
Malachy McCourt, actor & author
Allen Michann, owner, Grand Lake Theater, Oakland, CA
Ellen McLaughlin, actress and playwright
Camilo Mejia, conscientious objector
Dave Meserve, Arcata California city council member
Carol Migden, CA State Senator
Carly Miller, Clothing of the American Mind
Mark Crispin Miller, author, "Fooled Again"
Alderman Joe Moore, Chicago's City Council
Millions More Movement, Pittsburg /Antioch CA organizing committee
Bill Mitchell, co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace*
Leon Mobley, musician
Tom Morello, Audioslave
Tracie Morris, poet
Andrew Muñana, Images Salón, East Los Angeles
Cecil Murray, Retired Minister First AME Church, Los Angeles

Craig Murray, former UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan
National Lawyers Guild
Armando Navarro, chair and professor, Ethnic Studies, UC Riverside
The Network in Solidarity with the People of the Philippines
Bill Nevins, teacher, Albuquerque
Northwestern College Feminists
Not in Our Name
Mike and Julie Nussbaum
Efia Nwangaza
, director, African American Institute for Policy Studies, Greenville, SC
Brian O'Leary
, PhD., author, former astronaut
Bertell Ollman, prof. Dept. of Politics, NYU
R. Tomás Olmos, President, Mexican American Bar Foundation, Los Angeles County*, Dean Emeritus, People's College of Law*
Barbara Olshansky, Center for Constitutional Rights
Outernational
Major Owens, 11th Congressional District, D-NY
Ozomatli
Jose Padilla
*, executive director, California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA)
Grace Paley, writer
Patrick Henry Democratic Club
Harvey Pekar, American Splendor
Sean Penn
Rosalind Petchesky
, prof., Hunter College & Grad. Center, CUNY
Peter Phillips PhD, Project Censored, Sociology Dept Sonoma State University
Jeremy Pikser, screenwriter, Bulworth
Harold Pinter, Nobel Prize winning playwright
Frances Fox Piven
Sterling Plumpp
, poet
Kevin Powell, writer
Progressive Democrats of America
Francine Prose, novelist
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party - New York Branch
Queers for Economic Justice
Jerry Quickley
, poet and playwright
Malik Rahim
, New Orleans Community Organizer
Michael Ratner, Center for Constitutional Rights*
Reach Hip Hop Coalition
Raghava Reddy, stem cell biologist, biomedical scientist, film maker
Maggie Renzi, filmmaker
Eric Resnick, Gay People's Chronicle* reporter, peace activist, one time candidate for US Congress
Allan Rich, screenwriter/actor
Boots Riley, The Coup
Walter Riley, lawyer
Joshua Rosenbloom, Composer/ Director of Bush is Bad
Mark Ruffalo, actor
Bobby Rush, US Representative, Chicago
Douglas Rushkoff, author
Kalamu ya Salaam, Listen to the People
JD Samson, Le Tigre
Sonia Sanchez
Rev. Henry Sanders, Fountain of Life Missionary Baptist Church, Watts, CA
San Francisco Bayview Newspaper
Sapphire, poet, writer
Susan Sarandon
John Sayles, filmmaker
Rinku Sen, Colorlines*
Richard Serra, artist
Rev. Al Sharpton
Lou Shaw, writer, creator of Quincy MD
Cindy Sheehan
Martin Sheen

Stanley Sheinbaum, economist, LA
Nancy Spero, artist
Dona Spring, Berkeley Council member
Gloria Steinem
Malcolm Suber, People's Hurricane Relief Fund*
Serj Tankian System of a Down
Sunsara Taylor, Revolution newspaper
Studs Terkel
Marianne Torres
, Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane*
Dwight Trible, jazz vocalist

George Tuttle & Ben Cushman, grapegrowers
Gore Vidal, writer
Kurt Vonnegut
Alice Walker
Maxine Waters, US Representative
Wavy Gravy
Leonard Weinglass
, lawyer
Rev. Dave Weissbard, senior minister, The Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford, IL
Cornel West, Princeton University
Rev. Phil Wheaton, Episcopal Co-pastor, Community of Christ, Washington DC
Joan Wile, Director, Grandmothers Against the War
Saul Williams, poet
Standish E. Willis, National Conference of Black Lawyers
Krzysztof Wodiczko, artist
Ann Wright, former US diplomat, resigned in protest of Iraq war
Daphne Wysham, Institute for Policy Studies
Leland Y. Yee, Speaker pro Tem, California State Assembly
Juanita Young, courageous resister, leader in October 22nd Coalition*
Dr. Quentin Young, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group*
Dave Zeiger, filmmaker, "Sir, No, Sir!"
Zephyr, graffiti artist, writer
Robert Zevin, Robert Brooke Zevin Associates, Inc.
Howard Zinn, historian, "A Peoples' History of the
United States"
David Zirin, author, "What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the
United States"

44 posted on 01/31/2006 9:48:56 PM PST by Milhous (Sarcasm - the last refuge of an empty mind.)
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To: YaYa123

Ron has really got his knickers in a twist this evening.


45 posted on 01/31/2006 9:49:57 PM PST by Utah Girl
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To: Gordongekko909
How'd the President's approval rating get to 50%? Last I heard, it was 35% and declining rapidly, probably not to exceed 18% by the November election. The American people are joining the Democratic Party in droves. The American economy rests on the verge of complete collapse, already worse than the depths of the Great Depression. (I live in Oklahoma, which for some stupid reason, seems to lack these problems.) Usama bin Laden has declared victory in Iraq; America is irrevocably and completely defeated. Our armed forces are mere vestiges of their former selves, completely broken, and tired, preparing for surrender, with no supplies or ammunition whatsoever.

And that's just for starters. This is what the American people believe because it is the Truth. The President is a Liar; so decreed by the Democrats, who embody the values of the American people--socialism, sedition, surrender, and sodomy.
46 posted on 01/31/2006 10:01:06 PM PST by dufekin (US Senate: the only place where the majority [44 D] comprises fewer than the minority [55 R])
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To: dufekin

I dunno. Must be FReepers attacking opinion polls or something.


47 posted on 01/31/2006 10:03:47 PM PST by Gordongekko909 (I know. Let's cut his WHOLE BODY off.)
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To: NormsRevenge
These liberals won't be happy until there is a liberal utopia from shore to shore. Americans without health insurance? Right - what has health insurance brought to this nation? Better care? Do you get to spend more than five minutes with a doctor?

National health care proposals have fallen flat every time they've been proposed because people want to control their health choices. So instead, health insurance is forced upon them. You're told what health options are available, and if you wish to go beyond that, you have to appeal to a committee for permission.

The culture of patching over problems, or running up expensive tabs for procedures and treaments that offer minimal results, is prevalent within the industry. Pills with dangerous side effects to treat cosmetic issues? Hello? Those pills that might, with a year of treatment, correct the discoloration in your toenails?

One way or another, we're going to be forced into the liberal utopia of their imagining, so that we can be their grand experiment in socialized health care, dependent upon their monthly checks in our later years, silenced by their constant attacks on the freedom of speech. None of these things were ever envisioned by our founding fathers - a family took care of their elder relatives, a doctor charged what the patient could afford, and the freedom to be critical of others was a central part of our Bill of Rights.

Thankfully the people are starting to wake up, they've identified the problem, refusing to characterize themselves as 'liberal' on surveys. They're just missing how fundamental attacks on our economy, our social system, and our freedoms are being dressed up in fancy packages.

A liberal can call a soldier a baby killer, an abortion protester can't say the same to someone who just killed their baby. A protester can burn an American flag, another would be arrested if that was a rainbow flag as they are committing a 'hate crime' against homosexuals. Do as we say, not as we do, is the rule of the liberal. Probably why Communism appeals to them so; of course, they envision that they would be the rulers, and not the ruled.. Some days, I'm not so sure that they've lost.
48 posted on 02/01/2006 1:56:43 AM PST by kingu (Liberalism: The art of sticking your fingers in your ears and going NANANANA..)
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To: NormsRevenge
The state of the union is fretful. President Bush acknowledged the public's agitated state Tuesday night when he gave voice to growing concerns about the course of the nation he has led for five years.

His credibility no longer the asset it once was, the president begged Americans' indulgence for another chance to fix things.

I wonder which planet he watched this on?

49 posted on 02/01/2006 2:00:45 AM PST by dread78645 (Intelligent Design. It causes people to misspeak)
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To: forYourChildrenVote4Bush
Pres Bush said some of the 9-11 hijackers in the US called al Qaeda contacts overseas just before their attack. When he said he'd use his Constitutional authority to monitor people talking to al Qaeda BEFORE they hit us, Hillary nodded "no".

Apparently Her Heinous would prefer to use those Presidential powers to spy on US business communications and pass the information along to the Chinese.
50 posted on 02/01/2006 7:15:20 AM PST by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: NormsRevenge

We have discovered a bizarro parallel universe and Ron Fournier is reporting from it.


51 posted on 02/01/2006 7:16:25 AM PST by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: YaYa123

LOL.

From the looks of this article he was typing and wiping at the same time...

what a pantload.


52 posted on 02/01/2006 11:47:30 AM PST by Dinah Lord (fighting the islamic jihad one keystroke at a time...)
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To: NormsRevenge
Health care costs are increasing three or four times the rate of inflation. . .

Every time I hear a platitude for federal health care I am reminded of a PJ O'Rourke quote, "If you think health care is expensive now just wait until it's free."

53 posted on 02/01/2006 1:25:44 PM PST by Jacquerie (Democrats soil institutions)
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To: NormsRevenge
Paula Zahnn on CNN last night.

CNN's Zahn: "[Y]ou've got a lot of people out there saying ... if you vote for a Democrat, that basically you want to be bombed"


54 posted on 02/01/2006 1:30:28 PM PST by John Lenin
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To: Milhous

sweet......


55 posted on 02/02/2006 12:15:33 PM PST by bpjam (Now accepting liberal apologies.....)
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