This year's State of the Union Address was all the more extraordinary because it came against a backcloth of increasing domestic uncertainty about the American economy and a chorus of criticism from Europe over his drive towards war with Iraq. Posted on 01/29/2003 5:26:53 PM PST by MadIvan
George W Bush, who two years ago was an almost untested politician expected to govern as a centrist, emerged yesterday as a truly radical President determined to pursue his own ambitious agenda at home and abroad.
This year's State of the Union Address was all the more extraordinary because it came against a backcloth of increasing domestic uncertainty about the American economy and a chorus of criticism from Europe over his drive towards war with Iraq.
But while Mr Bush's popularity ratings had dipped to 60 per cent and Democrats had begun to sense he was no longer invincible, the speech showed that he believed his position was still strong enough to justify taking political risks.
No President with a popularity rating above 50 per cent has failed to be re-elected and Mr Bush won an overwhelming vote in favour of attacking Iraq at a time of his choosing from both houses of Congress last October.
On the domestic front, Mr Bush seemed intent on ensuring he did not suffer the same fate as his father, who was dumped out of office after a successful war with Iraq because he was seen as being out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans.
Echoing the "Four Freedoms" proclaimed by President Franklin Roosevelt in his State of the Union in 1941, Mr Bush outlined four goals, starting with "an economy that grows fast enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job".
The second was "high quality, affordable health care for all Americans" and the third "promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the environment".
Finally, he said he wanted to "apply the compassion of America to the deepest problems of America".
Democrats criticised his prescription for the ailing economy, stating that his $674 billion stimulus package was based on tax cuts for the rich, but were hard pressed to brand him uncaring.
A former alcoholic who has cried when visiting centres for the homeless, Mr Bush sounded husky when he described how addiction "crowds out friendship, ambition, moral conviction, and reduces all the richness of life to a single destructive desire".
The real passion, however, came in the final third of the speech when he turned at last to Iraq. Although he was sketchy on the precise evidence of Saddam's malfeasance, this was the skeleton of the case for war that the world had awaited so long.
"Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option," he said. He possessed chemical and biological weapons and it would take "one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known".
Mr Bush emphasised that the United States would act outside its auspices if necessary. His country's purpose, he said "is more than to follow a process - it is to achieve a result".
Any who had been unsure about Mr Bush's willingness to stay the course with Saddam needed only to listen to his message to Iraqis to be convinced war was imminent.
"Your enemy is not surrounding your country - your enemy is ruling your country," he said. "And the day he [Saddam] and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation."
Any President uttering those words less than two years before an election would be under no illusions that Saddam still being Iraq's leader when polling day came around would spell almost certain defeat.
The main danger to Mr Bush's re-election is probably not Saddam but the scale of his own ambitions at home.
He has chosen what he described as a "time of great consequence" to reshape his country's foreign policy, cut taxes to stimulate a failing economy and enact conservative social policies despite the many siren voices urging him to be more cautious.
Regards, Ivan
I don't mind admitting that I just about fainted when Bush got through that particular phrase (bolded) without mangling it.
I still wince each and every time he says "nucular".
But all that is unimportant. He's genuine and people can tell that he's genuine.
Luckily, the Left can't say anything about it, because their peanut farmer/hero Jimmy Carter says it the same way...
Oh, you mean the forthcoming democratic state, next to a secure Israel?
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