State of the Union Address LIVE THREAD 9:01pm EST.

White House .gov ^

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

President Bush will deliver the annual State of the Union this evening at 9:01pm (Eastern Time). The speech will be webcast live on the White House web site. The President will discuss the extraordinary challenges our country has faced and the historic achievements we have made. Yet he will also stress that there.s much more for our country to do: "America this evening is a Nation called to great responsibilities. And we are rising to meet them…" "We have not come all this way – through tragedy, and trial, and war – only to falter and leave our work unfinished. Americans are rising to the tasks of history, and they expect the same of us." He will also remind the American people that we are a Nation still at war, and our government is meeting its responsibility to protect the American people: "Our greatest responsibility is the active defense of the American people. Twenty-eight months have passed since September 11, 2001 – over two years without an attack on American soil – and it is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting – and false." "...America is on the offensive against the terrorists..." "As part of the offensive against terror, we are also confronting the regimes that harbor and support terrorists, and could supply them with nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons…" "...Because of American leadership and resolve, the world is changing for the better…" He will discuss the progress we’re making in Afghanistan and Iraq, and renew our commitment to ensuring those countries are free and peaceful: "The men and women of Afghanistan are building a nation that is free, and proud, and fighting terror…" "The work of building a new Iraq is hard, and it is right. And America has always been willing to do what it takes for what is right." On priorities here at home, the President will discuss why he’s optimistic about our growing economy, and call on Congress to take action that will help turn our economic recovery into a lasting recovery. He will call on them to help train Americans for the jobs of the 21st Century: "America’s growing economy is also a changing economy. As technology transforms the way almost every job is done, America becomes more productive, and workers need new skills… We must respond by helping more Americans gain the skills to find good jobs in our new economy." President Bush will also discuss the importance of health care and the major cause for why Americans lack health insurance: the rising costs of health care. "On the critical issue of health care, our goal is to ensure that Americans can choose and afford private health care coverage that best fits their individual needs. To make insurance more affordable, Congress must act to address rapidly rising health care costs." Finally, the President will argue that in a time of great change in our country and world, the things that make our country strong should never change: "We are living in a time of great change… Yet some things endure – courage and compassion, reverence and integrity, respect for differences of faith and race. The values we try to live by never change. And they are instilled in us by fundamental institutions, such as families, and schools, and religious congregations. These institutions – the unseen pillars of civilization – must remain strong in America…" "All of us – parents, schools, government – must work together to counter the negative influence of the culture, and to send the right messages to our children."

"The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." Article II, Sec. 3, U.S. Constitution • History • State of the Union History Quiz • State of the Union - 2003 • State of the Union - 2002 Q1. What President delivered the first State of the Union Address?  George Washington  John Adams  Thomas Jefferson  James Madison  Franco Harris

January 20, 2004
Communications Director Dan Bartlett discussed this year's State of the Union.

January 19, 2004
Author/Historian Richard Norton Smith discussed the history of the State of the Union address.

[Sabertooth]

GW said emphatically tonight…. read my lips (OK, my post)… No Amnesty.

"There is no sexual relationship."

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

"It depends on what the definition of is is."

He's proposing the Illegals be legaized, rather than deported. That's Amnesty.

[Afronaut]

I read your Post thanks for your effort. Hard to swallow. I try to forget the truth and stay positive and wonder if I am just being a fool for ignoring the facts...

[Miss Marple]

Your son will be your biggest blessing in life. I firmly believe that those of us who are given "less than perfect" children are taught the value of life and are granted blessings with our children far beyond what we could have imagined.

When I have had lapses in faith, my daughter has been there to encourage me. She has set an example for all who know her.

God bless your son and your family. You will see that his burden turns out to be a blessing both for him and for all of you.

[maica]

---

To: Fledermaus

Your last post, while quite wordy, is so lacking in intelligence it doesn't warrant a response.

____________

The hour is late, and my eyes are blurry, but I have to say that Fledermaus' explanation of the immigration situation as it is today was thoughtful and spot-on.

Good-night all.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Haven’t read most of the responses on this thread, but, if the first couple hundred are any indication, this is a love fest of which I want no part. Too many people fall in line behind the Republican banner, or the ‘conservative’ label, simply because of what both used to represent. This president is no conservative.

Painful, isn't it? Thanks for that.

[ArneFufkin]

As Admiral Stockdale once said in a VP Debate ... "I'm out of bullets." :^)

I refuse to shill for the entirely capable Matt Drudge with one more pixel.

[Torie]

Well we all see it through our own judgments about issues and ideoglogical prisms. I give Bush an "A" for standing up for his forthrightly. I like his moderate activist pro market mechanism conservatism (exemplified by the abstract details of his overall health care thrust), yes I do, and admit it. I want the feds to measure and involve themselves with failing schools and kids. I admit that too.

I know, and Bush knows, that his duty is to deflect into more productive and effective channels the demands of the citizenry for a more robust social safety net, in ways that enhance the discipline of the market place, and retard the dead hand of centralized command bureaucracy, and make more benign, that which in less capable and more strident hands, could turn malignant.

Yes, his anmesty proposal is a risky scheme, as is effectively doing nothing a risky scheme, which is the only real political alternative. We shall have to see how Bush reacts to the details of the pushing and shoving on this issue, since on this issue, details really do matter. But as you and I both agree, the proposal is not likely to get anywhere, certainly this year, and probably thereafter. The status quo will triumph, to effects that you think are far more sinister than I do. And so it goes.

[clamper1797]

I should of done it this way to begin with, BUT when he called me a liar right out of the blue ... it quickly raise my hackles. he won't respond you know ... like you said ... he's a troll

[PRND21]

Bravo, Mr. President.

[longtermmemmory]

Which is actually employers saying they can't find an american worker willing to work for 1/2 of other american workers.

[cibco]

"Are you referring to Kennedy?"

Yes, I am.

[Ophiucus]

Au contraire. If Maine allows Fred and Ted to marry, then this legally married couple can move next door to you in Nevada and demand that your state give them full benefits available to married couples under Nevada law.

And Nevada can tell them to take a flying leap, refuse to acknowledge their status from Maine. Some states do that.

It's a people's fight - not the government's.

[Johnny_Cipher]

It's my vote, not the Republicans.

Yes it is. Nobody here is disputing that. We get it. But why in the world do ALL of you Bush naysayers find it necessary to TELL everybody every chance you get that "it's my vote" over and over and over and over?

Your allusion in your post to Schwarzenegger in the recent California election is telling. There was a solid cadre of posters who delighted in telling everybody, over and over etc., that he was a "RINO", was not electable, you would be voting for McClintock or The Man In The Moon, etc., world without end. But guess what? Schwarzenegger won, and by a comfortable margin. So will Bush.

Get over it and go find a third party website you can call your own.

[Fledermaus]

And you and your ilk can't find anything you like about GWB and are nothing but one subject whiners and are an even a bigger waste of time since most of your posts are just breaking FR rules and calling people "idiots".

You can't even itellectually discuss the issue because that would cause you too many headaches and actually having to think. You're lack of simple courtesy is appalling and you attacked even those that were in partial agreement with your thoughts that you barely even made.

So please, find something better to do with your precious time and quit boring us with your ridiculous name calling and inability to actually discuss an issue in the real world and not in your utopia of perfection upon which you are king.

[Victoria Delsoul]

He's proposing the Illegals be legaized, rather than deported. That's Amnesty.

Does legaized have anything to do with hazed? Just kidding LOL. Oops the plumber is here. Brb.

[CholeraJoe]

He wore the uniform, he was a commissioned officer. He swore the same oath that I did.

"I, Ronald Wilson Reagan, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

I swore no oath to a Government, nor to a person. I swore an oath to a Constitution that protects all of us.

[Darlin']

Oh, my Lord, I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter's illness. I pray that with the IVs she is already feeling better and will be up and around again real soon. lease try to get some rest tonight yourself.

[CyberAnt]

Karen was on Larry King live tonight. Larry was most gracious to her. She said that she had promised the President she would assist him in his re-election. In the next few months, she will be spending more and more time at the WH, and then after the convention, she will be traveling with the Presidental campaign until election day.

[Torie]

Very moving personal reflections, even to this aging somewhat curmudgeonly secular chap with some cynical tendencies. I know it is trite, but it isn't all about me, and living that truth, bears rates of return that make the internet bubble seem like chump change. Thanks.