I was generally happy with the speech tonight. Bush definitely had his moments. Here’s a few of my favorites.
By allowing radical Islam to work its will – by leaving an assaulted world to fend for itself – we would signal to all that we no longer believe in our own ideals, or even in our own courage. But our enemies and our friends can be certain: The United States will not retreat from the world, and we will never surrender to evil.
Hard not to stand up and clap for that one. Delivered powerfully, Bush clearly excels as a wartime president, and when he utters a line like that last one, he’s completely credible.
The road of victory is the road that will take our troops home. As we make progress on the ground, and Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead, we should be able to further decrease our troop levels – but those decisions will be made by our military commanders, not by politicians in Washington, D.C.
A real dig at the ‘cut and run’ Democrats. Sweet.
Members of Congress: however we feel about the decisions and debates of the past, our Nation has only one option: We must keep our word, defeat our enemies, and stand behind the American military in its vital mission.
Another kick delivered to all Democrats who contradict themselves by propagating the lie that they can be against the war but still support the troops.
I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected al-Qaida operatives and affiliates to and from America. Previous presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have – and Federal courts have approved the use of that authority. Appropriate Members of Congress have been kept informed. This terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America. If there are people inside our country who are talking with al-Qaida, we want to know about it – because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.
Delivered with a bit of cowboy-ish folksy emphasis; this was vintage Bush.
I am pleased that Members of Congress are working on earmark reform – because the Federal budget has too many special interest projects. And we can tackle this problem together, if you pass the line-item veto.
Not really a favorite of mine, but it did give me a chuckle. Just how many State of the Union addresses by Republican Presidents have included this line? Too funny.
There were a lot of other good moments, but these are the ones that stuck in my mind the most. Regarding the new policy proposals, etc., it’s always difficult to get excited about these. So many factors can contribute to a president’s initiatives succeeding or failing. We’ll just have to see which ones stick and which ones will have to wait for another day.
All-in-all, a good speech and a good night for George W. Bush.