catholicsphere

Because of it’s relevance to the CatholicSphere, I’ll be posting a running dialog on my reactions to the State of the Union address, in progress … [hit refresh for updates every few minutes, during the speech]

Presidential Address Wrap-up — 49 minute speech. Very carefully worded, very bi-partisan, very reserved. The big thing I saw was the situation in Iraq. With the nightmare scenario, it seems that there is little that military action will do to create the peace that needed in that country.

Democratic Response Wrap-up — Very interesting rebuttal. I think that the Democrats need to act responsibly, as they are asking the President to do. A vote of “no confidence” by Congress at this time really doesn’t seem to address the issue. They should just move to showing leadership and vision, rather than a “non-binding resolution”. Rightly, we need a new direction that will get the Iraqi government moving. However, they should not rip out the heart of the President’s action prematurely. If it does, indeed, fall flat, then they could use that. However, this all needs to be balanced with the fact that we need to safeguard the lives of Americans and of our troops on the front lines. We need a comprehensive domestic policy plan to keep Americans safe once we do leave Iraq.

The economic situation is also something that must be dealt with. We need a comprehensive economic policy that will bridge the divide between execs and workers.

9:22 pm CST — Loyalty required for our leaders, provided they act responsibility.

9:20 pm CST — Corporate executives make 400x more than their average worker.

9:17 pm CST — Economy and “War on Terror” are on the Democratic Agenda

[Democratic Response...above]

—-

9:00 pm CST — Praise God for heroes!

8:59 pm CST — Baby Einstein is cool!

8:50 pm CST — Iraq War: We are in the middle of a battle between Iran/Shia and Sunni/Al-Qaeda … how can we possibly create peace between them?

8:41 pm CST — He was careful to use “lawful” to describe the means by which our nation and its people should be kept safe from terrorists.

8:37 pm CST — So far, a very cordial speech with some obvious bi-partisan ideas.

8:34 pm CST — Cheney and Bush take a drink of water at the same time…
8:29 pm CST — “Immigration” … reform the rules and regulations for immigration; require assimilation; also be aware of keeping families intact, while supporting the citizens of this country.

8:22pm CST — “No Child Left Behind Act” … this needs to be improved and funded, not merely transferring the burden to local governments and economies.

8:19pm CST — Why isn’t the budget balanced already?

8:14pm CST — “Madam Speaker” … formalities

[tags]President, United States, State of the Union, politics[/tags]