State of the Union Spin

The Old Media's coverage of President Bush's State of the Union address is very telling. Rather than focus on the initiatives that the President proposed for moving the nation forward, or his optimism and hopeful vision, the libs just can't keep from depicting the President as weak and the country as crumbling.

For instance, Terence Hunt of the Associated Press writes:

Hampered by huge budget deficits and an unpopular war, President Bush on Tuesday called for training 70,000 math and science teachers to improve the nation's competitiveness and declared that America must break its dependence on Mideast oil.

"America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world," Bush said as he sought to drive the election-year agenda in his annual State of the Union address.

He declared that the "the state of our union is strong" despite Americans' anxieties about the war in Iraq, the economy, soaring energy costs and rising energy prices. Oil prices are inching toward $70 a barrel, throwing a cloud over the economy and pinching Americans' pocketbooks.

...Bush's address came amid a changing of the guard elsewhere in Washington. Conservative judge Samuel Alito was sworn in as a new Supreme Court justice, replacing Sandra Day O'Connor, who has been a moderate swing vote.

...Facing budget deficits that may approach or exceed $400 billion this year, Bush had no room for expensive, new initiatives.

Frustrated by Congress' refusal to consider his Social Security overhaul, Bush switched gears and asked lawmakers to join him in naming a commission to examine the impact of Baby Boom retirements on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid costs.

Spending on those three programs alone will be almost 60 percent of the federal budget by 2030, Bush said.

Three years from leaving office, Bush went before the nation as a politically weakened president after the toughest year of his administration. With Americans anxious about the economy, weary of the Iraq war and unhappy about the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, Bush's job approval rating is in the anemic high 30s to low 40s.

According to Hunt, Americans are weary and Bush is anemic.

I don't see things that way; but I'm not hampered by the weight of Liberalism or blinded by the implosion of the Democratic Party.

This sounds more like an opinion piece rather than hard reporting. Hunt is relentless in talking about Bush's weakness and frustration, as well as the anxieties burdening Americans.

"Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years," the president said. "Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.

By targeting only Mideast oil, Bush was ignoring the largest sources of American petroleum consumption _ Mexico and Canada. Imports of oil and refined product from the Persian Gulf make up less than a fifth of all imports and 11 percent of total consumption, according to Energy Department statistics.


The libs need to make up their minds. They moan about U.S. dependency on Mideast oil and then claim that it only accounts for 11 percent of the nation's consumption.

Weird.


What follows is Hunt's account of the Dems' response, delivered by Tim Kaine, Virginia's new governor.

This is odd because the time listed for when Hunt filed his report is "Jan 31 9:51 PM US/Eastern," before Kaine's address aired. Obviously, he received an advance copy of the remarks.

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, chosen to deliver the response for the Democrats, scolded Bush on the soaring national debt, the frustrated effort to rebuild the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast, Medicaid cuts and other issues. On Iraq, Kaine said that Americans were given "inaccurate information about the reasons for invading" and that troops were given body armor that was inadequate.

"The federal government should serve the American people," the newly elected governor said in excerpts released ahead of his speech. "But that mission is frustrated by this administration's poor choices and bad management.

I didn't react positively to Kaine's address.

Although he delivered his remarks from the executive mansion, with the flickering flames from a fireplace in the background, he looked like he should have been standing in a used car lot.

Kaine had a weird smirk, that kind of, sort of smile you see from a guy selling a miracle cleaner in an infomercial. At other times, he reminded me of a funeral director, minus the red tie, of course.

"There’s a better way" was the line he kept repeating.

He kept talking about the bipartisanship in Virginia.

Again and again, Kaine went back to how Republicans and Dems have worked together in Virginia, and put aside partisanship.

"In Virginia, we've done this, and we've done that."

That's terrific, but not for a response given to the nation. It was as if Kaine was doing a run through of his gubernatorial stump speech.

To me, it was ineffective at best.

Hunt then returns to the State of the Union:

Bush divided his address between problems at home and abroad.

With the war in Iraq about to enter its fourth year and more than 2,240 American troops killed, Bush said the nation must not falter in what he called the central front in the war on terror. Bush did not offer any timetable for bringing American troops home from Iraq. There are about 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, down from about 160,000 at the time of the January elections.

"There is no peace in retreat," the president said. "And there is no honor in retreat."

Although the United States went to war on the faulty premise that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, Bush said, "Hindsight alone is not wisdom. And second-guessing is not a strategy."

Hunt falsely asserts that the U.S. went to war on a faulty premise. Saddam's WMD was not the sole reason for intervention in Iraq. It is however the reason that Leftists like to dwell on.

Lame.

Despite recent elections in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories that have given rise to religious-based parties with views sometimes hostile to the West, Bush pressed Saudi Arabia and Egypt _ longtime allies that Washington is loath to challenge too aggressively _ to provide greater freedoms to their citizens.

"Every step toward freedom in the world makes our country safer, and so we will act boldly in freedom's cause," Bush said. "Democracies in the Middle East will not look like our own because they will reflect the traditions of their own citizens. Yet liberty is the future of every nation in the Middle East."

He urged Hamas to "recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism and work for lasting peace."

Bush said the United States and its allies were united in insisting that Iran not develop nuclear weapons. Speaking directly to the Iranian people, Bush looked toward a different future for their country and said the United States "hopes one day to be the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran."

In typical lib fashion, Hunt points out that the Middle East is incapable of democracy and peace.

Hunt is gripped with that retreat and defeat malaise common among the Dems.

Bush projected an air of optimism in a time of anxiety about the economy, the war and other problems.

Hunt attempts to refute Bush's confidence and optimism, as if to say that he has no business being hopeful. That's reminiscent of the way libs used to attack Reagan's positive vision.

"Americans should not fear our economic future because we intend to shape it," he said.

The president renewed his oft-stated goal for Congress to make permanent the tax cuts enacted during his presidency.

Permanent tax cuts?

This is a mortal sin to the tax and spend libs.

"If we do nothing, American families will face a massive tax increase they do not expect and will not welcome," he said.

Bush called for greater public spending on basic science research and more money for math and science education.

He proposed an initiative to train 70,000 high school teachers to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science. In addition, he urged bringing 30,0000 math and science professionals into the classrooms to teach.

I get the feeling that Terence Hunt should have delivered the Dems' response.

Rather than Kaine' State of Virginia address, Hunt's emphasis on spewing the radical Left's talking points probably would have made the Dems happier.

The poor things have had a very rough day.