State of Disgrace

OK, I'll come right out and admit it, I can't watch these spectacles anymore. I'm already on blood pressure medication, and such shameful displays from our government as George Bush's final State of the Union address, would just send my diastolic through the roof. I'll read the transcript and a few choice stories about it after the fact, but sit through it? No, I would sooner have some dental work done sans novocaine.

What honest assessment could conclude other than that the state of our Union is nothing short of catastrophic? It seems now that a substantial fraction of Americans have finally come round to this conclusion, judging from recent polling that suggests upwards of 75% of Americans feel the country is on the wrong track. Disaffection with the status quo can also be seen in the much stronger interest in the Democratic presidential race than that of the Republicans. But, you would not necessarily know this if you simply listened to, and worse yet, believed, any of the drivel coming out of Mr. Bush's mouth the other night. Indeed, given the long, documented record of Bush and Co.'s outright lies, distortions and abuse of the truth, one can fairly ask the question, should the media even be obligated to cover such a pathetic spectacle? For in doing so, a strong argument can be made that they are simply providing a platform for Mr. Bush to continue to "catapult the propaganda" (his words). At any rate, perhaps a compromise would be to agree to cover the speech, but only with proper warning labels; "viewers be advised, this speaker has a long history of really shoveling the shit!"

And what of the Senators, House members, and other select government pooh-bahs in attendance? Is it really their "duty" to applaud, indeed, provide the occasional standing ovation, for this mendacious mediocrity? Was there anything he said that was worthy of praise? The gross overstatement of "success" in Iraq perhaps? A "success" that has destroyed a country, and precipitated the death of upwards of 1 million of its citizens. Worthy of applause? I think not. If I should have found myself so unfortunate as to be present in the House chamber, my hands would have been sore from being sat upon. Shame on any Congress member to applaud such suffering; shame, shame.

This version was really more of the same old nonsense: cut taxes, bring the 9/11 perpetrators to justice (really, again, after abandoning Bin Laden in Tora Bora for the invasion of Iraq)! Democratize the Middle East, blah, blah. Predictably, there was also the usual dose of fear. Perhaps Bush's most audacious attempt to browbeat Americans into giving up yet more of their rights was his "threat" to veto a Congressional extension of the FISA law if it does not also contain retroactive immunity for the telecom giants who aided and abetted Mr. Bush's illegal spying operation. Forgive me, I misspoke, the terrorist surveillance program (sounds a lot nicer that way doesn't it). As Keith Olbermann has eloquently pointed out in a recent commentary, this one is truly astonishing. Bush wants us to believe that he absolutely requires the new FISA to protect us--a claim, by the way, that has been thoroughly debunked, most recently by Richard Clarke--but he's willing to veto it if it doesn't also contain the telecom immunity provisions. So, by his own reasoning, he's willing to put defending the telecoms from expensive litigation ahead of protecting us from terrorists! By immunizing the telecoms Bush is providing a de facto immunity for himself and his cronies in crime. Viewed in that light, such a gambit should come as no surprise to most Americans, it simply evidences the impunity and arrogance which have been the hallmarks of this catastrophic administration.