Megan Dahle

President Bush’s State of the Union Address was like a well-skipped stone on a calm lake.

He slightly touched on most of the topics, getting them barely wet, then dived right in for a long, drowning swim in war rhetoric.

Bush’s obvious impotence with his poor domestic policies was skillfully ignored as he attempted to resurrect his “compassionate conservatism,” ignore his failure of the past two years and move right on to lambasting Evil Iraq.

Bush deserves a pat on the back. I know how painful it was for him to talk about domestic issues, especially considering how badly he botches domestic policy, and I know how much he really only wanted to talk about his pet project in the Mid-East, but he bit the bullet like a big boy and got the icky stuff out of the way.

Bush’s brussel sprouts of the speech included the economy, health care, energy and, oh yes, the children.

Compassion became a buzzword for Bush and he spoke fervently about children with incarcerated parents, drug addicts, oppressed children and AIDS victims.

But just like the other problems Bush brought up (like the economy, senior health care), he offered no solutions. “These problems exist” was the message of the hour.

Thanks, George. I didn’t know.

It’s unfortunate that Bush was unable to report on positive things his administration has accomplished in the past two years, since this was the State of the Union address.

Sure, he mentioned the education reform stuff, but we all know that this bill is nothing but an expensive burden that wastes the time of teachers and students.

Bush also mentioned the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. What he failed to mention here was that this was originally an idea from the left side of the aisle that Bush promised to veto if it were ever to reach his desk.

On to the dessert (or desert)… Iraq and terrorism! Yeah!

Topics like the economy, social security and health care were just abrupt hiccups on the road to foreign issues. You could hear Bush sigh as he finally found solace in the soothing comfort of the thought of war. I think I saw Vice President Cheney wipe some drool off his chops as he pictured oil wells named “Cheney II” and “Little Dick” placed all over Iraq.

Bush spent the majority of this time trying to win back the slipping support for an attack on Iraq. However, it was the same old stuff that we’ve heard for months. It’s tiring.

Overall, the State of the Union was a disappointment. Bush had a gigantic opportunity to propose some substantive ideas for domestic legislation that would help America, and he failed miserably.

Sure, there were rays of sunshine when I thought Bush would say something worthwhile, but then he would remind me “Oh yeah…it’s W.”

It’s my own fault for being so optimistic.

Reach Megan Dahle at [email protected].