This was delayed because I wanted to type it with the new keyboard. Not having to go back and forcibly insert spaces inbetween every single word is wonderful!
Now, I know that there have been far superior appraisals of Bush's State of the Union speech, but they haven't been
my words, and as this is my forum to speak about what I want, I'm going to have my say on this load of old bollocks, so there:
"The only way to protect our people - the only way to secure the peace - the only way to control our destiny is by our leadership - so the United States of America will continue to lead."I've said it before and I'll say it again. With leadership comes responsibility and a duty of care to the rest of the world. America does not show this. I see this statement as proof positive that the US has dropped the banner of being a global police force and will now openly practise aggressive Imperialism.
"Abroad, our nation is committed to a historic, long-term goal - we seek the end of tyranny in our world. Some dismiss that goal as misguided idealism. In reality, the future security of America depends on it."What about the security of other contries? I realise this is one vast exercise in propaganda and national backslapping, but he's only just said that America leads the world. If that's the case, then they must provide security - and say so, loudly - for the rest of the world, too.
Oh yes, and whose definition of tyranny are they using?
"Dictatorships shelter terrorists, feed resentment and radicalism, and seek weapons of mass destruction."Excuse me, but doesn't the US do that too? Well, yes they do!
"At the start of 2006, more than half the people of our world live in democratic nations. And we do not forget the other half - in places like Syria, Burma, Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Iran - because the demands of justice, and the peace of this world, require their freedom as well."Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our next five States.
"They seek to impose a heartless system of totalitarian control throughout the Middle East, and arm themselves with weapons of mass murder. Their aim is to seize power in Iraq, and use it as a safe haven to launch attacks against America and the world."Again, isn't that what America's trying to do, too? To provide a safe haven from which to launch attacks against...erm...who's left? Oh yeah, China.
"Lacking the military strength to challenge us directly, the terrorists have chosen the weapon of fear. When they murder children at a school in Beslan - or blow up commuters in London - or behead a bound captive - the terrorists hope these horrors will break our will, allowing the violent to inherit the Earth. But they have miscalculated: We love our freedom, and we will fight to keep it."This is a fascinating passage. Isn't it standard military strategy to wage a guerrilla war against an overwhelming enemy? Now, quite apart from the abominable atrocities, how exactly is
anyone supposed to stand up against the US, if not through such tactics? Are we supposed to imagine that the US would be magnanimous when negotiating under a flag of truce? They have pledged to rid the world of radical Islam. What if radical Islam forbore from blowing the Capitalist pigs up and simply stuck to ruling a handful of willing countries? What they see as religious justice - shariah law and soforth - the US tends to see as oppression and "human rights violations". To my mind, that brooks no compromise. I can't see a situation where the US would ever negotiate peace with these people, which means of course that the "war on terror" will just carry on and on and on and on and...
"America rejects the false comfort of isolationism. We are the Nation that saved liberty in Europe, and liberated death camps, and helped raise up democracies, and faced down an evil empire. Once again, we accept the call of history to deliver the oppressed, and move this world toward peace."Fuck off! Fuck right off and take your insulting revisionist bullshit with you. There are monuments, mass graves and memorials all over this city, all over Belgium, all over Germany, all over Europe which tell the story of how the peoples of those countries fought and died in the name of their
own liberty! In one sentence, Bush has denigrated and undermined the noble deaths of millions of non-Americans.
That is the single most disgusting thing I've heard come out of his mouth.
And George? Not everyone who rejects the American way of life is oppressed. some of us are simply far more civilised.
"The road of victory is the road that will take our troops home."Um, haven't you just said that you wouldn't retreat to your own borders? Doesn't that mean that there will be troops that will never come "home"? Well, there's a fair few who definitely won't. But hey, they're the honoured dead, aren't they? We should be proud they died in the glorious name of the American Empire...oh sorry, I mean "Democracy".
"Along the way, we have benefited from responsible criticism and counsel offered by Members of Congress of both parties. In the coming year, I will continue to reach out and seek your good advice."Don't. Make. Me. Laugh.
"A sudden withdrawal of our forces from Iraq would abandon our Iraqi allies to death and prison - put men like Bin Laden and [Abu Musab] al-Zarqawi in charge of a strategic country - and show that a pledge from America means little."Strategic? Strategic for what? You're not facing any palpable threat from anyone in the general neighbourhood, are you? Russian republics that spend all their time fighting within themselves? The indian subcontinent which is pretty much doing the same thing? The only strategic strength Iraq has is as a doorway into other middle eastern countries. Other...oil rich...middle eastern countries. But they're not there to sieze the oil, are they? So why mention Iraq's strategic strength?
"Democracies in the Middle East will not look like our own, because they will reflect the traditions of their own citizens."Thank fuck for that. Imagine a world dominated by American values and politics. Jeez. Of course, I don't believe it for a second.
"The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions - and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons.Defying the world? I don't think so. By the way, if no-one is going to be allowed nuclear technology in the middle east, what are they going to use for power and fuel once their oil runs out? Just wondering, like. Solar energy? Hydro? Wind power?
Here's a thought, why not just abandon everywhere from Egypt to India and move them all to America. There's a plan!
"We show compassion abroad because Americans believe in the God-given dignity and worth of a villager with HIV/Aids, or an infant with malaria, or a refugee fleeing genocide, or a young girl sold into slavery. We also show compassion abroad because regions overwhelmed by poverty, corruption, and despair are sources of terrorism, organized crime, human trafficking, and the drug trade."Like bollocks you do. The American state does next to nothing in all of these categories. They rely instead on private donations or broker deals that bankrupt the countries in question. That's when they're not encouaging the situation in order to profit from the lucratve trade opportunities.
"In recent years, you and I have taken unprecedented action to fight Aids and malaria, expand the education of girls, and reward developing nations that are moving forward with economic and political reform."Much as I hate to admit it, Bill Gates has done more than you, George.
"Our own generation is in a long war against a determined enemy - a war that will be fought by Presidents of both parties, who will need steady bipartisan support from the Congress."Or in other words - "I've only got three years left before they put me out to graze and I'm going to take every opportunity to ensure the next guy can't back out of it without looking like a cowardly idiot"
"Here at home, America also has a great opportunity: We will build the prosperity of our country by strengthening our economic leadership in the world. Our economy is healthy, and vigorous, and growing faster than other major industrialized nations."I thought the American economy was almost in recession. If the economy is so healthy, how come almost every other foreign currency keeps doing better and better against the dollar?
I'm skipping ahead a bit now - missing out all the boring "we're all getting older" bollocks.
"Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. Here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology.
So tonight, I announce the Advanced Energy Initiative...to push for breakthroughs in two vital areas."So the reason for this Initiative isn't because the oil's about to run out, it's because you take it from the Middle East and you don't want to be held to ransom. I see!
But...if you
occupied and dictated the political agenda the Middle East, you wouldn't have to worry about it, would you?
" By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can...make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past."Because soon Middle Eastern oil
will be a thing of the past.
And how about sharing some of that clean, safe nuclear energy with the Middle East, then they wouldn't have to keep pissing about with the dirty, unsafe stuff you guys don't like, would they?
Waddya mean they'd just make bombs out of it? why would they want to bomb someone who's helping them overcome a national crisis?
"As we look at these challenges, we must never give in to the belief that America is in decline, or that our culture is doomed to unravel. The American people know better than that."Do you? Speak up, America. Is your society unravelling or not? What we see over the pond is that it's already well and truly fucked.
OK, never give in to the belief that you're in decline. What about the
fact? Oh, I see. If you don't stop believing it, it won't happen. Oh, Ohkayyy.
"We will renew the defining moral commitments of this land. And so we move forward - optimistic about our country, faithful to its cause, and confident of victories to come."And absolutely determined to swep anyone who doesn't agree with us out of the way.
" Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America."Oh, I think it's increasingly obvious that God has, in fact, damned you Georgey boy.
If he hasn't, he bloody well should.
Wanted for burgling a pub in Norfolk on Friday.
