Well, he won my Mother back over. She was unsure of the policy, because of the type of fighting going on. As it stands, she feels that his new surge does deserve a chance to work. If she is an exampler of the American people, this is a good sign.

Jim Webb for president!

Wade

I think it's great. Granted, because I had to run a group I missed the first half, but the second half was the best I've seen him since the last Republican Convention. He's never more at home than when appreciating the services of fellow citizens and our soldiers. It's amazing to me that people hate him, I just can't see it.

Did you notice how when he talked about supporting our troops, the Dems didn't stand? It shows what they (don't) stand for, clear as a bell.

How infuriating is Webb -

How upset are you at Virginians for not returning Allen to the Senate...

If Democrats are unwilling to let this "surge" have half a chance, then they are indeed supporting terrorism.

I am so prejudice in favor of GWB that I am not a good judge of his speechafying. The one thing I noticed today was the lowered expectations. When he goes in with expectations lowered and his critics at their most patronizing he usually does a great job. I thought so tonight.

The Pink Flamingo

I'm gonna have to get me a blue tie. And clap-guards for my hands. Assuming it mattered.

One of the most telling lines (and reactions) in the speech was when the President said we could balance the budget without raising taxes -- and the Dems sat on their hands.

Another great speech, full of hope, optimism and love for America. How anybody could hate this wonderful man is something I don't understand.

Mark,
I have given three years of my two daughters' lives to this war. I have watched this country spend four years, half a trillion dollars, and three thousand lives on this war. Why should I expect Bush to finally get it right when John Warner, numerous generals and 2/3s of the American people think this is the wrong strategy. I'm not against it because I'm hate filled, mean spirited, or ignorant. I am against it because I don't think it will work. I will admit that I am selfish. I don't want my oldest daughter to have to go back for a third tour.
Bush made some good points tonight, especially about energy independence, but that dosen't mean he is right about Iraq.

Im am glad that bush is not Afraid of terrorist. You can't fight them by sitting back hopeing they come to agreement with you. If you think about it, it took us awhile to go into Iraq. Giving them enough time to move or hide whatever they could of been doing. For example; We dont give criminals time to hide there drugs before we raid there house do we. If we would of waited there would be no drugs in the house to find. And can the democrates start to support or troops. No matter who is in office we need to stand together during a war. Theres alot more I could say that im upset about. Im only 20 and i can see how the media paints pictures. Watching the address tonight i could see some who sat there no caring about whats reallly going on. There look on there face. If you dont support this war, how do u surrport the troops. I have alot of friends who went into the mililtary and have been over in Iraq. They all support Bushs plan.They all have seen what its really like over there. If we wouldnt of gone after the terrorist, could something else of happend that would be devestating. Would people Blame bush for not going after the terrorist when he had a chance? the point is he did the right thing....

Spook: "One of the most telling lines (and reactions) in the speech was when the President said we could balance the budget without raising taxes -- and the Dems sat on their hands."

Couple that with the lack of applause (from anywhere) as to how he proposed to accomplish that.

Cutting taxes is the easy part. The hard part is matching that with pay-as-you-go policies. The GOP congress failed horribly (after promising to do so). The new Dem congress, likewise, has promised to do so. How interesting.

After passing a bunch of bills (through the House anyway) that were essentially softballs pitched underhanded to them, this could turn out to be the first test of their true mettle. LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Eh... I already knew what he was going to say, and he wasn't really that good at saying it... He did seem much less self-assured than usual.

I dunno... I wasn't particularly moved by the speech; then again... I'm just a cold skeptic when it comes to the White House nowadays...

Rico:
I imagine the only discretionary spending democrats are historically willing to cut has been defense spending.

With the spending priorities of the Democrats, including healthcare and non-discretionary spending, the Democrats MUST raise taxes in order to even come close to actually paying as you go.

The one thing Democrats NEVER take into account are the affects that raising taxes actually has on the economy.

And of course to be fair, many Republicans don't match their belief in tax relief with spending constraint.

It's one of the big reasons there even is a Speaker Pelosi.

God bless you President Bush, the greatest president in american history. Casper, thank you and your daughters for their service. The fact that this country has not been attacked in over 5 years says alot about the contribution that your family has made. It is better that the terrorists must expend their manpower, resources and attention over there and not here.

Excellent speech by the President, especially when
he stated: In the war on Terrorism, you didn't vote for "FAILURE". The Dems just WANT failure,
so they can further assult the President as they have done on a daily basis.

President Bush understands only too well, that the
Terrorists Camps, Saddam giving loot to suicide bomber's families, treatment of his enemies-
AND LOOKING TO SEEK TRIGGER MECHANISMS FOR NUCLEAR
BOMBS....was enough justification for going into Iraq, when this was the "Draw for Terrorists, and they needed killing there, RATHER THAN OVER HERE AGAIN, ON OUR OWN STREETS"

If you noticed, the interviews afterwards, as is the usual case, the Dems offered "NO PLAN OF THEIR
OWN, ONLY GETTING TROOPS OUT"....THE USUAL CUT AND
RUN, JUST AS VIET NAM-THEY ARE ANTI MILITARY, AND ALWAYS HAVE BEEN.

I SAY: Leave this surge of troops have at it, wiping out any nut that is carrying a gun, and let the Military and the Generals Handle This War.

"If you listened to the President on the War on Terrorism and are unwilling to give him at least six months in Iraq, then you are a mean spirited, hate filled, selfish ignoramous."

I am not willing to give him another six minutes in Iraq. He's had four years to get it right, and the majority of Americans have rightly lost confidence in him. The IED burying, car bombing, RPG launching lunatics in Iraq do not deserve the sacrifice of brave Americans anymore. They had their chance and blew it. Now let them sort this out.

P.S. We have the military strength to safely obliterate any terrorist sanctuaries that are created in post-American Iraq and we should do just that.

Ahhh Georgia/Rana:
We wouldn't want it any other way. Why put a little faith in something other than your lack of faith.

Here's the deal... if the President is going to do it, and he clearly is, isn't it incumbent on politicians and citizens alike to support the effort and hope for the outcome we want?

Only 51% of registered Democrats even want success in Iraq... how scary is that? Is it because 49% of Democrats are either so desirious to be proven right their willing to hope for failure or is it because they can't bear to see anything Bush proposing as working.

O.K. Casper, noone here is going to take away your right to be selfish with your daughters lives, you deserve that. I have a daughter myself and can understand, but, do you have even an inkling of a better idea on how to deal with terrorist/insurgents/freedom fighters......whatever you want to call them(you know, the ones that want to annihilate the U.S. & Israel)!

I say, give the military the reigns, take away restrictive policy created by back stabbing fools like J.Kerry, let them drop a couple of BIG bombs and do a couple of "wipe our a..es with your turbans" assaults and get this crap over with! I'm all for it! Of course when half the brainwashed arab countries decide to go to war with us, I guess we'll look at Iraq as a relatively easy task.

Don't get me wrong Casper, I was a marine during Desert Storm & my younger brother did multiple tours in Afghanistan & Iraq(he's safe and sound in the U.S.A. now). We MUST win in Iraq, it is a very small peice of a huge puzzle. If we don't let our men/women win over there, your daughters sacrifice, my brothers sacrifice will seem dim in comparison to the sacrifices that will be required in the NEAR future!

Take off the shackles Pres. Bush, they'll never cut you any slack! God bless the U.S.A. and our brave president!!!

Thanks Thrower for confirming what we already knew about you!

Never in the history of this Republic has a political party played armchair quarterback for purely political gain than the Democratic Party of Today.

Casper, first of all, I'm deeply thankful to your daughters for their service to this country, and I certainly can't know what it is like for you seeing as how I have no children myself, let alone children in the military.

That being said, and with all due respect, how can you say that you have given three years of your daughters' lives to this war? Wasn't that time theirs to give, not yours? And what (if I may ask) do your daughters think about the war and the direction our country should face?

Bearman,
Go after the ones in Afganistan, go after the ones in Somalia, close down our borders, but get our troops out of the middle of a civil war.
You are right, Iraq is a piece in the war. But it's not the only piece. We lost Viet Nam and still won the war against communisum. We can leave Iraq and still win the war on terrorism.

mark....i don't get it....
you don't post me up half the time
are you angry, afraid or just too extreme?
ok...you win.....i'm taking you off of my fave places bar
you've lost me
congrats

(Ed. Note: We don't have time to always get to all comments from unregistered people. If someone is too lazy to sign up, then its their lookout)

Wawilliyo-

I started out giving the President the benefit of the doubt... and he turned out not being the type of President that I wanted to have representing me and my country... Not necessarily just my "lack of faith"...

He ran on a "fiscally responsible" ticket and proceeded to finance an entire war on borrowed money, borrowed money that he doesn't even put in the annual budget!

The dollar has devalued recently because of the massive trade deficit that we are amassing, partially because of the war that we are financing with our debt...

I didn't notice any big shifts in this speech... nothing that gave me hope for a change of course... Just more platitudes about his platform that I don't entirely support. Talk is cheap... let's see what he does this year...

Rana:
If you're being honest, protectionism, which seems to me what you're advocating has NEVER worked. Trade surpluses produce foreign investment. I'd love to post an article I read about it, something I never really understood before, but I can't find it.

How many wars have been pay as you go? I bet you can't find one, because even as far back as Elizabethan England, wars have been financed in large part.

Further, you can blame the entire budget process for the sham that is the Federal budget. There is also PLENTY of blame to go around.

We have to endure the budget committee creating a budget... then the authorizing committee authorizes money to be spent, and then the appropriators say yes.

And each and everytime, they can wage the budget act and not even follow their own rules... and that's BEFORE the president even gets the bill to sign or veto.

Put the blame where it begins... There is fiscal responsibility, and then there is fiscal reality. Deficit spending in times of economic and/or military crises makes sense.

It doesn't make sense when we're paying for programs no one wants to fund.

And of course Rana:
As you say, talk is cheap... how about Democrats actually offer something beyond platitude and non-binding resolutions and work with the President.

After all, if they want anything, they need his signature, just like he needs their votes. As the headline read earlier on Drudge, "Democrats: Bush isn't in charge anymore."

Unfortunately, his job as President means as one man, he has more power than any one member of Congress. Only Congress as a whole has as much power as the President, and they need to learn in what ways they have it.

But heck, after all, some senators don't even know their in the Senate... Right Mr. Tester?

I don't really care about the state of the Union Address anymore. I really don't.

Anyone can say pretty things in a speech, or can promise the moon, but are they going to deliever? Maybe I'm just tired, but I honestly want to see progress being made somewhere before I get all rah rah again.

The fighting continues, both on the hill, in the streets, and in the desert, let's do something about it shall we?

Rana,
You appear not to understand the difference between a trade deficit and deficits related to the national debt. The only way that the war with Iraq would be contributing to our trade deficit is if we were buying foreign supplies, weapons, and contractors. But our military fights with American made guns, and the contractors we pay work for American companies, so the money never leaves America to become part of the trade deficit equation, exports versus imports.

What has been and continues to be responsible for the vast majority of the trade deficit is imports of oil. A friendly, stable Iraq is much more likely not to refuse to sell us oil, which would be the only way this would increase the trade deficit. Deficits related to the national debt in the last several years have gone down, a remarkable achievement given the creation of a homeland security department, fighting wars in two different locations, and billions of dollars in relief money to Katrina bailout. In case you didn't realize it, a weaker dollar via all this money we're borrowing actually works as a corrective to the trade deficit because American products become cheaper on the world market. We're moving in the right direction.

Casper,
Don't forget last month's poll of the military, the ones on the ground who know what's going on, that almost half of them support an increase in troops, and very few want us to get out of Iraq. Aren't they the ones who would have the answer? If you want us out of Iraq to save your other daughter, I see how that makes sense. But what I don't see is this idea perpetuated by the media that people who haven't been to Iraq or served in the military know the best way forward. If 99 percent of the people said one thing and 51 percent of the military said the other, I'd go with what the military said, because their agenda is our protection, and they know the cost of our failure.

Bearman,
Go after the ones in Afganistan, go after the ones in Somalia, close down our borders, but get our troops out of the middle of a civil war.
You are right, Iraq is a piece in the war. But it's not the only piece. We lost Viet Nam and still won the war against communisum. We can leave Iraq and still win the war on terrorism.

Posted by: Casper at January 24, 2007 12:12 AM

Whoaaaaa nelly, Now can you seriously tell me there is a difference between Al- quadea in Iraq & Al-quadea in Afghanistan or Somalia? No, cause there isn't! If this was happening in Afghanistan or Somalia the same people would be complaining and critisizing the administration. It's the losses that cause our resolve to be tested not the geography!

We either believe there is a war on terror and the other side IS evil, and then we take it to them or "we don't"!

From a military perspective, it really doesn't matter what things look like in Iraq, the truth of the matter is, we have evidence(documentation) that Al-Queada is causing the uprising in Iraq & using it to there advantage! They would do that same thing no matter where we engage them.

To be honest, with the extreme amount of Iraqi civilians that have been dying at the hands of the few they have shown extreme restraint and I'm not ready to give up on them. Casper, if I was able, I would be on the first ship with the FMF over there. Unfortunately, I'm old in there book, not to mention being a DAV.

Casper,

Beg pardon? You didn't give your daughter - she gave of herself, and God bless her for it.

Do you really think a scuttle in Iraq will keep your daughter at home? I don't want her to have to go again, and I want all our men and women (not children!) to come home - yesterday if at all possible. But there's a war to fight, and they volunteered, and there isn't anyone else. So, quit whining.

You come off a little mean spirited when you ask a man to stop "whining" about wanting his daughter safe Mark. She and others in the military volunteered to protect America, not referee the Iraq civil war. Caspar is where most Americans are right now and that is deploring this epic foreign policy blunder.

While I enjoyed most of Bush's speech, Webb's response isn't the homerun the left was looking for. His talking point may sound good, but he failed to do his homework. Heaven help iraq if it goes the way Korea did.

Right in a Left World: When Comes The End?

Thrower,

It was, perhaps, a bit harsh - but for crying out loud, I'm sick to death of our magnificent men and women being referred to as if they were just little children who didn't know what they were getting in to. These are the best of the best - sharp and tough and able to carry out any task assigned to them. Casper has to get used to the fact that his daughter - who is a cut above the average run of people - has volunteered to do something sublime and sacrificial...and there is no greater love.

He should be proud of his daughter, and pray that victory comes soon so that his daughter - and all our sons and daughters - can come home to a grateful country.

Casper,

Sorry to hear your daughters got drafted--I didn't realize that the draft was reinstated.

bearman, you must remember--before we invaded Iraq, all the people there were happy and loving life. Al-Qaeda was everywhere in the world, except for Iraq. We brought them there. Rove did it. The Philippines? Indonesia? It was all Rove. Iraq was a sovereign country, and we invaded and occupied it, turning it into a terrorist training ground.

Shame on us.

*sarcasm off*

Unfortunately, Webb’s response and the physical response of the Dems at the speech was clear. They will continue to act as if they had no part in the Iraq war and hope the war is a dismal failure for their own political gain.

I did see Nancy looking a little uneasy when the President reminded the Dems that it was their duty to give his judicial appointments and quick up or down vote in the senate.

Mark, I more than share your frustrations.

Casper--my son is over there right now, and I'd wish that folks stateside would quit giving his enemies more aid, comfort and inspiration to help them to get up and fight another day.

With all due respect, STFU, let them do their job, accomplish their mission (Yes, they can accomplish it), and get the hell home.

He should be proud of his daughter, and pray that victory comes soon so that his daughter - and all our sons and daughters - can come home to a grateful country.

Posted by: Mark Noonan at January 24, 2007 02:31 AM

My point exactly Mark, Casper our daughters(the ones in the military or not) will not be safe at all, if we don't have the resolve and the strength to see this war through. If you think you worry now.......watch out, it'll only get better if we cut out!

Thanks God is Great! I had forgotten what a rose garden it was before we got there. I mean before we got there, everyone just wanted to be like Bill Clinton & screw, not a war mongerer like the Bush clan! Sarcasm off!!!

Sarcasm on.

I heard that Iraq was as nice as going to Palm Springs and that the Iraqi people were so edumacated and financially well off that they all had cell phones, Dish tv, SUVs and they even had Starbucks and Home Depot. So why did we invade such a paradise when I have visions of crystal clear swimming pools and Husseinworld water parks?

For those who oppose reinforcements in Iraq to win,let's put Iraq perspective. In 4 years of the Civil War, Union forces lost 140,414 in battle. In 1 year we lost 53,402 in WWI, lost 407,000 in 4 years in WWII, in Korea 33,000 in 3 years and 47,410 in 10 years of Vietnam. At Normandy we had 1,465 dead, 3,184 wounded, 1,928 missing and 26 captured, could that be described as a situation that “is grave and deteriorating," as stated by Sen. Durbin? D-Day was our first engagement against Germany and that is nearly half the dead we have lost in the entire Iraq War. Death and destruction are a part of war, and there are no pre-arranged timelines to determine when such death and destruction ends, it ends when one side wins and the other loses.
Every president, at wartime, has adjusted their strategy, as has generals depending on the situation on the ground at a particular moment. Both sides alter their strategies to get the upper hand.
If we are to "re-deploy," leave a young democracy to fend for itself, how do we benefit from such further instability in the region? Does this or does it not reinforce Osama bin Laden's theory that through persistence and patience, America's will can be broken? What does that say of their strategy in future confrontations with us? Using South Korea, Taiwan or Israel as examples, what message do we send other nations, our allies? We’re there for you, but for only so far, any conflict and political pressures at home will dictate our commitment. How does that improve our image around the world? I see nothing positive from such a strategy which will help America in the long run.

I don't really care about the state of the Union Address anymore. I really don't.

Anyone can say pretty things in a speech, or can promise the moon, but are they going to deliever? Maybe I'm just tired, but I honestly want to see progress being made somewhere before I get all rah rah again.

I agree with you yet again, Gozer.