Posted by
Apomnemonysis on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 5:51:02 PM
Thank you very much Senator DeMint!
Thank you for your Conservative Response and Compliment to the State of the Union address of 28 January 2008, by President George W. Bush: "Real Change Requires Principled Conservative Leadership" at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SenJimDeMint/2008/01/29/real_change_requires_principled_conservative_leadership
I can't tell you how much I have abhorred, over the years, the nonsense of a "response" to State of the Union addresses, by whichever party. Talk about destructive partisan politics!
If there's something a politician wants in the State of the Union, he can suggest it to the President, not make a competing speech.
The State of Union addresses always have a strongly positive note (with the exception of one, possibly two, during my life-time). The wretched responses are devoid of any constructive remarks, in my opinion. Those that are constructive on that outside have always seemed to me to have as their actual purpose the destruction of the President or his program.
If there is something a politician does not like in a State of the Union address, he should act grown up, bite his tongue, let the President have his say, and later, if it is still important to him, talk with his colleagues, come up with legislation if that's what he wants, or start a food drive, or denounce his citizenship, or something like that that would help both the President and the country.
_Every_ President does things that could be done better, and even does things that should not be done, as well as doesn't do things that should be done. If it is important, the next President will fix it. If the next President does not fix it, or if it is important enough to rush (like Congress knows how to rush at anything!), then make some laws, start a movement.
But for the sake of the nation, for national unity (remember how important that was during World Wars I and II; it's still important!), for a united populace, for progress (even if intermittent and sometimes taking one step back for two steps forwards - it will always be that way), please stop whining about rival parties' State of the Union addresses.
As a citizen, I want to hear the President give the State of the Union address. I don't want to hear the carping and whining of frowning sore losers.
If I want to hear Congressmen who lack both the prestige and the dignity of the Presidency, I will tune in to CSPAN.