Between co-opting revised Democratic positions and ending on a positive note with the prop recognitions, ya have to hand it to the guy, he knows how to look like he's trying.
The rite of custom brings us together at a defining hour -- when decisions are hard and courage is needed. We enter the year 2007 with large endeavors underway, and others that are ours to begin. In all of this, much is asked of us. We must have the will to face difficult challenges and determined enemies -- and the wisdom to face them together.
… And I encourage you all to go shopping more.
We're not the first to come here with a government divided and uncertainty in the air. Like many before us, we can work through our differences, and achieve big things for the American people. Our citizens don't much care which side of the aisle we sit on -- as long as we're willing to cross that aisle when there is work to be done.
Now that I don't have quite the stranglehold on policy I used to... this seems important.
Next, there is the matter of earmarks. These special interest items are often slipped into bills at the last hour -- when not even C-SPAN is watching. (Laughter.) In 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to over 13,000 and totaled nearly $18 billion. Even worse, over 90 percent of earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and Senate -- they are dropped into committee reports that are not even part of the bill that arrives on my desk. You didn't vote them into law. I didn't sign them into law.
My signing statements, all ~750 of them, they don't count. heh. heh heh.
A future of hope and opportunity requires that all our citizens have affordable and available health care.
(...)
First, I propose a standard tax deduction for health insurance that will be like the standard tax deduction for dependents
No health care without me gettin' another tax cut. It solved the War in Iraq, it'll solve all the ills at home.
For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists -- who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments, and raise the price of oil, and do great harm to our economy.
Which is why we invade them, like Canada... and Mexico.
A future of hope and opportunity requires a fair, impartial system of justice. The lives of our citizens across our nation are affected by the outcome of cases pending in our federal courts. We have a shared obligation to ensure that the federal courts have enough judges to hear those cases and deliver timely rulings. As President, I have a duty to nominate qualified men and women to vacancies on the federal bench. And the United States Senate has a duty, as well, to give those nominees a fair hearing, and a prompt up-or-down vote on the Senate floor.
Thanks to Arlen Spector for that provision in the Patriot Act, I was able to fire an assload of judges and now am going to fight to bank my army. The fair and impartial part, I didn't write that.
We've added many critical protections to guard the homeland. We know with certainty that the horrors of that September morning were just a glimpse of what the terrorists intend for us -- unless we stop them.
When we eventually find them. 9/11, no speech is complete without it.
The Shia and Sunni extremists are different faces of the same totalitarian threat. Whatever slogans they chant, when they slaughter the innocent they have the same wicked purposes. They want to kill Americans, kill democracy in the Middle East, and gain the weapons to kill on an even more horrific scale.
But only now, post Shock & Awe.
This war is more than a clash of arms -- it is a decisive ideological struggle, and the security of our nation is in the balance. To prevail, we must remove the conditions that inspire blind hatred, and drove 19 men to get onto airplanes and to come and kill us. What every terrorist fears most is human freedom
My god vs. your god. May the best mandiety win... and as for that freedom thing, it's precious sure enough, but worth sacrificing for the good of other freedoms elsewhere.
This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we're in.
This is my bed, I pissed in it... you now have pay to clean it before sleeping there.
In order to make progress toward this goal, the Iraqi government must stop the sectarian violence in its capital. But the Iraqis are not yet ready to do this on their own. So we're deploying reinforcements of more than 20,000 additional soldiers and Marines to Iraq.
Like I said last year; "The road of victory is the road that will take our troops home. As we make progress on the ground, and Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead, we should be able to further decrease our troop levels -- but those decisions will be made by our military commanders, not by politicians in Washington, D.C."
In such courage and compassion, ladies and gentlemen, we see the spirit and character of America -- and these qualities are not in short supply. This is a decent and honorable country -- and resilient, too. We've been through a lot together. We've met challenges and faced dangers, and we know that more lie ahead.
Please pay no attention to the legal proceedings surrounding Mr. Libby and the apparent finger-pointing towards my buddy Karl.
See you next year. Thank you for your prayers.
I'm gonna fuckin' need em.
Posted by kerry at January 24, 2007 02:16 AM