OK, let's be clear about this right off the hop: This was not SOTU address. This was a campaign speech. A campaign speech that he got aired in prime time and at no cost to the Republican Party (or their special interest groups).

"Defending America"
Ah, right out of the gate, he tries to sell the Americans on renewing the Patriot Act by trying to scare them. Understand this: There is absolutely nothing patriotic about allowing the US government spy on Americans who have nothing to do with terrorism or terrorists. And it completely un-American/anti-American to arrest American citizens and hold them indefinitely without charging them with a crime! (Actually, I extend that to arresting/holding anyone in this manner...it's wrong.)

"Regime Change"
What a masterful piece of revisionism! NOW, he's telling Americans that the reason the US invaded Iraq was to free the Iraqi people! I read a transcript of last year's SOTU address and it was all about how Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and was going to use them against the United States Any Time Now. So, because of that, we absolutely HAD to attack Iraq, ASAP! In last night's speech there was no mention of WMDs. No, wait! There was mention of WMDs. In Libya. And North Korea.

"Coalition of Nations"
Bush gave props to the "coalition of the billing"...those nations that gave military support to the US when Team Bush headed into Iraq. And he paid lip service to the men and women in the military...again, considering how his regime has tried to cut support to the families of military personnel serving in Iraq, how families of soldiers killed in Iraq get $12,000, while families of those killed at the World Trade Center get over $1 million, and on and on...just came across as more than a little cynical.

"Middle East Democracy"
Oh good grief! How flippin' presumptious of the Bush regime to go in and occupy Iraq (and Afghanistan), try to install his idea of a democracy (leaders beholden to Team Bush and therefore expected to do their bidding)...and to then turn around and call these people "free", or "liberated"! What if the people of Iraq or Afghanistan don't want a democracy? What if a western-style democratic government runs counter to the cultural beliefs of these people? As long as the US (and their coalition of the billing) occupy these countries, or hold the strings of the leaders Team Bush has installed there, these people are NOT liberated.

"The Economy"
Ah, the first place where he starts touting his tax cuts. You know, those cuts that, coupled with runaway spending on systems designed to obliterate the civil rights of Americans, have created trillions of dollars of deficit.

Oh, but people are spending those child credits and the average joe is spending those dollars and stimulating the economy. Uh...don't know what America he lives in, but my friends and neighbours have spent this "windfall" on rent and utilities and groceries. They're not buying "luxuries".

"Education"
His version of "No Child Left Behind", as it turns out, was not nearly as successful in Texas as he would have people believe. And, in fact, there is evidence of "cooking the books" in terms of dropout rates and scores. This program (on the national level) was rammed down the throats of school districts across America and almost immediately Team Bush renegged on the amount of funding they pledged to give to schools to implement the initiative. And teachers say, "no child left behind" is a misnomer because they're forced to educate to the tests, instead of to the child. That means that any child who has problems keeping up with her peers is just shit outta luck.

But Bush does want to provide more support to community colleges. That's nice, because the Governator is taking funding away with one hand, while shoving more students into our already overcrowded classrooms with the other hand.

"Tax Cuts"
Ah, but we knew he had to come back to this, didn't we? Well, disaster is about to happen to Americans all over because their tax cuts are about to expire. Well guess what? WE DON'T HAVE THE FECKIN' MONEY TO PAY FOR THESE TAX CUTS! And guess what else? Giving Corporate America tax breaks so they can outsource American jobs to India/China/Russia/some third-world nation does not help the US economy! When are these people going to figure it out that if they lay us all off--and our basic cost of living doesn't drop as significantly as our income does--we won't be able to afford the products these companies sell!

And his "illegal alien" initiative is a joke. It's Corporate pandering in alien amnesty clothing (but of course Bush insists this isn't amnesty of illegal aliens...just a bit of a reclassification). Bush gives flap-all about immigrants. This is yet another way for companies to hire people for unlivable wages. Let me be clear about this: Americans don't take those janitorial jobs or McDonalds jobs or such because they're "beneath" them. Americans don't take those jobs because they can't afford to work for minimum wage! California's minimum wage just went up to $8.50/hr. For a 40-hr work week that works out to $340/wk. and a bit over $1300/mo. Where in California can you raise a family on $1300 a month? I'm not sure I could even afford to live in my car for $1300/mo.

And Bush made no mention of his further assult on the American middle class (does it even exist anymore?)...by pushing labour legislation reclassifying who qualifies to be paid overtime. Bush's loosening of overtime rules means companies could make people work a virtually unlimited number of hours per week and not pay them for overtime. Yeah, that got left out of the SOTU...despite the fact that it is very fundamental to the state of Americans.

"Health Care"
This is where I gave up on the SOTU Drinking Game and hit the chocolate. His Medicare legislation will effectively cut off seniors from affordable health care. They'll only be allowed to purchase drugs from US companies (instead of buying them for much less money from Canada), and they won't be allowed to purchase supplementary health coverage to cover what Medicare won't.

And he decries universal (he calls it government-run) health care system...never mind that for millions of us, our "health plan" is praying to the diety of our choice every day that nothing goes wrong. Again, pretty damn cynical coming from someone who has "government" health care. Paid for by the tax payers. He doesn't ever have to worry about anything going wrong and having to choose between treating an illness or keeping a roof over his head. Thousands of Americans must make that decision every day.

"Drugs and Abstinence"
A.K.A. "Just Say No, the sequel". Of course we don't want our kids to do drugs, but what does an athlete on steroids have to do with little Poindexter becoming a crack head? Drug testing in schools...yes, little Poindexter. Big Brother has been watching you from a very young age (when you were a tiny tot, we called him Santa Claus...remember, he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been snorting coke, etc. etc.).

As for teen sex. Teens have been having sex since the beginning of human kind (of course in the beginning, the life expectancy wasn't much beyond the teens so time was of the essence). And, they're going to keep having sex. It is a nice idea that they don't have sex until they're "emotionally mature" enough. But, shit, I know 40+ year olds who haven't achieved that yet. Teach children sex education so they can make informed decisions about their lives and bodies. What kind of parent or teacher would just hide the drain cleaner in the cupboard and hope the kids don't find it and hurt themselves?

"Marriage"
Well, I went into this already a few days ago. After campaigning that states should be allowed to make decisions without federal interference, Bush now is pissed off at "Activist Judges" who are ruling in favour of gay marriage. And he tiptoed right up to the line of supporting a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

"Church is State"
Bush wants to allow faith-based charities to have access to federal funding because they're being discriminated against...but they do so much for their communities. It sounds nice on its surface...but wait until the Buddhists or Wiccans or Pagans apply for federal grant money to help out in their communities.

At the end of his speech he trotted out the "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter. OK, I'm being a bit too cynical myself now. It was a very sweet letter from a 10-year-old girl from Rhode Island. But by this point in the speech, I was out of two-buck-chuck wine AND the chocolate, so I was more than a little cranky.

But I do take issue with Bush's assertion that The cause we serve is right, because it is the cause of all mankind. This cause, being freedom. Or, more accurately, Team Bush's definition of freedom (because, remember, while occupying Iraq, Bush insists that Iraqis are free).

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And there we have it. I want to give full props to BBC News, who had the transcript of the speech up on the web and easily located in Google long before I could find it on US websites. I've pretty much gone with their outline and headings (I'm assuming it was their headings and not included in the print out Dubya had of his speech).