Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SeachRE who wrote (527458)	1/21/2004 5:42:31 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Headlines The splashiest item in last night’s speech was the president’s endorsement of the Federal Marriage Amendment – a huge win for social conservatives. The best bit of speechmaking was the perfect timing of the president’s list of the countries that had joined the US coalition in Iraq. The cleverest political snare was his detailing of the taxes that would rise if Congress failed to make his tax cuts permanent. But the words that will echo loudest around the world were the words of the presidents’ stern warning to the government of Iran. All he said was that the United States remains “committed” to keeping the world’s most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the world’s most dangerous regimes. But post-Iraq, those words take on extra resonance. They mean something – and that is Bush’s (and the U.S. military’s) gift to the American nation. At Home The speech offered little comfort to anyone worried about the rate of growth in government spending. Who would disagree that resources ought to be used, as the president said, “wisely”? The trouble is, some people think it is wise to spend a lot – and they seem to have the majority of votes in the US Congress these days. What will the president do about it? Evidently, not much: His one veto threat was a response to anyone who might be contemplating that Congress spend less …. Meanwhile, Social Security reform, Medicare reform, and tort reform all get pats on the heads – and a general endorsement cashable maybe in the second term, maybe never. Abroad There was an interesting Freudian slip in the president’s speech. At one point, he had this to say about the Middle East: “America is pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the greater Middle East. We will challenge the enemies of reform, confront the allies of terror, and expect a higher standard from our friends.” Except he didn’t say “friends.” He stumbled and said, “friend.” Hmmm. Wonder which “friend” he had in mind? Might it be that nice desert kingdom that is always telling us in English about how well-intentioned it is – even as it practices oppression at home and funds extremism overseas? Second Thought One quick fix on my own part. Yesterday, in listing the qualities that would make George Bush a better president than either Senators Kerry or Edwards, I referred to “courage.” I certainly did not mean to imply that either senator lacked physical courage – indeed, Senator Kerry (as his admirers often point out) was decorated for bravery in Vietnam. I was talking about political courage – the quality that makes leaders defy conventional wisdom and electoral defeat.. But probably it would have been clearer and better if I’d said that Kerry and Edwards lack, not “courage,” but “boldness.”