One man's definition of failure is another man's definition of a success. Depending on how you look at it and from whose point of view you expand upon..

Speaking accordingly, you could say that his presidency is a success, and that the next three (3) YEARS is just a downhill ride.

The damage is done, and it was a success. His friends are richer, his family is richer, and they will continue to become wealthier. Halliburton stock is doubled, and so the VP has done a great job as well. The news networks are under the 'thumb' as well as the entertainment programs. How could it possibly be better at this day and age?

Total and complete success! Even medical coverage is at an all-time low. Perhaps it will be even lower by 2009. They've got 3 years to work on it.

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That even in the face of the failures, they have successfully...

  1.  Emptied, the entire U. S. treasury, all of the tax-cuts, and all of the borrowed monies from foreign governments, into their pockets.

  2.  Done away with the checks and balances.

  3.  Completed a full one-party-rule.

  4.  Taken full corporate control of the media.

  5.  Completed a corporate take-over of all the regulatory agencies.

  6.  Destroyed the Separation of Church and State.

  7.  Transferred real power from the Legislative to the Executive.

  8.  Sabotaged science in favor of corporate profits.

  9.  Legalized "Free-Speech Zones."

10.  Legalized torture.

11.  Created a "Unitary Executive Theory."

12.  Ignored all international environmental treaties.

13.  Gotten away with using chemical weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan.

14.  Broken all international nuclear non-proliferation treaties.

15.  Avoided capturing the enemy, Bin Laden/Al-Qaeda, and taken this nation into a never ending Orwellian "war of corporate profit" on a tactic, "terrorism," not a state/government/nation.

16.  Turned "our" representative Constitutional Republic into an openly criminally corrupt one-party-ruled Theocratic/Corporatist Empire.

And they have successfully accomplished all this, and so much more - Without any real protests, or revolt - They were "allowed" to get away with all of it, and "allowed" to get away with all of the monies, in a "perfect theft" of power - and the money.

Did I forget to mention, they are still in power - Still getting away with it all, and that your expressed frustrated anger in this article. . .  Is now "too little - too late," and meaningless?

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The only thing Bush has to hold on to is his "war" on terror. He'll continue to pull Osama out of his hat and he'll use his "war" to defend his criminal evesdropping.

The absence of any real substantive proposals points to capital all spent up or leaked away.

Now, Bush has the NSA wiretap hearings in less than a week. We should all try to make sure these hearings are kept real hot.

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I didn't watch the SOU address because it takes "courage" to listen to this man try to put coherent words together. However, I did print out the speech so I could read it word for word. There are a couple of points that I found interesting.

1) Bush said " On September 11, 2001 we found that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state [ keep a close eye on this word] seven thousand miles away could bring murder and destruction to our country”
 Once again he is CLEARLY doing what he has been saying since 9/11 which is combining 9/11 terrorism and the Invasion of Iraq without a shred of evidence to the contrary.
2) Also on Iraq, Bush said that criticism should be “responsible criticism …. And second guessing is not a strategy”
 I almost laughed aloud when I read this because if my memory serves correct, we went into Iraq on the basis of them harboring weapons of mass destruction but it turned out that we still haven’t found them. Would this also be called second guessing?
3 Lastly I thought the idea that while W is saying " no one can deny the success of freedom, but some men rage and fight against it", Cindy Sheehan is getting arrested for protesting against Bush and getting dragged out of the Capitol and thrown in jail. Yes..... Emperor Bush is sure protecting our freedom -- It reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw recently -- it reads " AFTER WE BRING DEMOCRACY TO IRAQ, CAN WE HAVE SOME HERE

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I saw the state of the union debacle last night. There was one thing in particular that really bothered me. Adolf Hitler had this habit, during a break for applause in the midst of a particular speech, to gaze out at his admiring audience of robots with a look of smug, self satisfaction written all over his face. Whether consciously or unconsciously, the First Fool has adopted the exact same mannerisms. Am I nit-picking? Maybe. But I'm starting to think that this guy's not just your run-of-the-mill corrupt politician. I'm really starting to believe, in fact I've believed it for some time, that he is demonic. The book of revelations warned about false prophets coming in Christ's name...Dubya fits the bill to a tee. Would someone please point out to me anything, ANYTHING in this administration's policies that are in accord with the word of Jesus Christ? Please, just point out one thing and I promise I'll shut up forever.

Pray for peace.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

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Paul Craig Roberts, as much as a card-carrying rightie as one could be, has become one of the most trenchant critics of this administration on the left or right. In his recent post he had this to say:

"Two recent polls, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll and a New York Times/CBS News poll, indicate why Bush is getting away with impeachable offenses. Half of the US population is incapable of acquiring, processing and understanding information."

Sadly, that core, along with their indifferent fellow travellers, will make it possible for this administration to "stay the course." The only way to limit the damage is take back Congress this year, and it behooves everyone of us to work tirelessly to do so.

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Fascism is on the March
Right
Across your
Living room
Watching the Puppet Talk
Is
Torture

Help!

While he puts
Everyone
In a Trance
The Replicon Clones
Applaud
More
BU__! SH__!
&
More
Cheap beer
for the
Drones.
Keep them stupid, drugged and stoned
Just like their Leader

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Listening to the post-speech critiques last night, the one constant was that there was no constant. Every commentator, whether a paid professional or 15-minute amateur, reacted to a different comment of Bush's speech. The first one I heard, from a reporter on ABC, was that Bush was concilatory. Apparently, she was just paying attention to words and not to the record.

Bush has three years left in his presidency. There is no heir apparent to the presidency and Republican candidates for president do not want to be saddled with Bush's losing policies. That takes out all of 2008 and much of 2007 from Bush's opportunity to do anything new. As a result, Bush could not offer any new agenda.

For my own observations: 1) I have heard no comments about Bush's religious reason for stopping stem cell research. 2) The clapping when Bush said his Social Security reform failed was entertaining, and I would swear that Dick Cheney was amused as the camera caught him. 3) Many people still fail to understand this Bush War on Evil is akin to white blood cells that fight an infection, but then the autoimmune system turns inward and starts to destroy the body (or the country) of which it is a part.

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The American people think, act and talk like W. Most don't bother to look up facts and shoot at the hip when talking or planning before taking action. That is how we ended up in Iraq (almost 90% were for the invasion), when the evidence clearly stated otherwise. We continue to suck down oil like an alcoholic swilling beer when confronted by a keg.

Until the American people wise up about the world around them and the history that has led this country to what it is today, I expect more of the same or even worse. Orwell was not writing about the Soviet Union but about totalitarian states in general. In the end, the American people will be for big brother.

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Half of this country has lost all semblance of reason. What they hear is blah, blah, blah, patriot, blah, blah, blah, 9/11, it's as if they have been hypnotized and these are the words they have been told to react to. On the other hand the Democrats have learned to play dead for so long they have begun to excell at it. Everytime I have to call people for the party I have to listen to hours of anger, real anger. At the grassroots people are seething because they feel abandoned. The party keeps saying give us your money we will change this. In the meantime, a lot of elderly people who could better spend their SS funds continue to support as best they can, without any returns. It breaks my heart to have to ask, on one hand it seems a necessary evil, on the other it feels totally dishonest. I hope Howard Dean reads this board to measure the response of Bush's speech. He needs to understand Democrats feel defeated by both parties, and will bolt to the first third party candidate with a mandate.

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It is true that almost all of Bush's official policies have fallen flat and been an embarassment to both himself and his party. For some reason, however, this doesn't appear to have phased them. They still seem well pleased with themselves and for a good reason. George W. Bush's legacy will have nothing to do with the failed legislation he introduced, the economic policies which have only served to lengthen what could have been a short and mild recession or even the military debacle in the Middle East. Our president's legacy will be the precedents he has set. Over the last six years I have seen the powers of the executive branch explode exponentially. Whoever our next president is will have much more power than we ever thought a president could have. And each time they do something such as violate the bill of rights, pen secret executive orders or brazenly use sledge hammer subtle fear tactics they will simply say, "Hey Bush did it, why can't I?" If Bush were impeached, which he won't be, it would have some small effect to lessen the precedents he has set. Barring this, however, the presidency as we know it has fundamentally changed. That is Bush's legacy.

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CLAP YOUR HANDS IF YOU BELIEVE
This evening while watching the State of the Union Address, it struck me that reality was being held at bay as the chamber cheered on the President while he told us all this tale. The economy is strong---clap your hands if you believe. We are winning the global war on terror---clap your hands if you believe. Our proud soldiers are dying for an honorable cause---clap your hands if you believe. We are helping those in need, victims of Katrina, Medicare recipients------clap your hands if you believe. We must make permanent tax cuts for the wealthy because this is helping us all thrive---clap your hands if you believe.

Well I wasn’t clapping because the fairy is already dead. She was killed by a U.S. bomb in Iraq. Then she died from and insurgent IED. She also died several times in New Orleans. She probably died waiting for her prescription drugs after she fell through cracks of the new Medicare plan. She suddenly died when she fell through the ice of the thinning Polar Ice Caps. She died of AIDS many times over all over the world. She died of exposure and neglect on the city streets of America. She died of profound ignorance when she decided to ignore the reality beyond the halls of U.S. power.

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Many readers have cited that "success" or "failure" depends on one's point of view. If you are an ordinary citizen it was a dismal failure. If you are a member of the corporate establishment it was a howling success. This defines the sides in our class war.

Working class people don't want to admit that we are in a class war. Class warfare is alien to our ideals. Until we do admit it, we the people will continue to lose.

The facts are that both parties have been moving to the right for years and that both are financed by the same corporatocracy. They are Republican Right and Republican Lite. Yet most Liberals look to a Democratic victory as the answer to our problems. This is not so. The Democrats are no longer "the party of the people". There is no "party of the people". The working class majority has no representation in our government. Both parties represent the rich corporate establishment.

I don't believe that a third party is a viable solution for many reasons. Among them are, lack of time, lack of money, and lack of leaders. Again, this war is between the working class and the corporate elite. It is not between working class conservatives and working class liberals. As soon as a third party refuses to support one side or the other of divisive non-economic issues they lose some support.

I believe that the battle can be won by a grassroots movement, not an organization. A movement doesn't need leaders, or money. It only needs members who will recruit more members. Through the power of the internet we the people could be in control of our government virtually overnight.

The Lincoln Initiative is such a movement. It is not divisive because it takes no stand on any issue. It is not about issues. It is about who controls the government. Is it the people or the corporatocracy? It is revolutionary because it throws down the gauntlet to both parties. They must choose which is more important to them, the peoples' votes or the establishment's dollars. Click on join today

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Funny headline for the title given that *even if* his political career comes to an early close (which it won't), he'll still get to walk off with all the money he and his friends will have made/conned/extorted, all the influence he's gained and with his reputation - as far as the people he'll care about are concerned - furthered.

If that's how dead men walk maybe I should jump under a bus.

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Check out this funny new flash cartoon: http://www.ExxposeExxon.com/movie

Today Exxon announced that it made a net profit of $36.1 BILLION DOLLARS in 2005!!


While Americans were suffering through hurricanes Katrina and Rita and sky-high spikes in oil prices last year, ExxonMobil was busy pulling down the largest profit in the history of corporate America!!

The flash cartoon was put out by the Exxpose Exxon coalition to try to pressure Exxon to stop sabotaging efforts to fight global warming, quit lobbying to open the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, and get the company to use some of their huge profits to invest in renewable energy like wind and solar.

ExxonMobil is such a huge company. I think we should all post this (http://www.ExxposeExxon.com/movie) on our own blogs and websites to show our support for the fight!

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OJ Land.

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The Bush family money originally comes from an intense 15 year relationship with the Nazi Party in Germany, spanning from their earliest rise to power to 1942, when Prescott Bush, our president's grandfather, was sanctioned under the Trading With the Enemies Act. It is not an exaggeration to stress the ties between the Bush administration and the Nazi Party in Germany. Certainly, if you only look at the Nazis in terms of the Holocaust, then the connection appears to be false. But the Holocaust was the end of a path that the Nazis had been treading down for decades, and the Bush administration is well along the same path. Will they follow it to genocide? No. But that doesn't discount all the other Fascist policies and tactics they've employed.

Please look at this site: www.tarpley.net/bush2.htm

Prescott Bush's close, personal relationship with the Nazis made his fortune. It was that fortune that allowed George Bush Sr. to invest in the oil business, which in turn allowed him an entry into politics. This information should be part of everyone's understanding. The media won't allow the story to be told. Don't believe me? Check out this story that the New York Times censored:

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/06/01/con06046.html

There are not just similarities but direct ties from the Bush Empire to the Nazis. It is not an exaggeration. It is a fact. Anyone who denies this or downplays it is, in fact, participating in the propaganda of one of the most notorious ideologies in modern history.

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He is setting the stage for the next phase: now that Americans know it is not about WMD, not about links to al-Qaeda, etc. what's left? Admit the truth, it was a naked grab for oil. But first, blame the American people. Set them up in the State of the Union address in 2006 by scolding them for their addiction to oil. That way, when the truth finally does come out, he can place the blame for the war squarely on our shoulders. The man is a genius at ducking responsibility.

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Bush may have failed most of America and the world, but his presidency has been a raving success for several constituencies: Big Pharma, health insurers and defense contractors, each of which has fed gluttonously at the federal trough during his reign; multimillionaires who just can't get enough tax breaks; and radical Islam.

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Oh that it were so - what a wonderful world this would be.

Alito was confirmed with the help of the Dems. The Supreme Court is primed to confirm the Unitary Presidency and legalize the use of governmental agencies to control the population in times of emergency. The bird flu is on its way along with quaranteens.

Are we sure there are only three years left for the roots of the Bush to spread?

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Remember the smug, excited, assured smiles on Bush and his clan's faces as they awaited the supposedly disputed Florida predictions on election night in 2000? Remember how they looked like they knew something we didn't? They did.

The same image comes to mind from stories of Karl Rove in the White House on election night in 2004. When it became clear that it all came down to Ohio, Bush and company started celebrating despite the unknown results. Rove knew he had Ohio in the bag, regardless of what voters there did. Though the images weren't in the press, you can bet that the same bullying, cat-that-ate-the-canary smile of a lifelong brat was on his lips. He knew something we didn't.

Bush's failures might have meant an end to his reign in an earlier era in American history. He might have been held accountable. As it now stands, absolutely nothing is guaranteed. When Republicans privatize elections, as is happening around the country, one cannot be sure that even the most abysmal failures would result in removal from office. They control the vote. It's going to take a lot more than clear incompetence to bring about "regime change."

This state of the union address was intended to be a mild, relatively uncontroversial statement. Attention was drawn to only a few things. But holding his hand close for a change, rather than throwing it on the table, does not mean that he has losing cards. He's stalling. I can guarantee you that by next year something will have happened, be it a terrorist attack or an "axis of evil" development that we don't like the sound of, which will require the cowboy attitude to return. By 2008 it will be of a caliber we have not yet seen, as Bush gets ready to pass on the baton.

To assume anything less is to count the chickens well before they hatch.

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Bush condemned Iranian nuclear ambitions and then promoted nuclear energy as a piece of US energy independence. How is it that radioactive nuclear waste can be effectively dealt with? How is it right for the US to consider nuclear energy for the post-oil economy we are entering and other countries, like Iran, cannot? Nuclear energy is too costly and too dangerous. It's waste is unmanageable. No nukes for any of us ... but let no nuke future begin with those who already possess it getting rid of theirs.

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Bush's Iran strategy is laughable. First, he tells the Iranian people "We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom," but then has put conditions on the result of Palestine's democratic experiment. What he meant to say was that we respect your right to choose your own future so long as it fits into our plan. Second, he talks about alternative energy, then challenges Iran in the same arena. Out of the Axis of Evil, North Korea and Iran have nuclear programs, while our troops are tracking down weapons of relatively insignificant destruction in Iraq.

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Granted that the State of the Union speech was an insipid piece of nothing which didn't need 52 minutes to relate, the Houses of Congress are still in control of the Republicans. Although they are moving away from the President now that his poll figures are dropping, yesterday's vote for Samuel Alito shows that they are still willing to do his bidding.

We can only hope that Bush, under attack from so many sources, will pull back on his arrogant ways and be a bit more reasonable. However, given his record so far, this is, I am sure, wishful thinking. He will, I am sure, continue the "throw it against the wall, and see if it sticks" kind of policy making he used in the past. We can only hope that this administration doesn't do much more to destroy our country and its civil rights.

Also, given that so many of our people are still afraid of another attack, and really think that this President or any President can protect them and that the Democrats don't seem to have a viable candidate (Kerry and Clinton are moving targets, and I am sure the "Swift Boat guys" are already getting their lies ready for 2008), we will probably end up with another Republican in the White House unless the Democrats get their act together with a coordinated plan for 2006 and 2008.

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Unbelievable! With our democracy and rights right now being eliminated by King Terror War George, the Democrats give us "Look at My Crazy Eyebrow" as their official response! What an embarrassing, pathetic party I belong to.

I think now that my Democrats are throwing the fight, that they just don't really care. A club full of rich folks just like the Republicans, I guess they love the big tax breaks for the upper 1%, King George's only accomplishment.

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What Josh is trying to do, as in fact are most writers on alternet and in the progressive blogosphere, is to rally the troops of opposition. As I read the variety of responding comments they range from hopelessness to contempt for the public to fascist conspiracy theories. In truth I believe in much of what the comments say and share many of the posters thoughts and feelings. I bet that most progressives share many of the same sentiments.

We progressives keep getting beaten by the forces of greed and oppression, because we all are so in love with our own ideas that we disdain working in unity with even those with whom we share commonality. This is about gaining the power to remake our country into the land of equality, opportunity and fairness that it has often professed to be, but rarely has achieved.

-We are on the brink of fascism, but it's not here yet.
-We still have a chance to gain power for our side.
-To gain power we must work in unity with eachother.
-To gain power we must convince the majority of the
correctness of our cause and address their own concerns.

By going off on our individual ego-trips and our own particular concerns, we turn the discussion of how to provide a viable opposition into a babble of individual voices, signifying only our own gratification.

Josh's article addressed the weakness that underlies our opponents positions and enumerates that there has been some success in our efforts of opposition. Viable strategy evolves from just such formulations, if we could only quell our egos long enough to pay attention.

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Not to be nitpicking, but doesn't hiking the interest rate make the debt shrink, and not the contrary?

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One thing was glaringly correct - "The War on Terra" - we earth-residents are fearful and ashamed that he has been allowed to destroy that which belongs to all of us! Democrats, where were you - where are you - get some backbone!

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What is appalling to me (among too much to mention here) is that Bush, the Idiot-In-Chief, the owner of multiple failed business ventures, the "mastermind" of the most destructive economic plan for this nation in our history, is a graduate of an Ivy-League business school.

Harvard should be ashamed of itself for passing through this moron; and because of their obviously lax standards, I would think twice before sending any of my children there –– IF I could afford it, which I cannot, being one of the middle class currently spiraling down from relative economic comfort to poverty.

Want another possible scandal and investigation? Appoint a Special Investigator to find out who took tests and wrote papers for Georgie when that self-professed serial drunkard was staggering through college. Could they be the same people who write his speeches and feed them into his ear prompter today? Inquiring minds need to know. . .

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I was waiting for him to say go out and shop. Hell, he should have, everything is on credit. He did admit to being addicted to higher and higher energy costs and the coming baby boomers retirement problems. He failed to point out one of the addict's connection (big oil) is one of the reasons this dope is so expensive and he wants the gullible taxpayer to go on paying for his addict friends (big pharmacy,big insurance, the top 1%, military industrial complex, etc) habit.

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As a character in Stephen King's Dreamcatcher would say. "Same old shit, different day."

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When you stand before the American People and foster a sppech of lies and mis-speak,you're a failed leader.
The State of The Union is far from strong. If you happen to be one of those 1%ers in the top income bracket you're doing alright,but as for the rest of us,we're sinking fast.
The Govt's failure to control oil and gas prices is the tip of the iceberg. Their lack of action on Healthcare proves they are only interested in 'for profit' medicine.
The idea of privitizing Social Security is assinine. Having folks 'invest' thier money is more risky than getting a cost of living increase through Congress. There are no protections for those whom invest,then through no fault of their own, and loose everything. Social Security is a 'public trust' to the People that they will not be 'left out' when they reach retirement age. As such it needs to be in an 'Always Funded' Program.
We are not winning the 'Global War on Terror'. We are advancing the fear that 'The Americans are comming'. Until we address the real causes of terrorism it's not going to go away. Use of force never ends anything. It only makes new hatreds and ill wills directed at it's instigators.
The American economy is in the toilet. When a family of two needs to make $50,000/yr and are only considered 'Mid Level Low Income' we have a serious problem. Add a child or two and you slide even further down the line.
The rebuilding of New Orleans should have been a massive 'works' program, not an open contract. There will be more residents of that great city that 'won't' be able to return
because they will have been priced out of comming back 'home'.
We need to make massive investments into wind and solar energy,nonpolluting vehicles, and reducing Nuclear power instead of building more poison factories and deadly waste that lasts for thousands of years.
Education from K-Grad School should be FREE for all Americans. The surest way to prevent future conflicts,global environmental degredation,and respect for all Peoples is through a sound education. Education must speak the truth.
Learning the conqueror's history is far from the truth and feeds a false sense of superiority.
Finally we need a Congress that acts in the best intrests of the People and not the corporations.
I'm Jeffrey Smith,I'd like to be President and give this Country BACK to the People

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I'm usually right with ya,' Josh, but this piece just... well, it's damned weird. Not only is the Smirking Chimp's ideology now the mainstream and the Repugnikrats have at least a 50 year future ahead of them. For them, the Shrub has been anything but a failure.

In 50 years as oil dries up the Corporates will switch to something else that will be beyond the means of their servants and peasants to afford (never mind poisoning the peasant class in the process), they have a full line-up and a deep bench of quasi and full-blown fascists to draw from to support, perpetuate and intensify their cultural war on decency, health, justice, equality, and peace. Maybe it's because you can pay your bills, Josh, that you have the luxury of seeing the Chimp as a failure and a dead man walking. For the rest of us, he's a clear and present danger and we have no system, strategy, or "leader" who can rescue us. It's up to us, the people of "vile and mean disposition" to decide: either an open massive revolt or submission to the New Slavery, man.

What you're advocating, Josh--our nightmare'll all be over soon 'cuz this guy is all done--is damned dangerous. He's anything but done, man, he's just getting started!

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Every sentence of his SOTU adress rings hollow in my ears. Fantasy and Fiction seem to be the only REAL things in this individuals mind.
What scares me more is the potential for another "President" of his caliber to take control of the American government and further destroy what was once a powerful, respected, and distinct democracy. Should we fear the next Republican candidate or the Republican PARTY?
Can you see the puppet strings?
I can almost make them out. Thank God I'm a Canadian.

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Only thing missing, metaphorically speaking, from Bush's speech was that he has no plans to change anything from the previous five years.
His presidency is dead meat (or) rotting meat on the Potomac, and the buzzards are circling overhead.

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that millions of our fellow countrymen actually STILL believe
what he says? Can you believe that I still argue with dead-
set conservatives at work who are un-wavering only because
of a right to life/NRA/or other single issue that they continuously hammer at? IT`S SO FRUSTRATING!! But then again I believed alot what the so called pres. said up untill 9-11 !! And I`m 48!!! We have got to get the truth out there somehow...someway!! Spread little truths wherever and whenever we can huh? Great responses guys!

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Bush has been incredibly successful. Never in the history of our great republic have so many sheep so willingly forfeited their liberties--without a fight. Cindy Sheehen is arrested for wearing a t-shirt critical of Bush. Is there any better metaphor for the state of our constitutional liberties? Is there any better metric for the "success" of the conservative movement?

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The fate of the union is in jeopardy until we begin electing men and women who respect both the laws of our land and international law. The fate of the union is in jeopardy until we begin electing men and women who put the welfare of our citizens ahead of the welfare of political friends and allies. The fate of the union is in our hands and we better start taking it serious.

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Is this the presence of heaven on earth as the supposed lords prayer states?

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I appreciate the information since I didn't bother watching. Instead I took a sign from my yard in Oregon, which I made many years ago, and marched up and down my street in the rain. My sign...."Plant Bush in Texas"

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The economy is great. We are winning the war on terror. Social Security is fine. We need more tax cuts for rich people, so that they can reinvest and raise wages and benefits. Iran is a threat that must be contained, with military force if necessary. We must continue to give the Israelis 4 billion dollars a year or terrorism will get out of hand. The left must stop encouraging the terrorists. To go against the President is treasonous.

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Don't forget Bush's biggest achievement--that of linking the retirement accounts of all public employees to Halliburton. All schoolteachers and employees signed up with PERS in Oregon are invested in Halliburton. They have no choice about this, either, and many don't even know WHAT their retirement funds are invested in. This is why I quit working for the school system. This means that Halliburton is getting billions of investment dollars, along with their no-bid contracts. No wonder they just posted record profits. What's in YOUR portfolio??!!. What is invested in grows, what is not invested in shrinks. I urge everyone to invest in alternative energy and interest-free mutual funds (ones that don't profit by charging interest to poor people). A good one is AMANX. ESLR is solar power. MGPI is ethanol. All are doing well. Even better, we need to demand to have a say in where our retirement accounts are invested. It sickens me to realize how many people don't even know they are contributing to and perpetuating the war economy. I don't want to believe that they just don't care so long as it makes them a profit. If that were the case, they'd be given a choice, right?

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... ditto's ... ditto's ... we, the equal-time 'balance' for fascism media ... ditto's ...

It is plain to most people the guy is a puppet for sinister imperialists. That would be the intelligence community, in code.

The Community has a pattern, a history, of double-crossing, uh, backstabbing its own secret people, I mean puppets, secretly. Which is a code of imperialism taken directly from the Constitution -- Ben Franklin slipped it in on the back, as a 'rider': Three people can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

Just off-handedly, the top off of their head before included:
Mossadek
Diem
Savimbi
Marcos
Bhutar
Noriega
Hussein
Osama
Lee Harvey Oswald
And More So Many More
... all one-time CIA assets whose disposability was picked for them.

And are names all along the 'career' of Geo. Hitler-Worker Bush, the namesake on CIA headquarters. One the tricks of the spy trade, or, uh, 'craft' (according to Allen Dulles, author, "The Craft of Intelligence"), is when you want to find out who's controlling the puppet, watch for when ventriloquists die.

Another way, of course, is ask the puppet -- but probably the ventriloquist means to keep it a secret with the puppet.

In the case of the SOTU puppet, maybe it left out visionary future plans because there aren't any for him. Could be high-fear-dosage TV in any dramatic terrifying puppet play, although that departure would bring the longtime GHWB henchman's steady hand behind the desk of the Evil Office -- and that'd reassure people.

Then there was the final word story, seen in the NY Times, must have been, oh, about May 2003 or a little later, plus or minus, DNA'ing or forensicking the crystal case-kept corpse of Stalin to find arsenic poisoning as the c.o.d., and finally charging Stalin's four closest counsel, conspired and pre-meditated, carried out by the physician, Stalin's, among them. Arsenic, physician: Duh.

Which brings to mind this question of defining W health care in that performing misery last night: What's he on ?

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WE ARE WORKING TOGETHER, WE JUST NEED OUR POLITICIANS TO HELP US!

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There is one thing absent from the discussion; Someone a great deal of America can get behind to fix this fucking mess.

This leader will not come to us, we must find that person.

I suggest we start digging, perhaps in Virgina (simply because of the Dems choice to rebut) to find the person that has the intestinal fortitude required to work within the framework now taking shape, constructed by the few, to control the many.

So, start finding them now. Be the voice that knows the backgrounds of the midterm contenders of 2006.

I know of one that will be running in CA; a good Democrat that has worked in congress for a number of years, and a good man to boot. His name is Sam Farr, if I were looking for a pragmatic, practical person for the job today, he would be it. He doesn't have the polished sheen of a contender, but I am not looking for shine, I am looking for a real leader.

There must be others. Choose wisely, time grows short.

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Or will the world really have to endure another 2 years of the man??

Can the American people really oust him sooner??

And change their political system, ie, not just vote for a Dem who is Repug-lite.

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IS RUSS FEINGOLD! HE WAS THE ONLY ONE TO stand up and vote NO to the original Patriot Act, I believe. He seems to be exceptionally courageous, and seemingly truthful. I'm keeping my eye on him.

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Thanks Josh Holland and Alter net - I did not know the following shocking fact you published 71 percent increase in average health care premiums American families have shouldered since he took office. Bush laid a huge egg on Health Care in SOTU speech. Time for Dems to move on this or Governers will and a few are. This is a huge opportunity to topple this teetering presidency. Be Well all

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Indeed, all you pointed out is true. So why does he still wear that arrogant smug?? Do not underestimate this man and his cronies. He is smug because he knows he and they will retain power with the help of electronic voting machines. No one is watching this avenue of victory and it is, as it was in the last two elections, damn close to a sure bet. K

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I am so glad that somebody else has wondered the same thing. The Anti-Christ, according to scripture, would be that person who pretends to act in Christ's name, but does exactly the opposite. As a Christian, I am shocked at how un-Christian many of Bush's policies are, and I mean un-Christian in that they don't seem too concerned about folks that don't look like him, have as much wealth as he does, or simply need the basics (food, shelter, clothing).
Thanks Tom for showing me that I wasn't the only one thinking about this.

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The Republican agenda as executed by the Bush Administration is all about acquiring power and wealth for itself and its supporters. They could not care less about the lower classes as long as they have their millions. The real problem is that the average American still buys into the fairy-tale of Democracy and We the People. There is a class war taking place here in the USA and the rich are winning, winning BIG - thanks to King George.

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While I agree things look pretty grim -in the end western humanity will choose life over self destruction which is unfortunately the current white house path. But I believe this Prez and company are toast. It's over. Too much damn pus comin out. To many people scared about jobs and health care and their kids amd grandkids. See ya in the new renaissance. :)

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My late father had a saying that it is impossible to reason with pig ignorance.It is time Bush moved away from the trough.

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