My Fellow Americans… is Anybody Listening?
January 27, 2008 | 8:17 pm | by t-blender |Rate It:
the independent: Tomorrow evening, President George Bush delivers his last State of the Union address, the greatest set-piece occasion of the US political year, akin to the State Opening of Parliament by the British monarch.
So, what is the real state of the Union right now?
Frankly, not very good, and by almost any yardstick worse than when Bush came to office in January 2001. The economy faces a severe slowdown and possible recession, unemployment is climbing and the dollar is very weak. Abroad, thanks to the Iraq war and the excesses of the “war on terror”, Washington’s image is in tatters. In geopolitical terms, the global hegemony of the US is threatened by China. Three-quarters of voters believe the country is “on the wrong track”, the most in almost 30 years.
What will Mr Bush have to say?
By tradition the address – usually about an hour long – is divided into two parts, domestic and foreign. On the first, the President will claim the economy is basically healthy. He may also renew his call for immigration reform after the collapse of similar efforts last summer in Congress. On foreign affairs, he will insist that the US military must stay the course in Iraq, to consolidate the progress made in providing security and stability since the surge in US troop numbers a year ago. He will also underline the threat posed by Iran.
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