A few early thoughts on the State of the Union address tonight.
Overall, I thought this was one of George Bush's better speeches. His delivery was smooth and assured. He no longer stumbles over words and phrases. The speech was well written and well delivered. By and large, it was well received.
The low point tonight was delivered by the loyal opposition, the Democrats, who burst into great applause and cheers and laughter at the President's mention of the failure of the Congress to enact Social Security Reform.
It was an embarrassing moment on two levels. First, it was rude and disrespectful. Certainly it was inappropriate in this setting, during this speech. I'm guessing that most Americans were appalled by this display. I don't think it helped the Democrats in any way. At the very best, it was childish.
But there is a much deeper issue here. The Democrats were actually signaling their approval in their own total betrayal of the American people.
Not once last year did one Democrat offer a single idea, plan, concept or program to mitigate the coming collapse of our entitlement system. All any Democrat did was to ridicule and condemn the President's proposed set-aside of a small portion of Social Security tax into individual funds that could (at the taxpayer’s sole option) be invested in the stock market.
Perhaps the President's plan was bad. But no Democrat ever offered any alternative.
Tonight were heard Democrats cheer "We did nothing! We helped Social Security fail! Hurray! We condemned the seniors of tomorrow to poverty! We helped the system collapse!!"
If that's the only accomplishment the Democrats could cheer, they don't deserve to hold office. I think it's time for a new opposition party.
The Democrats have lost the right to hold that honorable position.
