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State of the Union

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Love him or hate him, President Bush delivers the State of the Union at 9 p.m. EST (about five minutes from now). Be sure to watch.
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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I will watch and everyone should do so. I too, do not like President Bush. Liking him has nothing to do with it. This is the State Of the Union speech and he is the President.
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I could think of 100 things more suitable for spending my time than giving him my attention.
40,000 million notches away
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As I said before, you don't have to like or agree with him. But he is the President and when he gives an important speech you should still listen.


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No offense, but I disagree. Yeah, he won, and more power to him. I'm not going to argue with his policies or be bitter, as I hope for the best. But I certainly don't owe him anything.
40,000 million notches away
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I know how to keep this thread alive beyond its 'Best Before' date: State of the Union is also the name of the new xXx movie, with Ice Cube as the new xXx.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Yeah, somehow I see the idea of Ice Cube in the next xXx as being a bad thing and the sure-fire way to kill this thread.

I don't watch presidential speeches (or any real political speech for that matter). They're all carefully penned by speech writers and are the epitome of public relations fluff. I prefer to just watch the post-speech analysis. It tends to be a bit more balanced in terms of perspective.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Cut Cube some slack; he's the Rap Star Most Likely to Become an Action Hero.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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It's times like this I wish Chuck D would show up in Hollywood and tear it down.

Burn, Hollywood Burn!
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Now, Chuck D would make one helluva xXx!

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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I would like Tone-Loc to be in it.
40,000 million notches away
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Originally posted by: Windexed
No offense, but I disagree. Yeah, he won, and more power to him. I'm not going to argue with his policies or be bitter, as I hope for the best. But I certainly don't owe him anything.


I didn't say you owed him anything.

I just think that listening to the President (wheither you like him or not, wheither you agree with him or not) is important and is part being an informed citizen. Understand it is the
office of the Presidency I respect, not the man holding it.
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Valid point, Warbler. I don't listen because I'm a Canadian, and thoroughly pissed off that the State of the Union address preempted Alias.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Originally posted by: Warbler
I just think that listening to the President (wheither you like him or not, wheither you agree with him or not) is important and is part being an informed citizen.


Sorry, I don't agree. There is just far too much spin doctoring occurring in political speech writing and delivery. I still maintain that the best way to hear it is to listen to what is said by analysts after the fact. They tend to eliminate all the BS and get down to the cold, hard facts of the speech.

It is important to get the information that is delivered in the speech, I just don't think the method of receiving this info needs to be the actual speech.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Of course, that depends on which analysts you listen to; I wouldn't exactly expect 'fair and balanced' evaluation from Fox News, knowhutImean?

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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I don't think I've ever listened to Fox News. But I try to listen to a couple different sources and read several different online and print analyses. That way, it's kinda difficult to not keep it balanced. But, I fear I am in the minority in that regard.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Regardless of who the president is that's delivering the speech, to me, it comes off as little more than a collection of cliche'd slogans and vague generalizations. I consider the State of the Union address to be more of a morale-booster and/or pep-talk than an actual informative speech. I can be an 'informed citizen' without it.
40,000 million notches away
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My thoughts exactly.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Personally I put absolute zero stock in what the pundits and talking heads say afterwards. When the words come directly out of the President's mouth, I much prefer to make up my own mind about what is BS and what is not, rather than having these morons on the news try to distill it for me. Howard Dean's showing in Iowa and New Hampshire last year proved that the media (a) can't cram an opinion down the throat of voters to make it a reality and (b) is genuinely detached from popular sentiment on either side of the aisle.

All this said, the State of the Union is perhaps the most important speech for any U.S. citizen to tune in to (to everybody else, I apologize on the country's behalf for pre-empting your prime time shows). Yes, it is carefully penned, but it is far from B.S. It is the one constitutionally mandated speech where the three branches of government convene to hear the President's legislative agenda for the coming year. It illustrates the direction he intends to take the country more than any campaign speech ever will. Furthermore, when you watch, you can see where the opposition party intends to support the agenda, and where the opposition intends to block.

Given that our hard-earned and easily wasted tax dollars are at stake, we should give a damn about them. Furthermore, you should be incited to act based on what the President says. If on any given point you disagree with the President's agenda, it is imperative that you write your Representative and Senators -- even before writing on, say, this forum. After all, Jay may be the Emperor of OriginalTrilogy.com, but he doesn't have any discretion over how tax dollars get alloted. Remember, free speech was intended to petition the government, not just to protect the right to grouse among your friends. People have been doing that -- even in oppressive societies -- for centuries. Washington counts on our apathy to see that things stay as they are. But when people actually get involved, that is what creates change.
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.