podpolia

I just watched the State of the Union address, and I thought I would put down my thoughts on it before I read other people’s commentary (so I can be sure they’re originally my ideas, and I’m not swiping them from anyone).
The domestic part of the speech was incredibly ambitious. So many of those things are going to be difficult to pull off, but a committment to do it from the White House will push Congress to help out. It’s about time for Congress to focus on more than their individual reelection concerns and concentrate on the nation as a whole. On a number of issues, such as health care, the President is moving to a position that Democrats will feel confident in supporting. At the same time, however, he is supporting a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. It sounds as if he is going to try to get as much as he can — cooperating where he can, but going it alone where he must. A number of those plans (like the marriage amendment) are extremely unlikely to pass, but are serving as a statement of his beliefs. This will also help to mollify uber-conservatives that he’s still on their side, despite supporting things that they would not want to support.
The foreign policy part of the speech was quite intense as well. The inaugural address was taken in many circles as being aggressive in foreign policy, but that was nothing on this. The gauntlet now lies before Egypt, Syria, and Iran. Egypt has been asked nicely to democratize, Syria has more or less been threatened if they don’t back down on supporting terrorists, and Iran’s government has essentially been put on notice that we will support their own citizens against them.
Stylistically speaking, this was an excellent speech. I didn’t think he’d be able to top the Inaugural Address, but he did it. This is about the third speech he’s given in the past year or so that I decided was the best to this point. He’s getting better and better at it, and hopefully he’ll have other good things to speak well about later in his new term.

The soldier that a terrorist group recently kidnapped should be released, as he seems to have been turned into an action figure by fear. I’m sure if they don’t release him, Barbie will be heartbroken.
UPDATE 02/02/05 @ 10.34: Found a blog (LGF) that had pictures.