Just hours before the President’s State of the Union speech, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald gave his opening arguments in the “Scooter” Libby trial. The Libby trial being about the outing of CIA agent Valerie Wilson, and whether or not the leaking of her status was in response to her husband, Joe Wilson, having criticized the current administration. Mr. Fitzgerald stated that he had documents that prove that the decision to air Valerie Wilson’s identity would not only show that the decision came from the Vice-President’s office, but from Vice-President Cheney himself.  

   Acknowledging that Mr. Cheney is innocent until proven guilty, it does show a growing problem that I have concerning the Bush White House and his State of the Union address last night-the current administration’s credibility. After undergoing 6 years of comments concerning WMD, yellow cake, aluminum tubing, proclamations that the Iraqi government is becoming increasingly capable of handling its own security, mobile biological labs, linking Saddam Hussein to Al-Qaeda, the attempted tying of  911 to Iraq, etc., etc. all of which have been shown to have little if any substance, my current cynicism has become the lens that I view all of the Bush Administrations actions and words through. President Bush’s State of the Union address is no exception.           

   Part of me applauds his seeming attempts at finally trying to bridge the gap between parties, but I find myself incapable of alleviating the work “seeming” from this sentence. How much of his rhetoric comes from attempting to change his legacy from being the divider, not the “decider” and how much is an honest attempt to develop genuine bipartisan cooperation? I find it depressing that I find myself asking the question.  

   His speech did have some noteworthy items, his recognition of Nancy Pelosi’s being the first female Speaker of the House, and to give credit where credit is due his statement’s concerning her were gracious. It is also the first time that he acknowledged global warming, calling it instead “global climate change.” Semantics aside, having opened the door to official governmental discussion about global warming it will be difficult to close the door again.  

   His support concerning AIDS/HIV programs in Africa, has been long overdue, and has earned the praise of people who deal with the problem directly and is a project worthy of the support of the entire country. Immigration reform, which seems to be about the only issue that he agrees with the Democratic Party about, is also worth bipartisan support. Healthcare reform was also a topic, where he even gave some ideas about how to finance his ideas.  

   Alternative fuels, the need to wean ourselves from dependence on foreign oil, although I must admit that when he stated that we needed to find oil in “environmentally sensitive” manners I immediately assumed that he wished to look for oil in environmentally sensitive areas, and flinched. His recognition of several people who have done heroic acts, either our soldiers in Iraq, or people who did their heroic deeds in the United States, was worthy of note and deserved by those people so honored. All of these issues are worthy; however, I still view his motives with a jaundiced eye. Were these issues talked about to take the focus off Iraq?

   About 3,000 words into the speech he finally talked about Iraq, and said little new. Listen or read any of his speeches or comments and you’ll get the gist of what he said. He maintains that sending 21, 500 additional troops into harm’s way will turn the tide, regardless of the overwhelming number of voices that speak to the contrary (we have tried escalations in the past to no avail). Colin Powell being the most notable of the military voices, Republican senators and congressmen are beginning to question Bush’s policies concerning Iraq, the people overwhelmingly expressed their displeasure during the 2006 mid-term elections. Current polls have again reiterated the people’s view that the current administration has no exit strategy. Little or nothing can be said by me in addition to what is now being said about his current strategy, just listen to most news channels, newspaper editorials, military figures, and the majority of the American people.  

   I find myself asking questions about why New Orleans has been largely ignored, a particularly poignant question. Although education was addressed, the skyrocketing cost of tuition was not. The President spoke of 7 million new jobs, but didn’t talk about how many of the jobs paid less than a living wage. These issues were subsequently addressed by Congressman Webb of Virginia in the Democratic Response, noting that it cannot be denied that Wall Street was at an all-time high, but how that translates to the middle class, since most of them do not have an extensive stock portfolio, that the average worker must work one year to earn as much as a CEO earns in one day. I encourage all those who have not seen either the State of the Union Address or the Democratic Response to listen to them (you can find the full text of both on any news channel website such as msnbc.com.).  

   My one final question is why? Why did we give up our right and obligation to question our elected officials? Since 911 we have walked in a curious lockstep, subscribing to exhortations that to question the current administration’s policies was tantamount to treason. The news media rarely questioned anything that was done, the only person that I can recall doing any serious questioning about President Bush, the media’s silence, and the groupthink that appears to have taken control of this country is Jon Stewart of the Daily Show, it is a sad commentary that a program that admittedly is a “fake” news show is the few that have done any questioning.  

   In retrospect, I find that my cynicism is not only directed at the Bush Administration, but on myself. For four years I have watched and waited, hoping that the President would ultimately be proven right. For four years I have turned a blind eye to disquieting accusations, to rumors, and outright lies, to allowing fear to be my main motivation for staying silent. I have watched the Constitution used, if convenient, or ignored if inconvenient, as in the case of the Patriot Act (a horribly named document) or illegal wiretapping, and can only say that I am partly to blame for the predicament we are in. Perhaps the majority of us are.