Kaine's speech is a missed opportunity

[ncteechur]

Another example of lame excuse, non-fighting, lay down and roll over, not real democrats.

This was the PRIME opportunity to expose the lies with a national audience waiting for some

indication that the democratic party would fight for them against a president who has not served

them well. This was the chance to tie it all together with a big bow--the corruption of Abramhoff

and Delay, the wacko strip-search of 10 year olds philosophy of Alito, the war mongering
corporations loving, little guy hating, right wing GOP.

And we blew it.

As wrong as they are, the GOP would rather be seen as tough. And there lies the rub. For as wrong as they are, which is 99% of the time, America will always tend to choose the "tough" over the right.

The DLC and the DNC do not get that.

[IndianaGreen]

1. Dennis Kucinich should have given the Dem response

The Truth About the State of our Union

By Dennis J. Kucinich

On Tuesday night President Bush will stand before the Congress and the nation, to deliver his annual State of the Union address. We are sure to hear a rosy tale of an economy on the rebound, a blossoming democracy in Iraq, a terror network on the run, and a Gulf Coast region rebuilding better and stronger than ever before. As is most often the case with this Administration, the rhetoric does not match reality.

The facts are clear. Our economy is struggling and leaving tens of millions of Americans behind. According to the non-partisan National Journal, since President Bush first stood before Congress and the nation in 2001, the median income in this country has decreased, the jobless rate has jumped from 3.9% to 4.9% and the number of families living in poverty has increased from 8.7% to 10.2%. Our trade deficit has doubled. Inflation has gone up. Personal bankruptcies have gone up. Consumer debt has gone up. College tuition has gone up. And, the price of gas has gone up. All the while, this Administration has turned a $128 billion federal budget surplus into a $319 billion deficit.

Today, almost 6 million more Americans do not have any health insurance than when President Bush took office. In total, over 45.5 million Americans, or over 15% of our total population, have no health care coverage at all.

During his 2003 address, President Bush told the nation that Saddam Hussein "had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax", "materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin", "as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent" and "upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents".

Today, almost three years after the start of the President's war of choice, we know Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, had no connection to al-Qaeda and posed no threat to our nation. Yet, our armed forces are bogged down in the middle of civil war that our own generals say cannot be won by military force. Our presence in Iraq is counterproductive and has cost the lives of over 2,200 US troops and $250 billion.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/2647/1/146

[spooky3]

2. excellent speech

[Toots]

3. Republicans make no bones about their wishes and in fact brag about it

They say "We would much rather be feared than loved"

[IndianaGreen]

5. and Bush now double dared the Dems to do anything about him

and he knows the Dems won't do shit about his law breaking.

It took two political parties to bury the Republic.

[mitchum]

4. DLC...Do Love Corporatism