By Political Commentator Vladimir Simonov

January 1, 2006

Original Article (English)

President George W. Bush Delivers the 2006
State of the Union Address, Jan. 31 (above);

— C-SPAN VIDEO: George W. Bush Gives
the 2006 State of the Union Address and the
Democratic Response, Jan. 31 01:02:00
— C-SPAN VIDEO: Democratic Response
to State of the Union Address By Governor
Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jan. 31 00:10:40
[SLIDE SHOW: State of the Union].

Cindy Sheehan is Shown Into the Capital Chamber,
and then, presumably After Revealing Her Anti-War
T-Shirt, Is Hustled Out of the Room (below)






A Palestinian Police Officer at His Graduation
Ceremony. He'll Have His Hands Full as Hamas
Takes Over the Reigns of Power. (below)





A Palestinian Boy In a Hamas Cap With His Dad
and Other Hamas Supporters At a Rally Celebrating
Hamas' Electoral Victory, on Near Jerusalem. (above)


Iranian Soldiers At Friday Prayers Wear Headbands
Reading 'Oh, Martyr Hussein,' Commemorating the
Martyrdom of Imam Hussein, Grandson of Muhammad,
at the Battle of Karbala, Iraq, in A.D. 680. (below).





Young Women At a Rally to Support Iran's
nuclear Program in Tehran on Friday (above).


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tours the
Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant Last Week. (below).

MOSCOW: The annual address of the U.S. President to the nation is entitled the "State of the Union Address." But the fifth such address, delivered by President George W. Bush on Tuesday, January 31, seemed like an attempt to whitewash his administration's actions.

There was a lady in the audience representing those in whose eyes the president would have liked to look his best. A few minutes before the address, police detained Cindy Sheehan, an anti-war activist and mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. She was handcuffed and taken outside for wearing an anti-war T-shirt.

— C-SPAN VIDEO:
Gen. Michael V. Hayden,
Former NSA Chief,
Discusses Eavesdropping
By the Agency, Jan. 23
01:05:18

Americans' rejection of the Bush policy in Iraq is not the only factor behind the precipitous fall of the president's approval rating, which have dropped to 41% over the past 12 months. His administration's clumsy effort after Hurricane Katrina, corruption scandals involving the pillars of the Republican Party, the disclosure of a network of secret prisons in Europe, and lastly the president's personal involvement in the unconstitutional eavesdropping program, provided the background for the speech. To give himself a new lease on political life and shore up his flagging popularity, the President needed to deliver a masterful address.

At the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Bill Clinton managed to appease and charm an enraged country. Unfortunately, Gorge Bush failed to repeat his predecessor's feat.

He told Americans nothing substantial about the painful Iraqi problem. He again announced the imminent victory of the U.S.-led military coalition.

"I am confident in our plan for victory; I am confident in the skill and spirit of our military. Fellow citizens, we are in this fight to win, and we are winning," Bush said. He argued, "A sudden withdrawal of our forces from Iraq would abandon our Iraqi allies to death and prison ... and show that a pledge from America means little."

In fact, he has said this so many times before that a repetition of these words did nothing to ease the souls of the tens of millions of Americans who share Cindy Sheehan's grief.

Worse still, Bush couldn't explain the shocking failure of U.S. Middle Eastern policy over the last few days. The idea of spreading the American model of freedom there has resulted in the electoral victory of a terrorist organization in Palestine. Hamas would not have rallied such nationwide support but for the U.S. military campaign in Iraq.

The president called on Hamas to "recognize Israel, disarm and reject terrorism, and work for lasting peace." Somehow, the audience seemed to think that this will soon be a reality.

Skeptics say that the U.S. State Department seems to have embraced the teachings of Karl Marx, and is waiting for "the social being to determine consciousness." The American administration is waiting for the responsibility of power to transform Hamas fighters carrying portable mine-throwers into harmless State officials.

George Bush was fantastically lucky this time: he did not confuse Iraq and Iran. He described the latter as "a nation now held hostage by a small clerical elite that is isolating and repressing its people."

The president believes it possible to appeal to Iranians over the heads of their leaders, who were elected in a democratic, even if slightly faulty, procedure. He decided to speak directly to the Iranian people: "America respects you, and we respect your country," he said. "We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom." Freedom from their current leaders, apparently.

That revolutionary appeal, just like the rest of the address, was broadcast live in Farsi, one Iran's main languages. After this faux pax, no one can persuade the Iranian leadership to continue talks on their nuclear program with the United States, Russia and the European Trio.

The rest of Bush's speech was full of generalizations and grandiose but, experts say, unsubstantiated plans. In particular, the President admitted to America's addiction to Middle East oil and suggested replacing "more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025." Market analysts were shocked, as they know that 20 years from now, every fourth barrel of oil will be produced in the Middle East.

Bush praised the American economy, which "is preeminent," he said, "but we cannot afford to be complacent." In a dynamic world economy, we are seeing new competitors, like China and India, he said. Such deliberations sounded out of place at a time of colossal budget deficits.

Initial reactions to the speech from Bush's colleagues have been super-critical. No matter what he was speaking about - catastrophe in Iraq, the mess he made of the budget or the horrendous cost of corruption that is eating away at the administration - all of this spoke "more of a state of his personal self-denial," said Congressman Lloyd Dogget (D - TX).