Didn't watch Obama's State of the Union speech last night...

...because I already knew what the REAL state of the union is.

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Christmas in January: "Watching" $tate of the Union Address 2009

As I do every year, at the moment I am watching the Presidential State of the Union Address. And by "watching" I mean that, per my usual custom, I have my back turned to the television so that I'm not tuned in to the imagery at all. Stripped of the visual component, my brain is more keenly listening to what Barack Obama is really saying.

So what do I think? He is definitely far more articulate and presidential-sounding than George W. Bush. Unfortunately he's talking about wasting money just as bad as Bush ever did.

(And as an aside, I miss tuning in to this without the live and uncommonly wise commentary of young master Kyle Williams. Hey Kyle, I know you're reading this: it's way past time for you to start a blog or something 'cuz I still get lots of e-mail from people asking how you're doing and wanna read more of your thoughts! :-)

Anyway, Obama is more than keeping up the tradition of what I call "Christmas in January". And nothing of this speech so far has anything to do with the real state of the union. In fact, I can't recollect any President since Ronald Reagan who ever took this yearly ritual seriously. It doesn't even have to be an annual event: the Constitution only calls for the President to relay his observations on the condition of the country from time to time. And it need not be a live speech, either: for a very long time the President simply sent a letter to Congress containing his State of the Union thoughts. But nowadays, it's not much more than guaranteed airtime for whoever is President, to shill for himself. And doesn't it say how shallow our country is when it's expected that "the other party" give us a "response"? I mean, the State of the Union...whatever, is not defined in the Constitution as a political event at all.

Color me apathetic if you wish, but I'm gonna say it: American mainstream politics has become an activity for either the weak and timid, or the strong and corrupt. It is not a thing that endears itself to those who choose to think and act on their own.

Okay, that's my rant for this year's State of the Union. Hope y'all who thought that I wouldn't be as hard on Obama as I was on Bush, are happy now...

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The REAL State of the Union: America is dying

George W. Bush will deliver his final State of the Union speech as President tonight.

As always, he won't dare speak the truth about the condition of this country to the American people. Too much "legacy" is at stake to do anything other than to BS people as he's done throughout his term.

So it falls to me to go where most politicians, the mainstream press, the partisan sycophants, and the useful idiots fear to tread, and lay down the real smack on the true state of the union...

- You will hear Bush tonight repeat that "America is strong" or that "our union is strong". This is a damned lie. The truth of the matter is, America is not only not strong, America is dying. In fact, America may be dead and beyond resuscitation already.

- We have precious little industrial infrastructure left. Bush and his buddies have sent most of it overseas.

- We are being overwhelmed with illegal aliens. There's no way in Hell that Bush will touch upon that one.

- Our economy stands upon the edge of a knife. That Bush and Congress are flooding it with money that doesn't even really exist anyway demonstrates the "wisdom" that our "brilliant leaders" have been endowed with. It's almost enough to make one wonder if they want to bring about this country's financial collapse.

- We continue to be mired in meaningless wars overseas that have nothing to do with legitimate American interests. All that we will have to show for them are thousands of armed forces personnel dead, many more maimed either physically or mentally and almost certainly emotionally also.

- We no longer have a free press in this country. One need only look at how Fox News has blatantly sought to manipulate the current presidential election to know this. The only true "fair and balanced" coverage you will find these days will not be on cable television, but from independent outlets... and even then, you're supposed to judge for yourself without having some big company judge for you.

- The American political process is completely bankrupt and unable to produce sincere, legitimate leadership. By that I mean individuals who seriously want to serve others, instead of wanting to only exploit government and the power that comes with it. That we have a country where "anyone can grow up to be President" is now a damned lie. The reality of it is, you only can get elected if the party bigwigs determine that they can use you in their schemes enough to give you enough backing to run for office. And then when you win, you belong to them. The system does not like people with honest principles taking a stab at things. It has a nasty tendency to destroy those who try.

- There is no more "rule of law" per the Constitution. We no longer have a government "of the people, by the people and for the people". We now have government that exists for sake of government. It is now the rule of force. We live at the peace of the gun. This is not government as the Founding Fathers intended for it to be at all. Why should any of us feel morally bound to be loyal to this government, then? Why should any of us be asked to potentially give their lives for this government? Because I can't fin any reason either per moral conscience or per studies of scripture that mandates this in the least bit. I'm loyal to the Constitution. I'm not loyal to men who would destroy the Constitution.

- This country is becoming a fascist state, and we all know it. But damned few of us are willing to admit it.

As sometimes happens on this blog, I might watch the address tonight, with my back to the TV so that I can "tune in" without the distracting visuals, and post my thoughts about it live.

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