of course i love the state of the union: i was a theatre major!

"The terrorists have chosen the weapon of fear."

That may be my most favorite quote of the night. It is so steeped in irony it's almost too bitter to swallow. Let's talk about fear for a moment, shall we? Let's talk about how this administration has so successfully made the citizens of the country afraid of everything. It took him less than 5 minutes to make the connection between 9/11 and Iraq-- a "fact" that has been found to be irrefutably false. Let's talk about how the word "isolationism" was thrown around with such abandon it made one wonder if GWB had spent the weekend pumping himself up by watching the epic modern classic "Pearl Harbor." (Thank you, Mr. Berghoef for that little gem) Classifying the Murtha Democrats as isolationists is not only inaccurate, it creates an image of immediacy and what?: FEAR. The flip side of our current situation, which was created by this administration, is not isolationism. It is radically changing our foreign policy to one where various cultural and religious differences are taken into account. The flip side is that this country needs to change it's perception of the problem. The problem is less about hatred. The problem is more about poverty, oppression, and lack of understanding.

Another favorite: "We love our freedom, and we will fight to keep it."

We will fight to keep it even if it means violating those very freedoms that make this country so unique in order to keep us safe--another theme I adore. Anyone who honestly believes that this country will be capable of preventing another terrorist attack is a fool. Unless you are willing to live in a police state where privacy is a luxury, there is very little anyone can do. What is the point of defending our freedoms if in order to do so we take those very freedoms away? And I say again: be very afraid that the executive of this country continues to use the Constitution as his defense for the illegal surveillence he is conducting. Concentrated power is the beginning of the end.

"Our economy is healthy and vigorous.."

Come to Michigan and say that this economy is vigorous. I dare you.

The domestic agenda he proposed is weak. More tax cuts, Social Security reform (didn't he try this last year and fail?), health care spending accounts ("Our government has a responsibility to help provide health care for the poor and the elderly, and we are meeting that responsibility." Really? Tell that to the 45 million Americans who are uninsured.), Energy reforms to reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil (that involves nuclear energy--I know, Michael, but I think there's a better and safer way.), sweeping moral statements involving everything from abortion to drug abuse, to activist judges attempting to redefine marriage....It was watered down and weak. There were no real proposals, no mention of sacrifice, no LONG TERM solutions to big problems.

Crash.
The movie.
Huh.
I'm not stupid enough to believe that after the Civil Rights Movement, racism was eradicated. If anything, the divide between cultures and races is more deeply felt than ever. Crash took that theme and ran with it. And ran. And ran. And ran. And then hit the viewer over the head. Repeatedly. It's a very important topic. It's a very American topic. It's just too bad that it failed to come together as a great film. I can't believe it, but this was nominated in all the categories I thought it failed in: original screenplay, best picture, editing, and directing (give a nod to Mr. Dillion. He was aok). Editing?!?!? Editing can make or break a film for me and in this one--I could see them trying so hard to make it work and coming up short. Of course, Walk the Line was nominated for editing as well and Syriana was NOT so what the fuck does the Academy know anyway. And the directing was heavy-handed. And the screenplay--don't even get me started! Contrived. Ridiculously, over-the-top contrived. It's a movie that's rentable, I guess, and I know that less cynical people will enjoy it. I just wish it had been a better film.

Then again, what do I know?