it is finished

Well that was fun.

I love how George started the speech off with 30 minutes of domestic policy-talk. You're honestly going to stand there with a straight face and tell us what a success No Child Left Behind was and right after discuss vouchers for private schools and refer to YOUR public schools as "failing." Now, how does that logic work exactly?

A very special moment for me was when the President of the United States suggested to those of us who find the tax cuts from the past 7 years unnecessary and quite honestly damaging to the US economy by saying we were welcome to send money to the IRS:

"Try explaining that to 116 million American taxpayers who will see their taxes rise by an average of $1,800. Others have said they would personally be happy to pay higher taxes. I welcome their enthusiasm. I am pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders."

I'm pretty sure the word "average" was used on purpose as the "average" American will actually only receive about $540 per year while the top 1% of taxpayers will receive about $30,000 per year.

Another personal fav was the continuing of the rhetoric in regards to Iran. Our own intelligence community has said Iran stopped their nuclear weapons program in 2003. Iran is not a threat.

I also love the whole Freedom Agenda thing. Yes, yes elections were held in Georgia! Ukraine! Lebanon! Afghanistan! Iraq! I'm surprised he failed to mention the Palestinian elections where Hamas solidly won. I mean, what a shining example of democracy! Unless, of course, you're shackled to Israel in which case it's best to just ignore the outcome of the legitimate democratic elections.

I always have respected (even I can't believe I just wrote that!) his take on immigration reform. I mean, aside from the whole "let's build a big wall along the border" thing. That's just stupid. But he does get it:

"Yet we also need to acknowledge that we will never fully secure our border until we create a lawful way for foreign workers to come here and support our economy."

A small confession: I started kind of getting bored a little over half way through and ended up zoning out and sketching instead of, well, listening. I perked up here:

"These horrific images serve as a grim reminder. The advance of liberty is opposed by terrorists and extremists -- evil men who despise freedom, despise America and aim to subject millions to their violent rule. Since 9/11, we have taken the fight to these terrorists and extremists. We will stay on the offense. We will keep up the pressure, and we will deliver justice to our enemies.
We are engaged in the defining ideological struggle of the 21st century. The terrorists oppose every principle of humanity and decency that we hold dear. Yet, in this war on terror, there is one thing we and our enemies agree on. In the long run, men and women who are free to determine their own destinies will reject terror and refuse to live in tyranny. And that is why the terrorists are fighting to deny this choice to the people in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories."

Because that language is just irresponsible and dangerous. It paints a black and white picture of a very gray reality. We are hated not because of democracy, but because we insist on "spreading" democracy to suit our economic ends. We are hated because we are occupiers. We are hated because we are the tyrants and have been for the past 40 years. It's so complicated and I actually can't honestly pretend to understand 90% of it. I do know that ideological wars can never be won. And tyranny will exist as long as humans exist.

Which is why I'm personally hoping for a mass extinction any day now.

I kid, I kid.

That's just January talking.