Defiant Bush Gives Final State of the Union Address
The Bush Legacy: Death, Torture, Destruction, Recession, Deficits, Corruption, Perjury, Unsafe Borders, and Partisanship.
The Washington Post, Jan 29th, Peter Baker
Gone were the grand dreams of remaking Social Security, immigration law or the tax code. In their place were modest initiatives, such as hiring preferences for military spouses. The economic package targeted tax breaks to low- and middle-class workers. And the foreign policy stressed Middle East peacemaking and diplomacy with rogue nations.
President Bush took office with so much derision for the outgoing president that critics defined his attitude toward governing as ABC — “anything but Clinton.” He would not play “small ball,” he declared, nor would he coddle North Korea or waste time mediating between the Israelis and Arabs. But as he delivered his final State of the Union address last night, Bush increasingly appeared to be adopting some of his predecessor’s approach.
Turning the corner into his last year in office with the nation already voting on who might succeed him, Bush is recalibrating what remains possible in a Congress controlled by the opposition and rethinking the most effective way to get what he wants on the international front. While aides insist he is not dwelling on his legacy, the “unfinished business” agenda he outlined seemed geared toward consolidating past achievements and focusing strategically on where he can win a few more.
“At some point, you realize you’re coming to the end of your time in office, and you’ve got to start making a determination what your legacy is going to be,” said Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.). “And some of the broader, sweeping things you wanted to do at the beginning simply aren’t going to be achieved.”
For a president who has always favored boldness, it amounts to a dramatic shift. Just a year ago, Bush in the same chamber defied the new Democratic majority with his decision to send more troops to Iraq and challenged lawmakers to overhaul the immigration system. The past year demonstrated that Congress could not force him to change course in Iraq, but neither could he bend it to his will in the domestic arena.
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