What were your reactions to President George W. Bush’s
State of the Union speech? Gabriel Valentin
Third-year, political science
“The president sent a very clear message of his intentions
for the year and I agree with what he said about Iraq posing a
threat to our country. It just solidified my beliefs that war is
inevitable and there does seem to be enough justification for me to
go to war right now. As far as his domestic agenda, I’m sold
and I think it’s great, but I’m not very sure about the
aid to Africa part. It seems that we should be more worried about
fixing the problems, like homelessness, within the United States
before extending our help to other countries. The most compelling
thing out of the speech was his push for alternative fuel sources
and the realization that we can’t be so dependent on other
countries. Overall, I have seen better speeches made by the
president, but the content of this mattered more than his
presentation.” Karisma Rodriguez
Second-year, English
“He wasn’t really speaking realistically and I
didn’t think his promises were feasible. I was angry
concerning the environmental part of the speech, because it was
obvious that he didn’t really care that much. When he
addressed the war, I felt he was being sanctimonious, using
arguments that sounded more like a good guy or bad guy approach to
the war, than actually addressing the reasons or benefits of it. He
claimed he wanted to save the Iraqi people from their oppressive
regime, but I don’t think a war that will kill millions will
do that. In short, it only reaffirmed my beliefs that
the war is fruitless. I thought he delivered it alright for a
speech he obviously didn’t write, but he didn’t seem
passionate about the issues or honest for that matter, which
completely turned me off to his proposals.” Thang Pham
Third-year, business economics
“I thought the war with Iraq would have been the first
issue the president addressed, but surprisingly it was the last. In
a way he did a really smart thing because he put the economy first
which I thought meant he still considers our economic growth to be
more important than all other external war matters. His statements
concerning the war seemed really general though, and I would have
liked it if he went into more detail. However, I was glad when he
announced that Colin Powell will be making more specific statements
involving the evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq soon
and I look forward to hearing that. Before and after the State of
the Union, it was still the same Bush for me. My feelings about his
leadership haven’t changed.” Ian Wolterstorff
Second-year, undeclared
“The speech was very similar to other State of the Union
speeches, but now there is a threat of war and President Bush has
to assume a position of power and a threatening appearance,
especially when addressing war with Iraq. However, after his speech
I found there is really a lack of reason for war and a lack of
respect for our foreign relations. I think this war has more
imperialistic intentions than the president was willing to admit in
his speech to the nation. Also, I noticed at the very end he
included religious innuendos, mentioning God, and I thought this
was inappropriate and a mixture of church and state. He assumed the
entire nation would associate with God and his influence. Still, I
thought this was one of the better speeches he has given since the
content was so important.” Karuna Karmarkar/Daily Bruin