Bush's Rhetoric Splits House Chamber Between Throaty Roars and Stony Silen

[Pirate Smile]

Bush's Rhetoric Splits House Chamber Between Throaty Roars and Stony Silence
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 2, 2005; 11:18 PM

Pity the Republican moderates who sat in the chamber Wednesday night for President Bush's State of the Union address.

On issue after issue -- Social Security, gay marriage, energy, taxes and lawsuit restrictions -- Bush's rhetoric split the House chamber between the throaty roars of Republican conservatives and the stony silence and occasionally outright heckling of the Democrats. That left the small number of GOP moderates sprinkled among the Republicans with a difficult choice: Would they swallow their concerns and cheer for ideas they considered objectionable? Or would they sit on their hands when their president proposed policies they oppose?

In a clear warning to Bush, several of the moderates took the latter course, with subtle but unmistakable protests as the president spoke.

When Bush told the crowd that private Social Security accounts are the best way to improve the retirement system, most Republican lawmakers leapt to their feet. But a small band of moderates -- among Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Me.), Sen. Collins (R-Me.), Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) were slow to join the applause. As others felt the pressure to come to their feet, Snowe, who has said she would "certainly not" support Bush's proposal, remained seated without applauding. She smiled uncomfortably and recrossed her legs.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59093-2005Feb2.html

This is going to get interesting very quickly.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. kick

[bpilgrim]

41. State of the Union -----------------------> MP3

http://news.globalfreepress.com/mp3/bush/sotu-2005.mp3
(uploading now - will be complete 7:40 am 2-3-05)

peace

[saigon68]

43. LOOKED LIKE A HITLER YOUTH RALLY

Berlin 1937

[jazzjunkysue]

80. If the shoe fits...Sich heil!

[Rose Siding]

2. 'Democrats repeatedly called out "No! No! No!"'

snip> By that standard, the speech was unusually contentious even by recent standards. Democrats repeatedly called out "No! No! No!" when Bush portrayed the Social Security program as in crisis.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Is Frist a weenie or what?

snip> When Frist made his first appearance in the chamber, he let out a "Whooo!" and performed a little dance step as if he had just taken the field for a sporting event.

[jdj]

4. LOL, starting to look like Parliament more and more every day.

I rather like the idea of Bush being given the hard time they give Tony Blair every time Blair opens his mouth.

[adigal]

44. Blair can handle the heckling

Did you see bush's face when they heckled him and refused to applaud??? The boy king cannot handle anyone who does not give him the respect he absolutely demands from all of his subjects.

[tsuki]

46. Is this the first time a SOTU has been heckled? Does anyone

know?

[canichelouis]

82. 1995

Heard this on the radio today. Clinton was heckled. Did not catch the specifics. Anyone?????

[pokercat999]

57. Maybe a result of the "dry drunk" syndrome. N/T

[jazzjunkysue]

77. I didn't know Chimperors had feelings. Awwwww....

[Jawja]

52. Me, too!

I would love nothing more than to see the Dems stand up and give him hell during the SOTU. I'm tired of the so-called "diplomacy" when the GOP is running over the Dems like an elephant trudging through donkey shit.

It would do our Nation a great service if the Dems collectively started fighting back with a vengeance.

[Donailin]

84. Oh what I'd give to have a parliamentary style debate on the floor with

Bush having to answer to hecklers, but then, that would require him to debate without a script and WITH an opponent.

[Pirate Smile]

5. Such a dork. He will probably hire Rove for his 2008 because he is

going to have to smear both Hagel and McCain. I also wonder what they would have done or may do to Clark. Shameless.

I thought this part was interesting:

"When the president made his pitch for restrictions on medical malpractice lawsuits, virtually the entire Republican caucus joined a standing ovation. But Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has labeled Bush's proposal "one of the worst bills in Congress," was virtually alone on the Republican side in remaining seated. Spotting Graham in his seat, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) slapped his colleague on the shoulder in a playful reprimand. Graham only smiled.

Others made their own silent statements. When Bush opened his speech with praise for "a free and sovereign Iraq," the Republican side erupted and waved fingers stained with blue ink showing solidarity with Iraqis whose fingers were marked when they voted last week. But Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), struggled slowly to his feet and applauded half-heartedly; he has complained about a "whole host of mistakes" made by the administration in Iraq."

[last_texas_dem]

19. Lindsey Graham

Lyin' Lindsey has actually surprised me in a good way a couple times recently. Whenever I saw the SC Senate debates back in '02 I couldn't believe this guy was leading in the polls; I found his persona unbelievably grating. But it's good to see this guy, who could govern from the far-right if he chose, considering he represents one of the most conservative states in the union, being willing to stand up to * on a couple of major issues. I know, it's probably nothing much, but I guess it's just such a surprise to see any Repug (outside of a few from New England) willing to stand up to the Chimpster.

[Pirate Smile]

24. He supported McCain in 2000. The Repubs that did that seem to be more

independent. He, surprisingly, has turned out to be one of them. I would have never guessed that in 1998.

edit to add: However, McCain seems to have gone the other way, less maverick, more lap-dog.

[Vadem]

30. Lindsay also gave very pointed questioning to the witnesses

on the Abu Grahib(sp?)hearing. He is an adjutant general (lawyer for the army). I was very surprised to hear him give the Administration hell for the torture allegations at Abu Grahib and Gitmo.

[radiofreesrini]

90. i very much remember that

i couldn't believe that more Senators didn't share his outrage. davenport actually was pissed off about abu ghraib and gave the offending parties more shit than anyone else.

especially lieberman, who was totally pathetic.

-rfs

[NewYorkerfromMass]

61. Lindsey's Clinton impeachment trial testimony

I didn't like him at the time, and thought he was frothing along with the rest of the GOP congressmen, but I see from reading it now that as a lawyer he knew they didn't have a lot to work with, and Clinton would most likely be pardoned.

http://www.afn.org/~govern/graham.html

[Clark2008]

9. Frist is an educated idiot.

I should know. He's "my" senator (not that he's ever done one thing for me, which is why the "my" is in quotation marks).

:(

[pacalo]

73. I read an interesting remark made by Frist recently...

"I can play hardball as well as anybody," he said, unprompted, at the end of a recent interview. "That's what I did, cut people's hearts out. On the other hand, I do it to cure them, to heal them, to make them better."

I agree: He may be educated to become a surgeon, but as you can see by his awkward, inappropriate rhetoric, he's actually an idiot.

[i miss america]

74. His bedside manners are apparently not his real strengths

[pacalo]

92. And if Frist should ever be run out of government service

to return to his first calling, it should give pause to anyone in the Tennessee area needing a heart transplant.

(:hi: i miss america! And thanks, again, for the link to the social security hearing. :))

[llmart]

37. I, of course, didn't waste my valuable time watching this asshole....

(I mean Bush - though Frist is an asshole too) but will the media replay Frist's antics over and over and over a la the Dean scream? I don't think so. It's perfectly acceptable to the mediawhores when a Repug does something like this.

[renaissanceguy]

55. We would've kicked their asses if they didn't.

Social security was the idea of a DEMOCRAT. They'd be foolish if they went against FDR's principles!

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14744291

[Carolab]

89. Faux edited out the boos, or so they said on Franken's show this a.m. n/t

[stevedeshazer]

3. SS "reform" is DEAD

<snip>

When Bush told the crowd that private Social Security accounts are the best way to improve the retirement system, most Republican lawmakers leapt to their feet. But a small band of moderates -- among Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Me.), Sen. Collins (R-Me.), Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) were slow to join the applause. As others felt the pressure to come to their feet, Snowe, who has said she would "certainly not" support Bush's proposal, remained seated without applauding. She smiled uncomfortably and recrossed her legs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
They don't have the votes.

[BayCityProgressive]

7. Not yet at least

but don't underestimate them. I am sure it will be dangerously close. If they don't have the votes, they will just use gay marriage , aboriton, and race baiting to knock off a few more southern Dems and then they will get what they want.

[stevedeshazer]

8. Dead for now

Gays, guns, and God may do it in 2006.

[Edgewater_Joe]

10. Can Gays, Guns & Gods Compete Against Gran'pappy & Gran'ma?

I kinda doubt it, to be honest.

(Either that or I've seen too many GREEN ACRES and PETTICOAT JUNCTION episodes.)

[stevedeshazer]

12. I reckon it might

:)

All (most) of the people on those shows are off the SS rolls now.

The answer to your question is exactly what the issue boils down to.

[ProfessorGAC]

63. Huh?

What legislative action has the Bush administration accomplished? Aside from the useless Patriot Act, which Dems voted for in droves, due to their pandering to public fear, what major piece of legislation have these people coordinated?

They rely totally on the "play ball" attitude in Congress and if his own party has defections, then they're done.

Am i missing something you noticed?
The Professor

[iamjoy]

18. Club For Economic Growth Will Hit Them

at least, I think that group will go after those moderate (sensible) Republicans

[inslee08]

62. How so?

If 4 R's are against it, that leaves 51 for it.

Or am I missing something?

[deadparrot]

6. I almost feel sorry for them.

I only wish that a couple of them would come to their senses and switch to Dem or Independent, just to give the neocons a scare. It may not change the balance of power, but it'd send a mesage.

[Pirate Smile]

27. We need to stop playing "nice" because they are the "nice" Repubs.

We need those seats and we should go after the red Senators in Blue states even harder then the Repubs are going after our Blue Senators in red states.

Those "nice" repubs are a vote for Frist for Majority Leader so we continue to have a government that no longer has any checks and balances. No accountability for BushCo.

Santorum is only one seat. We need a lot more then that - Chafee and Snowe are both up in 2006.

[renaissanceguy]

56. Excellent point. n/t

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14744291

[loudsue]

70. Go after them with WHAT??? Guns?? They own the voting machines!

Unless we get the election system in this country straightened out, the republicans cannot be "voted out" .....EVER!! It will only get worse!

:kick::kick:

[Pirate Smile]

71. What is your plan? Should we give up? How about winning some

county clerk and SOS offices? Ideas?

[jazzjunkysue]

79. Amen, sista! Fix election fraud! (From one Sue to another)

[PartyPooper]

11. Sorry, I boycotted the "speech". I can no longer stomach Junior on TV.

I watched a James Bond movie instead!

:D

:hi:

[aikido15]

14. Me too, went to yoga class...

I can't stomach him either...I can barely stand to read the speech.:puke:

[Zhade]

17. Yeah, my DFA Meetup seemed like a more productive use of my time.

It was, too!

[calimary]

25. Did you go to the one in Culver City?

Damn - I missed it. Too much to do around here. My nights never seem to be my own.

[Zhade]

32. Yes indeed. My second DFA Meetup, in fact. I went to last month's in CC.

NT!

[jaysunb]

33. Pasadena meetup

was the Rx for that sorry SOU crap.
joined by 22 other non-koolaid drinkers.....

[xxqqqzme]

34. we had 55 @ the DFA

MeetUp in Costa Mesa.

[Rockerdem]

26. I watched Wake Forest beat Duke.

Instead of Jr. double dribbling.

[Just Me]

38. Yup. Me, too. Turned in early.

There are some things from which my mind deserves protection. Contrary to what Barbara my think, every human being deserves protection from psychological and physical violence.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

49. I cleaned my file cabinets

...and got the 5-cent recap from my husband, who has a stronger stomach than I.

[callous taoboy]

65. I re-folded all of my road maps. n/t

[lancdem]

67. I went to a college basketball game

Much, much better!

[Lautremont]

72. I watched 'Mad Doctor of Blood Island'

and only realized later that I may as well have been watching the dumb speech. But 'Mad Doctor' was much more entertaining, made more sense and featured a less insane protagonist.

[Politicub]

86. I didn't watch it either

I had hot gay protest sex instead. It was way more satisfying.

[BrklynLiberal]

13. Boos for the President!! hooray!

[gatorboy]

15. Someone help me with something....

Is it possible for the SS reform to go through a vote by the American people like the ban gay marriage amendment did?

[Sgent]

20. Nope

and keep in mind that a gay marrige amendment to the US Constitution doesn't get voted on by the people either (depending on the state). It just needs 2/3 in each house and 3/4 of the state legislatures.

[gatorboy]

22. So what was that gay marriage thing on the ballot this last election?

:shrug:

[baby_bear]

28. Those were independent state issues

As I recall, there were gay marriage issues (i.e., banning it) on 12 states and 11 of them passed. That might not be exactly right, but it's close if not.

The federal issue is one that would affect the whole country, regardless of state preference. So much for states' rights.

b_b

[Bill McBlueState]

64. state by state

It's up to the states at this point. People outside the northeast tend not to notice that thousands of gay weddings have taken place in Massachusetts since May 2004.

[fooj]

16. I figure anyone willing to support that evil little maniac must be

a full-on whack job! I don't think there's room for the "moderate" republican with these lunatics! They'd be better served to get the hell out while they still can! Peace!

[last_texas_dem]

21. There were heckling Dems?

I was listening to the speech more than watching it, and didn't know any Dems were doing any heckling. Perhaps what I thought were Repug "whoos" were actually Dem "boos"? If so, that's a little good news on an awful night like this.

[Straight Shooter]

23. They have NO RIGHT to ink their fingers if they didn't go to Iraq

Children. They're like children with no conscience, playing a perverted game of Simple Simon for the pleasure of licking the boots of a moron.

Cripes. Repub Congress critters are disgusting.

[glitch]

29. It's the same mentality as the purple heart band-aids, only slightly less

offensive. The echo chamber they live in must be roaring like a tornado for them to not see how creepy they look to others.

[Chomskyite]

87. That was Bobby Jindal's idea

He's an insufferable pro-privatizing, family-values Republican who got beat out for governor here in Louisiana by Kathleen Blanco. Unfortunately, he probably only lost because because he happens to be of East Indian ancestry and the bigots in the northern parishes simply couldn't vote for anyone with brown skin.

[daleo]

31. The snip of the article reads like Kremlinology used to.

Who's sitting where, who cheered loudest, who clapped, etc. Condi's Soviet Union expertise will come in handy interpreting her own administration and party.

[Radio_free_america]

35. Would we be at war with USA a day ?

I hope no.

But when I see Bu$h speeking of world diplomatie as interior politic, Two solutions : Give me the right to vote as an European (54th state) or we are going on a bad way.

He can't stop to be arrogant toward foreign nations.

[daleo]

75. The world has gone down this path before, many times.

A leader who doesn't care what other countries think, and will do whatever he and his countrymen think is right, to spread an ideology or religion. Often, it doesn't end well for anybody.

On edit: I am in Canada. If things go badly, the best we can hope for is the uneasy accomodation Finland had with the Soviet Union. At least as likely would be assimilation (like Austria with the Nazis) or outright invasion (like countless countries next to an out of control power).

[radfringe]

36. I stained my finger blue

but it turned red....

driving home yesterday -- I fiddled with the radio and caught a segment on the Neil Bortz show. He was pushing for repugs to stain their fingers blue to signify support for the Iraqi elections.

I couldn't help thinking "..which finger? and if I stained it blue would it turn red?"

Meanwhile -- bush* saw his shadow and that means 4 more years of war -- look out Iran and Syria -- there may be no plans ON bush*'s desk but you can bet they are on Rummy and Crashcart's desks

[Judi Lynn]

39. Never saw a President who had more reason to be humble

yet this creep seems downright proud of himself. What a silly, stupid man.

[Massachusetts]

45. That picture alone

Should MAKE AMERICAN VOTERS hang their heads in shame!:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:


:evilgrin: SEE YOU IN HELL georgie boy!

[renaissanceguy]

58. Well, of course. He's ordained by GOD.

It was fun hearing calls that came in to CSPAN after the MisState of the Union.

Two notable ones:
1) "God is on GWB's side."
2) "How dare the Democrats speak against him? He's our president, they should be supporting him no matter what."
and of course 3) "The Democrats lost. Get over it."

FASCISTS!

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14744291

[Merope215]

60. Wow

Has anyone ever seen Cheney and Dr. Evil in the same room??

[Megahurtz]

76. Yes, I've noticed that he

has a smug, snide, smartass smirk on his face constantly since the 2004 election.

Just like the fucking cat that ate the canary.:evilgrin:

What an evil man.

[LostinVA]

40. Good for Snowe AND the Dems

I wish they would act like the House of Commons or the Aussie Parliament. They are an OPPOSITION party, but the Repub's bitches. ACT like a true opposition party, dammit! Glad for the boos. Wish there was more. Hey, if Cheney can tell Leahy to F*ck off on the Senate floor, what's wrong with a little rabble rousing? Congress USED to be like that!

[sweetheart]

42. The screaming of the barbarian hoarde

The sound of those feral animals roaring only conjures up images of
a barbarian army of berserk warmongers.... and it makes me sick indeed,
that the constitution is hyjakked by men who should face summary
execution were there justice. The time will come, when justice
catches up. Keep the faith.

[bahrbearian]

66. Careful now , don't slam Barbearian's too hard,

we are useful in bringing down Empires.

[baron j]

47. finger licking bad

I prefer to lurk and read, but I must comment on the inked fingers. from reading posts elsewhere, i've gotten the impression that the reason they are emphasizing the inked fingers is that they are attempting to rewrite current history and convince people who haven't been paying attention that this war was started primarily to liberate the Iraqis, instead of the lies about wmd's and the al qaeda connection...cons are beating that war drum all over the web, in an effort to drown out the "I told you so's" about wmd's. They flood the message boards with lies about democrats and liberals being unhappy about Iraqis voting.

I think the Democrats should've worn tiny black Abu Ghraib triangular hoods on their fingers, at the SOTU address...

[eowyn_of_rohan]

50. Tiny black hoods on their fingers...lol

would have been about as childish but WAY more funny. Little finger puppet statements...Imagine the possibilities.

[annabanana]

51. You are absolutely right baron j

It's standard tactic for them to "deflect" from the main issue. Then they attack the character of whoever has raised an objection.

And, WELCOME to DU
:toast:

[Wind Dancer]

53. Great post!

Welcome to DU.

:hi:

[cmd]

54. You nailed it, baron j

They refuse to face reality, so they change their story. Welcome to DU. I'll look forward to reading more of your comments.

[DrZeeLit]

68. Excellent observations! And WELCOME to your end of lurking at DU! n/t

[Mountainman]

48. If the repub moderates work with the Dems, we could put Bush in a box

Let's see if the repub moderates have the courage and backbone to tell Bush no. Let's see if the Dems stick together.

Bush is too far right for this country's wellbeing and most in Congress know that.

If Bush has his way there will be all guns and no butter.

[renaissanceguy]

59. Funny how he talks about "protecting the children" against gays...

yet, when any logical human being analyzes the rest of his speech:

1) Only priveleged kids will be able to afford retirement.
2) DRAFT! Kids come home in coffins.
3) No jobs for the kids, everything middle- and working- class will be outsourced.

I remember a caller on CSPAN who said "Because of abortion, we lost a whole generation of workers who could have contributed to Social Security. It's because of abortion that social security is in a crisis!"

These people are HYSTERICAL.

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14744291

[UCLA Dem]

69. very interesting article.

i'm so disgusted i couldn't watch. even accidently hearing a sound bite from that jackass makes me ill let alone a whole speech.

[Hamsta1]

78. Before we dance in celebration

of the social security initiative getting shot down like a duck fleeing a camo-clad Cheney while Antonin Scalia strokes his barrel, we mustn't forget we're dealing with people just itching to push the button and "go nuclear". Watch for the "They made us do this. We are the majority" defense of the indefensible. Here is the main question I have because I'm not smart enough to know my trillions from my billions... How likely are they to end filibusters and when we retake the majority how can we effectively use this to our advantage?

[big peaches]

81. I Inked My Middle Finger and Proudly Held It UP!

"Our second great responsibility to our children and grandchildren is to honor and to pass along the values that sustain a free society. So many of my generation, after a long journey, have come home to family and faith, and are determined to bring up responsible, moral children . Government is not the source of these values, but government should never undermine them."

"Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be re-defined by activist judges. For the good of families, children, and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage."



And he has the gall to follow that statement with this one:

"Because a society is measured by how it treats the weak and vulnerable..."

And follow it a few moments later with...

"Because one of the deepest values of our country is compassion, we must never turn away from any citizen who feels isolated from the opportunities of America."



Stop the world. I want to get off.

[Kurovski]

83. Add Laura Bush to the list of "non-applauders"

when hubby George talked about "protecting marriage".

On C-SPAN there was a shot of Mrs. Bush looking somewhat stony while others around her applauded.

My guess is Laura knows better than anyone else that big G doesn't believe it. He's just whoring for the crackpot vote when he spews that dangerous crap.

Just speculation.

[Donailin]

85. I'd bet money she hates his stinkin guts.

She's a heavy smoker too. I know since he's been president, my nicotine habit has increased exponetially.

[cyclezealot]

88. I was pretty ticked with so many Democrats

going along with Bush's plan to wage war on the world...

[baron j]

91. little george horner

thanks everyone, for the warm welcomes, earlier..

it also occurred to me that the ink fingers represent the fact that bush and his supporters can count their accomplishments on one finger only, and a dubious accomplishment it is, so far.