01/24/07 Socialist Group Throws Party, But Finds Little To Celebrate In State Of The Union Speech
Socialist Group Throws Party, But Finds Little To Celebrate In State Of The Union Speech
The Capital Times
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
By Katjusa Cisar Special
It was just after 7 p.m. when organizers from the International Socialist Organization came into the Stiftskeller at Memorial Union to prepare for President Bush's State of the Union speech.
Paul Pryse filled a beer pitcher with colorful party horn blowers to pass out around the room for "whenever (Bush) said something stupid." But the horns malfunctioned and wouldn't honk, so his plan was quickly abandoned.
Horns weren't needed anyway, since the roughly three dozen students (mostly male) watching Bush's address in the Stiftskeller loudly vocalized their distaste for the president. Boos and hisses welcomed his entrance on MSNBC. The crowd's commentary -- some of it obscene and beer-soaked -- ran like a peanut gallery laugh track throughout his speech.
When Bush boasted having increased the number of jobs around the country, one veteran shouted out, "I know; I've got three of them!"
After the president finished his speech, the snickering and jokes died down and the audience turned more reflective.
UW-Madison senior Todd Dennis said he was pleased by Bush's proposal to raise fuel-economy standards for vehicles, but "it's not enough."
The war in Iraq ranks high to Dennis and his friend Ben Ratliffe. Both men are Navy veterans and say Bush is wasting too much money on the defense budget. Instead, they would like to see more funds go to the GI Bill, to medical support for veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and to testing veterans for brain damage caused by roadside bombs.
"It's interesting that they chose a soldier who didn't have any visible injuries," said Dennis of the injured soldier Bush honored during his speech. "There are hundreds out there who've had amputations."
Dennis and Ratliffe were stationed in Iraq in the mid- to late '90s. Looking back on that time, they say they now see how the seeds for today's problems in Iraq were planted.
"Iraq never stopped being a war zone," Ratliffe said.
Socialist organizer and civil engineering major Chris Dols said he counted the number of times the Democrats stood up during the speech, which he estimated at 15 to 20 times, adding, "Anyone who purports to represent me shouldn't give George Bush a standing ovation. They all stood up when he was scapegoating immigrants."
James Kimble, a senior philosophy major, was surprised by Bush's announcement of a plan to add 92,000 troops over the next five years.
"That was new," he said, "That's almost a second army."
Freshman Bob Spoerl of New Berlin left the Stiftskeller early to go watch the address in his dorm room in Witte Hall. Most people his age "don't even know it's on tonight," he said. Students "should watch this and practice democracy. It's essential we hear the words from (Bush's) mouth. Granted, they're probably fed to him."
The students' critical views matched the analysis of some of their professors, who praised the rhetoric but not the content of the speech.
UW-Madison Communications Professor Stephen Lucas, who studies political rhetoric, said it is ironic that when Bush "was least articulate, he was most popular. Now that his popularity is down, he's simply better at speaking."
Lucas praised Bush's tribute to Nancy Pelosi, saying "it was an historic moment. The swagger was gone and replaced with a more conciliatory tone."
But Jennifer Loewenstein, associate director for the Middle East Studies Program at the UW, was "incredibly disappointed" by the president's speech. When Bush championed democratic developments in the Middle East, he never mentioned the recent "free and fair democratic elections" in the Palestinian territories where Hamas was elected.
"That was the elephant in the living room," she says. "We don't like Hamas, so we ignored a free and fair election. All his pleas and cries for democracy in the Middle East are insincere."