Misshapen Union 2008

While President Bush’s address to the nation on January 28 was informative and inspiring a recent google search has left me a little skeptical of our nations condition. In hoping to find the transcript for the 2008 State of the Union Address the first site that came up was “The State of the Union Address Drinking Game 2008.” Aside from the fact that the official website for the State of the Union Address was third on the list, I find it interesting how many of my classmates admitted to not even being aware that it had taken place. For those of you who fall into this category you can read the transcript here.

Nevertheless the rhetorical practices were at work the night of the 28th. It was an uplifting speech that spent time justifying the war in Iraq while putting a positive spin on the future of our economy as well as criticizing the congress for things the public loathes like tax hikes and loading up bills that will help Americans. Framing arguments for the war by using terminology like war on terror and describing Iraqis as jubilant and courageous due no doubt to our presence there.

In reading popular blogs I found that most people were unimpressed by President Bush’s Address while simultaneously agreeing that the state of our nation is relatively strong. While it is impossible to ignore the fact that someday the USA will no longer be the super-nation of the world it seems hard to see it on the horizon. College students often have a reputation for making intellectual complaints about politicians and the state of our nation while doing nothing to help enact change. My hope is that young people will seriously research the candidates for the upcoming election and make informed decisions when going to the polls.