State of the Union 2004

President George W. Bush delivered his State of the Union 2004 address to the Nation on January 20, 2004. It elicited the following responses.

Bush administration education reform

 * Greg Palast, "No Child's Behind Left - The New Educational Eugenics in George Bush's State of the Union", Common Dreams, January 22, 2004.

U.S. budget deficit / U.S. National Debt / U.S. economy / U.S. tax cuts

 * Mark Gongloff, The state of the Bush economy. In speech, Bush to tout stronger economy, promise jobs -- but also to raise controversial proposals, CNN "Money", January 20, 2004.
 * Jim Lobe, Busted Treasury Drains Bush Bravado, Inter Press Service, January 21, 2004.
 * Molly Ivins, My Fellow Americans, Syndicated, January 23, 2004.

War on Terrorism / nuclear weapons / preemptive war / weapons of mass destruction / Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom

 * The price of deceit, SunSpot.net, January 21, 2004.
 * State of the Union Abroad, New York Times Op-Ed, January 21, 2004.
 * Tim Harper, Bush touts terror threat. Insists plotters plan more attacks. Defends Iraq war in speech to nation, Toronto Star, January 21, 2004.
 * Mark Trevelyn, Bush Challenged on 'Safer America' Union Message, Reuters, January 21, 2004.
 * Haroon Siddiqi, "Bush Act Starts to Wear Thin", Common Dreams, January 22, 2004.
 * Frank Pellegrini, State of the Union: No Sugar-Coating. The President focused on the war and said it's just the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end, TIME.com, January 29, 2004 (edition).

U.S. unemployment / Jobs Growth in the U.S.

 * State of the Union Rhetoric vs. Reality: Job Training Proposal, Center for American Progress, January 20, 2004.
 * Bush Talks Job Training in Address, But Cuts Funds, Daily Mis-Lead / MisLeader.org, January 21, 2004.
 * Jennifer Barrett, 'A Serious Jobs Crisis'. In his State of the Union address, George W. Bush pledged to help Americans gain the skills they need to find work, but critics wonder where those jobs will come from, NewsWeek/MSNBC.com, January 21, 2004.
 * Editorial: State of the Union/It's not good, thanks to Bush, Star Tribune, January 21, 2004.

Health Care / HIV/AIDS

 * Bush's Record on the Global AIDS Epidemic : Bold Call to Action Seems Forgotten (State of the Union 2003), MisLeader.org.
 * AIDS Healthcare Foundation: President's State of the Union Speech Disappoints Longtime AIDS Advocates, globeinvestor, January 20, 2004.
 * Don McCanne, Comments on the Health Care Proposals in Bush's State of the Union Address, ZMag, January 22, 2004.

Human Rights

 * State of Human Rights in the Union 2004, Amnesty International.

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Bush administration (includes numerous links)
 * Bush/Republican Initiatives
 * election reform
 * gay rights
 * gun control
 * Homeland security
 * illegal immigration
 * immigration reform
 * media reform
 * Medicare
 * Operation Iraqi Freedom: Beginnings of a Quagmire
 * Patriot Act I
 * Patriot Act II
 * religion and empire
 * State of the Union 2003
 * State of the Union 2005
 * State of the Union 2006
 * State of the Union 2007
 * U.S. prescription drug system
 * U.S. Social Security
 * Veterans benefits
 * war on poverty

White House Links: President Bush's State of the Union Speech

 * White House State of the Union 2004 Home Page. Please note that the Speech itself is also available in both Arabic and Spanish.
 * Press Release: New Initiatives in President Bush's State of the Union Address, January 20, 2004.
 * State of the Union Fact Sheet.

Media Coverage

 * Bush previews State of the Union in radio talk. President says he will spur job and business gro, AP/MSNBC, January 17, 2004.
 * C-SPAN: State of the Union.
 * ABC News: State of the Union and Eyes on the Prize. State of the Union Speech Appears Aimed at the Election Year (Analysis by Lisa M. Todorovich), January 21, 2004.
 * Not His Dad's State of the Union, CBS News, January 21, 2004.
 * FOX News: State of the Union.
 * CNN: "Bush set to make case for second term. Aides say he will defend war in Iraq, oppose same-sex marriage," January 20, 2004.
 * USA Today: State of the Union.
 * Washington Post: State of the Union.
 * State of the Union Highlights, ohio.com, January 20, 2004.
 * State of the Union: "Bush launches US re-election bid", BBC/UK, January 21, 2004: "George W Bush has made a robust defence of his administration's record in his third State of the Union address since becoming US president."

Articles & Commentary

 * State of Our Union: A Reality Check to President Bush's Address, Moving Ideas: "Bush on: the Economy, the Deficit, Education, Immigration, Pre-emptive Foreign Policy, and Prescription Drugs.
 * State of the Union, Democratic National Committee.
 * Office of the Democratic Whip, Steny Hoyer.
 * Mike Lux, The Seven Statements You Won't -- But Should -- Hear During George W. Bush's State of the Union Address, BuzzFlash Commentary, January 20, 2004.
 * Terence Hunt, Bush Sets Re-Election Themes in Speech, myway, January 20, 2004.
 * Jan Schakowsky, "The Emperor Has No Clothes", BuzzFlash, January 21, 2004.
 * 'Bush's address was just smoke and mirrors', iol.co.za, January 21, 2004.
 * Atrios, Plagiarism in the SOTU, January 21, 2004.
 * Sean Loughlin, Bush warns of 'work unfinished'. Making the case for a second term, CNN, January 21, 2004: "Ten months before facing voters, President Bush used an upbeat State of the Union address Tuesday night to promote his stewardship of the nation at home and abroad and to call on Americans to stay the course."
 * David Corn, Bush's Defiant State of the Union, Capital Games, January 21, 2004.
 * What Bush Left Unsaid in State of the Union Address. Forget Weapons of Mass Destruction. Now its 'weapons of mass destruction-related program activities.', FactCheck.org, January 21, 2004.
 * David Cogswell, Bush's State of Insanity, davidcogswell.com, January 21, 2004: "He stands up there and lies about freeing Iraq, how successful it has all been, how America has no wish to dominate, no desire for empire, only to bring democracy and freedom to the rest of the world. Everything he says sounds great. It's layers upon layers of lies, so many lies it's hard to find a single bit of reality upon which to place a foot. But no one exposes the lies of the emperor. The media don't challenge his lies, don't bother to tell the truth. It's extremely depressing. This man has not the slightest inhibition about telling the largest lies imaginable, about deceiving his victims so that they become his supporters. ... Is that what you have to do to be a senator, sit and nod and applaud this bum all night while he tells outrageous lies?"
 * Fred Kaplan, Evasions, Half-Truths, and the State of the Union. Can we trust this year's speech?, Slate, January 21, 2004.
 * Behind the address. A reality check on what Bush said on key issues, USA Today, January 21, 2004.
 * Rahul Mahajan, State of the Union 2004. Myth and Reality, ZNet, January 21, 2004: "Disclaimer: The author in no way undertakes to assure that the examples of dishonesty presented below constitute an exhaustive list."
 * Susan Milligan and Bryan Bender, Bush used selective data in his address, critics say. Incomplete picture is alleged by some on Iraq and jobs, Boston Globe, January 22, 2004.
 * Phyllis Bennis, Talking Points -- The Speech, Institute for Policy Studies, January 22, 2004.
 * Jim Lobe, Bush Silence on Environment, AIDS Deplored, OneWorldNet, January 22, 2004.
 * David Sirota, Christy Harvey and Judd Legum, Progress Report: State of the Union, Center for American Progress, January 22, 2004.
 * The State of Bush's America Today, Center for American Progress, January 22, 2004.
 * Feeding Time at the Zoo, Berkshire Eagle, January 22, 2004: "President Bush's State of the Union speech looked like feeding time at the zoo, as the president tossed great bloody hunks of ideological meat to the religious conservatives who make up his political base. Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's political guru, is often quoted as saying the last election was as close as it was because four million conservative Christian voters stayed home. This time, Mr. Rove is leaving nothing to chance, with a foreign policy calculated to bring about the rapture sooner rather than later and domestic initiatives that would bring a smile to the lips of Elmer Gantry."
 * Tom Engelhardt, Words must be credible, Nation Institute, January 22, 2004: "'No one can now doubt the word of America' ... The speech, meant to obliterate those sixteen difficult little words of the previous year's speech and sweep the tussling Democrats offstage all at once, was promptly subjected to a morning-after wave of interpretation on TV, in the press, and in blog- and Internet-land as well. And, of course, everyone, including the (New York Times) editors, brought their baggage with them."
 * Stephen Zunes, Users Guide to the State of the Union, Guerilla News Network, January 22, 2004.
 * James Klurfeld, Big Lie Technique Will Catch Up With Bush, Newsday.com, January 22, 2004: Two big ones: "The first was the declaration that 'America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people.' ... The second lie is his assertion that he will narrow the budget deficit by half if we follow his program, even as he calls for making his tax cuts permanent. This is a bit like a pyromaniac claiming he can put out half the fire he started himself."
 * Richard Cohen, An Address Worthy of Enron, Washington Post, January 22, 2004: "But this year's State of the Union address, while not quite a lie, was clearly deceptive. ... The trouble is that just about everything Bush said a year ago has turned out not to be true. Yet Bush not only whistled past that particular graveyard, he acted as if he had been right all along."
 * George Lakoff, The Hidden State of the Union, AlterNet, January 22, 2004: "The speech, like most right-wing discourse these days, is in a kind of code, based on a moral system that not all Americans share. ... Lying below the 50-50 political schism in this country are two opposing worldviews. Each sees national politics through the lens of an idealized family, either a conservative strict-father family or a progressive nurturing parent family."
 * Charles Lambroschini, 'He has already lost his halo', The world reacts to the US president's address to his nation, Guardian/UK, January 23, 2004.
 * Janice Shaw Crouse, Domestic Homerun. The president stands alone in the 2004 race, National Review, January 23, 2004.
 * Don Williams, Bush throws new lies after old, Knox News, January 23, 2004: "Stripped of applause lines for mom's apple pie and the flag, [the SOU] was largely an attempt to bolster whoppers [Bush] uttered a year earlier, in the State of the Union address 2003. What was remarkable about that speech was not that Bush told a whopper when he said those 16 little words, 'The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.' ... The lie was in that word 'learned.' Colin L. Powell and others around Bush had already acknowledged that the British intelligence was not trustworthy on the subject. Still, this sly lie was unremarkable to anyone who's followed Bush's career."
 * Maynard, "Well, now we know his view on steroids. We already knew his position on the environment which he did not discuss."
 * Perspectives, NewsWeek/MSNBC.com, January 26, 2004 (edition): "'If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process. Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.'" -- President George W. Bush, implying in his State of the Union address that he would support a constitutional ban on gay marriage."

See State of the Union Quotes. See State of the Union Quotes, AP Wire.