President on the State of the Union

President Bush’s speech did not come to grips with the sad state of the union as perceived by the unemployed and by those who fear they may lose their jobs. President Bush seems to be as insulated from the victims of this depression as President Herbert Hoover was insulated from the problems and pains of the victims of the 1930s Depression. Neither President, and none of their family or friends, had ever experienced the personal insecurity and anguish of an unemployed father and a distraught mother who cannot properly feed, house, educate and care for their young children.

It is very sad for the state of the union that the probable Republican candidate for President, George Bush, is insensitive to the needs of the people, and the rag-tag disarray of Democrat aspirants for the presidency includes not one man who has the experience, competence or presidential bearing to give George Bush a serious run for the presidency.

It is sad, too, that the Congress seems to be a meandering, aimless, out-of-touch, leaderless body. The so-called state of the union speech was, in effect, a private conversation between Bush and Congress about business as usual, among “public servants” who have not yet felt the pinch of the depression.

ROBERT Q. CUNNINGHAM

San Marino