Little applause for Bush’s speech

Re “Bush seeks compromise, except on Iraq strategy,” Jan. 24

In his State of the Union address, President Bush made clear that he still considers cooperation to be a one-way street. He asked the Democratic-controlled Congress to cooperate with him on his agenda while offering little cooperation on its agenda.

He also spoke against “earmarks” as if the idea were coming from him, failing to mention that Congress has already passed such legislation.

The good news is that the people have become wise to Bush’s deceptions. Only a diminishing minority will fall for his rhetoric now.

DAVID HOLLAND

Northridge

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Bush tossed out some domestic platitudes on energy and healthcare, but I am not waiting for a decent plan to be offered to Congress.

If his energy plan is as good as the No Child Left Behind Act, we should expect the lights to go out before 2008.

What I heard repeatedly was “9/11” and “Al Qaeda.” We aren’t buying it anymore. More Americans have been killed in the Iraq war than on Sept. 11, so he should stop saying that he is protecting us.

He and his contractors are looting our treasury while skimping on our troops, both in the field and in the veterans’ hospitals, where thousands have returned with their wounds. If this does not frighten you, then our American experiment is truly near its end.

RICHARD GILLOCK

Costa Mesa

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I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when Bush, referring to the war on warfare (I’m sorry -- the war on terror), said that “every one of us” wants it to be “over and won.” He knows perfectly well how useful war is -- or at least his advisors do.

War is the most ancient method for keeping one’s people scared, unquestioning and obedient, and it is highly profitable for people who make weapons and produce oil -- such as, say, the administration’s closest buddies.

It was a historically brilliant act for Bush to declare a global war that he and his successors can extend for as long as bombings and kidnappings exist -- if we let them.

Do you see why there’s no timetable on Iraq or on the global war? These guys would lose their power.

DAVID MEADOW

Los Angeles

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Bush is like an elephant that, after wildly stomping through a china shop, proclaims, “We must be careful lest we break valuable pottery!”

He recklessly spent the surplus left by President Clinton and then says we need to balance the budget. He recklessly destabilized the Middle East and then tells us the importance of peace in the Middle East.

DWANE CHRISTENSEN

Altadena

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Bush proclaimed that doctors and healthcare professionals should make the decisions when it comes to patient care. This is in direct opposition to his actions when he boarded Air Force One late one night in Texas and flew to Washington to sign legislation preventing a doctor from caring for Terri Schiavo and making a sound medical decision.

Most of the president’s speech contradicted his actions in office. His State of the Union address was another example of lies and propaganda from the most corrupt administration in modern history.

LARRY WHITE

Klamath Falls, Ore.

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Bush’s healthcare proposal would fail to cover many people, including those who are not employed. And why should insurance companies be involved to take their cut? Why not simply have a single-payer system, as Canada does? It costs less than our haphazard system, and it also covers all people.

Oh, yes, the insurance companies wouldn’t like it.

KARL RUPPENTHAL

Berkeley