TheHill.com – Clinton, Obama steal Bush’s final show

“After his speech, Bush sought out Kennedy, his former partner in education reform, to exchange greetings. He also shook Obama’s hand and said hello in typical Bush fashion: “Hey buddy, how’s it going,” he said, according to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who also sat next to Obama for the speech.”
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ConservativesBetrayed.com: Let the lame duck fly! By Jeffrey A. Rendall

A seemingly calm and relieved George W. Bush made his final trip down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol to deliver his final State of the Union speech on Monday night, and there was one thing that everyone in the House chamber could probably agree upon – they were glad this was the last one.

There was no sentiment, no long, drawn out ovations, no calls of ‘four more years,’ no urgent push to amend the Constitution to somehow keep this man in power.

George W. Bush has exhausted the nation with his presence. He’s alienated his conservative base, isolated the executive branch from the rest of government, wore out his welcome with the citizenry and made a mockery of the constitution’s separation of powers.

Bush came to Washington on a set of assumptions, few of which ever came true – he was supposed to fight for a more Reagan-esque conservative set of ideals, and instead we got warmed over cooperation with Democrats in expanding the welfare state, a war that we started (Iraq) and can’t seem to end, and a conservative movement that’s so fractured that we’re having a difficult time selecting a successor to Bush.

No wonder there’s such Bush fatigue – and it’s not just on the faces of the Democrats.
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Richard A. Viguerie, issued the following statement regarding President Bush’s policy announced in the State of the Union address regarding earmarks in appropriations bills:

“Instead of killing the earmarks in last year’s huge omnibus appropriations bill, President Bush will leave in place all of the 11,735 earmarks, totaling $16.9 billion.

“And instead of saying that he would veto any bill containing earmarks, Bush said he would veto legislation that did not reduce the earmarks by 50 percent.

“Whoop-de-doo.

“President Reagan vetoed the Highway Bill in 1987 because it contained 121 earmarks. But President Bush has given the go-ahead to 5,867 earmarks–half the current number. Obviously, the Republican team in the White House and Congress has abandoned all pretense of governing as fiscal conservatives.

“President Bush came into office sounding like a conservative Republican. He is leaving sounding like a liberal Democrat. Bush seems disinterested in the future of the GOP, as it drifts without leadership and is in danger of imploding. [mjh: Damn, Duhbya did one good thing, after all!]