SOTU answers Iraq questions

President Bush waited more than thirty minutes into the SOTU to mention in the elephant in the room—Iraq. Probably a good oratory strategy since the “surge” and the President’s larger Iraq plan needed further explanation and I with anxious anticipation to hear a clear and honest account of the administration’s plan for Iraq. It was not worth the wait. President Bush added nothing to the discourse on Iraq. In fact, he only further muddled the situation.

Bush seems intent on viewing the world in black and white—he shows little interest in nuance even when the situation in Iraq obviously demands a sophisticated response. He seems not to understand the mess in Iraq and continues to insist that it is simply a battle between Good and Evil. In the SOTU Bush says "[t]he Shia and Sunni extremists are different faces of the same totalitarian threat.” "Whatever slogans they chant ... they have the same wicked purpose. They want to kill Americans, kill democracy in the Middle East and gain the weapons to kill on an even more horrific scale." The escalating violence in Iraq is more complicated than the armies of Freedom battling the forces of Tyranny. Does Bush really believe that the Shiites and Sunnis are the same? And that totalitarian best describes their sameness? Does he distinguish the small minority of al-Qaida in Iraq from Shiites and Sunnis?

I must conclude that the President does not fully comprehend the situation in Iraq and that he is unwilling to honestly examine the dire complexities of the war.

Teaching Evolution

Hypothetical: The state passes a law requiring high school teachers to teach creationism in biology classes. You are a science teacher trained in the best scientific knowledge, you are committed to teaching truthfully to your students, and you understand creationism to be unscientific. After refusing to teach creationism because of your commitment to truth and your dedication to teaching, your principal threatens to fire you if you do not teach creationism as the state law requires. What do you do?

Swearing

In his eulogy for Gerald Ford, President Bush said, "when he put his hand on his family Bible to take the presidential oath of office, he brought grace to a moment of great doubt." This comment was of course intended to draw attention to Representative the recent use of a Koran in a swearing in ceremony to the House of Representatives. This coded provocative language is unfortunate in a eulogy for a US president by a sitting president. The only explanation for the lack of diplomacy is that that Bush is trying to score points with those who would erode the wall of separation between church and state. Sad.

Day of Silence for housing

A “Day of Silence” is being held today, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, to protest federal funding cuts that will cripple public housing authorities across the U.S. Due to the ballooning federal deficit, federal funding for low-income housing has been cut drastically this year. While a permanent budget still has not been passed, there is no indication that any of those cuts will be rescinded. As a result, public housing authorities are being forced to make deep budget cuts, reduce staff and cut back on services. The long-term consequences are a reduction in the availability of housing for those who can least afford it, cuts in services that can help low-income families achieve self-sufficiency, and an increase in urban blight as existing properties are unable to be properly maintained and repaired.

The danger ahead for our nation’s poorest seniors and families is real. Housing authorities are considering a host of options to continue to finance housing operations. These include selling housing units, raising rents, eliminating social services and laying off thousands of people who provide those services to seniors and families. Today housing agencies are making ends meet with only 76.4 cents of every dollar appropriated with no relief in sight this budget cycle and dim prospects for the near future. Ultimately fewer poor families and senior citizens will be able to live in federally subsidized housing.

Today public policy and social action come together, as public housing authorities throughout the nation participate in a national "Day of Silence" in order to raise awareness of this funding crisis. For one day only, many housing authorities will not be answering phones or returning calls (except for emergencies). Instead, callers will get a voice mail message, telling them that public housing agencies around the nation are observing a national day of silence today in order to focus attention on the critical funding cuts proposed for the nation's public housing program. Such cuts will impact the ability of housing authorities to respond to calls for service. Callers will then be asked to contact members of Congress to ask them to support full funding for public housing and given the number for the US House of Representatives.