“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
“..A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: “This way of settling differences is not just.” This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. “
“America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Medical savings accounts, so-called “Tort Reform,” more “No Child Left Behind,” No Tax increases on the rich, and tough talk on balancing the budget will not improve the state of our Union. It will deepen the chasm between the wealthy and the impoverished. He has offered no solutions of import on the most pressing domestic issues of today and is simply out of gas.
His snake oil regarding our energy dependance on foreign oil is also nonsense. I thought that is what we went to Iraq for. It apparently ain’t working out. His troop surge will fail and leave the situation worse off and our national security and that of the Iraqis imperiled.
In summation, the State of the Union is Poor and getting poorer. Talking up the economy is not going to make my ends meet any better. 9/11 bromides ain’t gonna pursuade me either. Wages are not growing and state budgets and that of the Federal government have been squeezed by bad policy and rank ignorance.
America can do better than George W. Bush. Following his lead only advances the spiritual death of our nation and ignores the values upon which our liberty depends.
On a personal note, his recognition of Dikembe Mutumbo is as fraudulent as his foreign policy toward the continent of Africa. I fail to understand why our people allow themselves to be used as black props in Dubya’s racist stage play.
Skeptical Brotha 