The Union is in a State of divisiveness

President George W. Bush’s annual State of the Union address, delivered Tuesday, was a… President George W. Bush’s annual State of the Union address, delivered Tuesday, was a shining example of the divisive policies of the administration thus far.

Just watching the speech on television demonstrated the partisan line drawn in the sand – at many points throughout the speech, half the chamber stood up and applauded, while the other half remained seated, grudgingly clapping or shaking their heads in disbelief.

A particularly poignant occurrence in the great applause divide occurred when Bush mentioned the USA PATRIOT Act. He said that key provisions of the act are set to expire this year. Cue Democrats to stand and applaud vigorously. Bush then finished the thought, saying that the act needed to be renewed. Cue Republicans to cheer.

It’s distressing to see such obvious distaste between the parties, and even more disturbing to see the President making no attempt to repair the rift. In addressing tax cuts, five sentences began with “unless you act.” The rhetoric of division and blame was made quite clear.

It was interesting to note that Bush never mentioned his controversial plan to put humans back on the moon and eventually Mars. For the President to gloss over such an important issue while devoting time to such innocuous issues as a letter from a ten-year-old girl and being against steroids was disappointing.

The President made it clear that he is willing to take the drastic step toward amending the Constitution to prevent homosexual marriage from ever being recognized, pointing his finger at “activist judges” taking initiative on the issue and redefining marriage through court order.

The Supreme Court is part of the system of checks and balances, an important tenet of democracy as we know it. If the justices disagree with the President, it is their duty to speak up and keep one person’s ideas from becoming law without taking an objective look at the law as defined in the Constitution.

A large part of Bush’s speech was devoted to congratulating himself on achieving his stated goals, which, in fairness, he has. If the President could devote even a modicum of his considerable effectiveness to creating bipartisanship and harmony, the result could be one of the greatest presidencies in history.

Instead, the atmosphere in the chambers of the House was a microcosm of the nation and the world. Division and an “us vs. them” mentality are the order of the day in America, and the world at large, unfortunately.