The American Response to the Democrat Response

After reading the text of the Democrat response to the President's State of the Union Address as delivered by Senator Jim Webb, I was once again struck by how detatched from reality Democrats seem to be as it pertains to the economy and foreign policy. Let's let Webb's words speak for themselves:

When one looks at the health of our economy, it’s almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it’s nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.

Since when are companies required to fairly share the profits? I would remind Senator Webb that his party boasts some of the richest members of Congress, making far more than the average American on a daily basis, too, for doing far less. If Webb and his cohorts are concerned about the difference between the pay grades of CEOs and janitors, they could take the bold step of giving up their fortunes to help bring up the average workers' salaries.

But then that would mean they would actually do something other than complain.

Meanwhile, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the great economy. We're at record low unemployment, far lower than the "great Clinton economy" I might add. People are keeping more of what they earn, which helps the economy in numerous ways. And the country's manufacturing base has been shrinking for a while now because we've moved away from manufacturing and more into a service-based economy. That was happening before Bush was President, and nothing you can do will fix it after Bush leaves office.

Now, let's take on the Democrats' concerns about American foreign policy.

The war’s costs to our nation have been staggering. Financially. The damage to our reputation around the world. The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism. And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.

The Democrats have no business criticizing Bush's foreign policy, considering their last President empowered al Qaeda repeatedly with his ineffective handling of international terrorism. Not to mention, they gave China and North Korea green lights to do whatever they wanted without us doing anything about it. And let's not forget that if Clinton had held Saddam Hussein accountable to the terms of the 1991 UN cease fire he signed to end the first Gulf War, there wouldn't have been the need for a second Gulf War.

But at least the rest of the world was our friends, right? Not so much. They loved Bill Clinton for being so willing to try to please them, but that didn't make them our friends. It made them our masters.

The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq’s cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.

Okay, let me get this straight. The current plan is faulty, but we should use it along with an as-yet undefined Democrat strategy to forge a new plan? Sorry, Senator, but I don't buy it. Your party has advanced the notion that we should just pull up stakes and leave Iraq to fend for itself. That in and of itself would be a new direction: reverse. If we leave before Iraq is secure, we leave it open for other Middle Eastern countries, like Iran, to sweep in and take it over. Then, we will be left with twice the problems we have now.

So, you'll excuse me if I don't think your party's ideas are worth that much, Senator. They've been discredited time and time again by history, but you insist that they'll work this time. Let me save you, and us, a lot of trouble and give away the ending.

Your party's ideas will fail and leave us weaker as a result.

That's not American, Senator. And I will not stand for it.