State of Union editorial dodged responsibility

The Spectrum recently mocked the President's State of the Union address ("Cold turkey, lame duck," Feb. 1). Now, I'm only a lukewarm defender of Bush, recognizing that his speech is inarticulate, his grades were not spectacular (still better than John Kerry's), but I must still, as a friend of mine would say, defend "ma boy."

The Spectrum complained about a lack of WMD's in Iraq, but I would point readers to Georges Sada's book "Saddam's Secrets" which indicates Saddam planned a chemical attack on Israel, and moved WMD before the U.S. invasion. My next bone is the sarcasm when mentioning President Bush's comments about how we are 'winning' the war. The writers must, therefore, believe we are losing. But let's get a perspective on some real war losers: France and Poland both lost to Germany in WWII, and they faced occupation. What has the United States 'lost' in Iraq? 2,400 to 2,600 casualties. What have they gained? Occupation of a true losing nation. And then there's nearly 30,000 insurgents, taking a ruthless dictator off the throne of his nation and holding him trial in it. No one would guess now, thanks to the United States, that Saddam totally controlled every part of his nation and used his own citizens to test chemical weapons. Impressive, without mentioning free elections and upgrading the Iraqi security forces.

Bush also warned Hamas to leave Israel in peace, but The Spectrum merely pointed to Middle Eastern nations who don't have elections and whom the president is friendly to, asking if he would take the same stern tone with them. I say Hamas is the only one of the groups mentioned who has vowed to destroy our ally, Israel.

Finally, The Spectrum liberals pick at "No Child Left Behind," admitting that while scores have risen since its enactment, dropout rates have skyrocketed. When will Democrats and liberals take some blame themselves instead of placing it on everyone else? Last time I checked, it was the duty of the parents to instill the value of an education, and give them the discipline to endure and succeed in school. The government is not responsible for hand-feeding morals to each individual citizen and can't stop a kid from dropping if they want to.