On Capitol Hill Tuesday night, President George W. Bush rose before Congress to say the state of the Union is ‘confident and strong.’ On the Syracuse University Hill, students and faculty who heard the speech reacted with mixed amounts of confidence in Bush and strong emotions on both ends of the political spectrum.

Bush spent the bulk of his fourth State of the Union address discussing the war on terror, the rebuilding in Iraq, the economy and education, four hot-button issues in the upcoming presidential election.

After reminding the legislators that some parts of the USA PATRIOT Act anti-terror bill are about to expire, a fact that was met with pre-emptive applause from some in the House Chamber, Bush urged Congress to renew the bill to continue the fight against terror.

‘Our law enforcement needs this vital legislation to protect our citizens,’ he said. ‘You need to renew the Patriot Act.’

Meeting head-on the charges that the United States embarked on the war and subsequent rebuilding in Iraq without international support, Bush named the 17 countries that back the effort to reshape Iraq. He also put aside accusations of U.S. imperialism and reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to bringing democracy to the Middle East, asking Congress to double funding for the National Endowment for Democracy.

‘We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire,’ he said. ‘Our aim is a democratic peace, a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman.’

Bush took a similarly-upbeat tone on the state of the nation’s economy, saying, ‘productivity is high, and jobs are on the rise.’ He urged Congress to renew the tax cuts passed with last year’s stimulus package to spur further job growth. Bush also packaged several new education initiatives with benefits for college students with his economic talk, promising larger college grants for students who challenge themselves in high school and better funding for community colleges.

Even as Bush was promising financial aid for college students, he was drawing outrage from some SU students.

‘He was basically just kissing everyone’s ass in that room,’ said Mike Beilinson, a sophomore television, radio and film major. ‘It was kind of disgusting, actually.’

Sophomore political science major Meg Koskovich elaborated on Beilinson’s general sentiment, saying she doesn’t believe Bush is leading the country in the right direction. While she agrees that much progress has been made towards stimulating the sagging economy, she believes the United States still has a ways to go on that front.

‘I don’t agree with a lot of what [Bush] says,’ Koskovich said. ‘Overall, I think there is a lot of work to be done.’

Criticism from left-of-center students was rivaled by the enthusiasm of at least one GOP supporter on campus. Ryan Colombo, president of SU’s College Republicans, had high praises for the speech.

‘It was the best State of the Union address I have ever seen or read a transcript of,’ Colombo said.

Colombo lauded Bush’s health care plan and financial help for higher education, but would have liked to see him draw a stronger link between the war in Iraq and Lybian dictator Moammar Gadgafi’s decision to abandon the country’s weapons of mass destruction plans. One of the war’s chief benefits was that it discouraged other dictators from threatening the United States, Colombo said.

‘You don’t hit a bully just to hit him,’ he said. ‘You want to hit him so you don’t have to hit any other bullies.’

Political science professor Jeffery Stonecash said it will be interesting to see how the public reaction to the address shapes up.

‘I think it was a really political speech,’ Stonecash said. ‘He didn’t do much that was conciliatory.’

Published on January 20, 2004 at 12:00 pm