By Jack Neworth

On Tuesday, President George W. Bush gave his State of the Union.

Here’s a summary: Cut deficit 50 percent in five years. Standing ovation. (Record deficit from inherited record surplus.) Yada yada yada. More standing ovation. Bush graciously acknowledges Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House, replacing Dennis Hastert. (I always suspected Hastert and Cheney snuck in chicken wings during these speeches.) Ends with “God bless America.”

I admit I may not have a completely open mind when it comes to George Bush. After six years, I can’t help it. My attitude is like the old Amos ‘n’ Andy TV show, the episode where the Kingfish desperately needs $800. He reads a cereal box that says satisfaction is guaranteed or double your money back. He calls the store and orders $400 worth of Krispy Jacks, “And I’m tellin’ you now, I ain’t gonna like ‘em!”

The Iraq war was not only immoral, but possibly the worst strategic mistake in our country’s history. (Other than that, it’s been fine.) On Tuesday, Bush didn’t mention Iraq until the 3,200th word mark: “It isn’t the war we entered, but it’s the war we’ve got.” He’s right. There wasn’t a terrorism problem in Iraq until we showed up. Now it’s a terror laboratory.

In the Democratic rebuttal, Senator Webb said Bush took us into this war recklessly and now we are held hostage to it. In Vietnam, Webb was a hero, Bush’s reserve unit was known as the “Champagne Corps” and Cheney had “other priorities.”

On 9/11, after Bush was told the country was under attack, he sat in that classroom, frozen for seven minutes. Bill Maher joked that’s how long it took for his underwear to dry. Bush’s face looked like, “Daddy, help me!” But even worse was a pre-Katrina teleconference meeting with top FEMA types and meteorologists warning this would be the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. George didn’t ask a question or make a comment. He fidgeted like a school kid waiting for the recess bell. Bill Clinton could have had sex with two interns and still grilled the experts and demanded contingency plans. George looked like he’d rather be riding his bike or clearing brush at Crawford.

Curiously, he didn’t mention New Orleans in Tuesday’s speech.

What have we learned from past Bush State of the Unions? (Other than he still can’t pronounce “nuclear.”) In 2003, we were told that Iraq tried to buy significant quantities of uranium in Africa. Bush said his comment had been based on “darn good intelligence,” which sounds like another version of “Brownie, you’re doin’ a heckuva job.”

At one State of the Union, Bush introduced activist Safia Taleb al-Suhail, whose father had been assassinated by Saddam Hussein. Signifying her recent vote, she held her still-purple fingers aloft in a trembling peace sign. She now says women had more rights under Saddam’s rule ... not to mention electricity and water.

In 1995, President Clinton sent former Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara to Vietnam to meet with his Vietnamese counterpart. In the documentary, “The Fog of War,” a tearful MacNamara recalled that his Vietnamese counterpart pointed out that China and Vietnam had been enemies for more than 1,000 years, asking, “Don’t you Americans ever read a history book?” If Bush did, when Colin Powell warned invading Iraq would be opening the gates of hell, he might have known the Sunnis and Shias have been fighting for 1,400 years. Then again, he might have been thinking about clearing brush.

I’ve been against the war since Colin Powell’s proof at the U.N. of WMDs and mobile weapons labs was essentially an etch-a-sketch. We’ve heard freedom is on the march, as the Iraqis stand up, we’ll stand down, and the insurgents are in the last throes. None of it passed the stink test. Because of my views, I’ve been called a partisan, unpatriotic and told to move to Russia, which seemed a little dated. (Why is it when you disagree with a right-winger they tell you to move?)

I can’t forgive Bush for this war. (Nor could I support a candidate who doesn’t recant their vote for it, Hillary included.) On Sept. 12, 2001, there were candlelight vigils in Berlin, Paris, Moscow, and even one million people in Tehran with signs, “We too are Americans.” George squandered that good will, along with thousands of lives and a trillion dollars. He’s ignored the November elections and the Iraq Study group. And now he’s sending 21,500 more young Americans into a civil war with bull’s eyes on their backs.

Some say George Bush, being arrogant and stubborn, is his own worst enemy. Borrowing a joke from Groucho Marx, “Not as long as I’m alive, he’s not.”

Jack Neworth can be reached at Jackneworth2003@aol.com.