THERE CAN BE few better examples of a misnomer than the words 'State of the Union' for the annual address that United States President George W. Bush made to the US Congress on Wednesday.
You would think it an occasion on which he would gather his advisers for a diagnosis of the health of the US economy and a review of the operations of the government he heads. This might, however, require a few intellectual challenges and, as we now know, the White House warmonger preferred to talk about bombing Iraq.
It all goes to confirm Benjamin Franklin's dictum that a standing army, like a standing p*** (you may fill in the blanks), is an aid to domestic bliss but a temptation to foreign ventures. The bit in commas is usually omitted these days when Ben Franklin's sage advice against maintaining a big military establishment is quoted.
But if Mr Bush chose to devote his remarks mostly to his dim understanding of the state of the world outside of the union, let me take this opportunity to point out a salient feature of irresponsibility on his part within that union, one that reflects directly on his domestic record.
The first chart shows you the history of the US federal government's annual fiscal balance over the past 10 years. We start off at the left of the chart with president Bill Clinton taking office and a deficit that over the previous 12 months had totalled US$281 billion. Under Mr Clinton's presidency the deficit was then steadily reduced. By the end of 1997 the federal government's fiscal operations were in balance and, by January 2000 when he handed over to Mr Bush, he had actually achieved a surplus of US$269 billion a year.
Within three months, about as short a time as any new president has been able to undo his predecessor's achievements, Mr Bush set to his task of unravelling the good work and in this he soon attained a signal success.