From Hank in NYC:

Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 8:12 AM
To: 'oped@washpost.com'
Subject: To The Editor

“What He Could Have Said”

“Madam Speaker, members of Congress, and fellow citizens, the State of the Union is not good. I first want to say that everything I’ve done over the past seven years has come out of my deep love of our great country. But I truly want to apologize to the families and friends of all the brave young men and women who gave life and limb for my ill-advised war in Iraq. I ordered U.S. forces into that country based on the best intelligence we had at the time, but in retrospect it was a terrible mistake. I will work with the Congress in my final year to prepare to disengage from Iraq at the earliest possible time. I also regret squandering the surplus I inherited from the Clinton administration, and the deficits my administration has run up fighting the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If I had it to do over again I would have kept up the search for Bin Laden in Tora Bora and made sure the Taliban and Al Qaeda were completely destroyed. That would have made the world a safer place. I have not kept the promises I made from Jackson Square in New Orleans to the people of the Gulf Coast after Katrina, and for that I am deeply sorry. I regret appointing my loyal friends to key posts in my administration for which they were not qualified. I realize now that these appointments have caused great problems and that I could have done better. I should have recognized the problem of Global Warming and used my position as leader of the free world to rally an American, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian coalition of the willing to establish a mandatory cap on carbon emissions as recommended by Al Gore. One of my deepest regrets is that I did little to provide quality, affordable healthcare to almost fifty million people in America, and my vetoes of the Child Healthcare bill were shameful. I ask the Congress to resend me that legislation and I will sign it forthwith. But of all the things I’m sorry for, and wish I had not done, listening to the Vice President has been my greatest failure. I abrogated my Constitutional responsibility and in so doing broke my oath to uphold and defend our great Constitution. I have been arrogant, defiant and disdainful of the will of the American people. As I prepare for my final year in office I will do everything in my power to right the wrongs I have done, and ask all of you for your understanding and forgiveness. God bless you, and God bless America.”