President Bush and our interpretation of a "human-animal hybrid" Credit: Dept. of Defense photo by Tech. Sgt. Cedric H. Rudisill, U.S. Air Force.
Tuesday night, January 31, 2006, President George W. Bush delivered his 6th State of the Union address to the assembled members of Congress, the justices of the Supreme Court and invited guests. From couches in their respective living rooms, Seed's web editor Christopher Mims, assistant web editor Nikhil Swaminathan and Dave Munger, blogger from "Cognitive Daily," a member of the growing ScienceBlogs community, entered an instant messaging chat room to respond to the science component of Bush's new agenda as he laid it out.
Below is a copy of the relevant portions of President Bush's address with annotations to some of the more interesting exchanges between the live-chatters. (Please bear in mind that science-related content did not appear until 20 minutes into the speech, including breaks for clapping. A complete transcript of the speech is available here.) For the most part, the dialogue is preserved in its raw, unedited form:
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To overcome dangers in our world, we must also take the offensive by encouraging economic progress, and fighting disease, and spreading hope in hopeless lands. Isolationism would not only tie our hands in fighting enemies, it would keep us from helping our friends in desperate need. We show compassion abroad because Americans believe in the God-given dignity and worth of a villager with HIV/AIDS, or an infant with malaria, or a refugee fleeing genocide, or a young girl sold into slavery. We also show compassion abroad because regions overwhelmed by poverty, corruption, and despair are sources of terrorism, and organized crime, and human trafficking, and the drug trade. [See the chat]
In recent years, you and I have taken unprecedented action to fight AIDS and malaria, expand the education of girls, and reward developing nations that are moving forward with economic and political reform. For people everywhere, the United States is a partner for a better life. Short-changing these efforts would increase the suffering and chaos of our world, undercut our long-term security, and dull the conscience of our country. I urge members of Congress to serve the interests of America by showing the compassion of America.
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Keeping America competitive requires affordable health care. (Applause.) Our government has a responsibility to provide health care for the poor and the elderly, and we are meeting that responsibility. (Applause.) For all Americans -- for all Americans, we must confront the rising cost of care, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, and help people afford the insurance coverage they need. (Applause.) [See the chat]
We will make wider use of electronic records and other health information technology, to help control costs and reduce dangerous medical errors. We will strengthen health savings accounts -- making sure individuals and small business employees can buy insurance with the same advantages that people working for big businesses now get. (Applause.) We will do more to make this coverage portable, so workers can switch jobs without having to worry about losing their health insurance. (Applause.) And because lawsuits are driving many good doctors out of practice -- leaving women in nearly 1,500 American counties without a single OB/GYN -- I ask the Congress to pass medical liability reform this year. (Applause.)