In his response to the State of the Union, Sen. James Webb’s (D-VA) offered a harsh criticism of President Bush’s national security and economic policies. He said that Bush “recklessly” took the country into war with Iraq, ignored the advice of his top advisers, and is now holding the nation hostage in the war’s “predictable — and predicted — disarray.” Watch it:

Webb also compared the current situation of economic disparity in the United States to the era of when “robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth” and the “dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.” Like Theodore Roosevelt, Bush now needs to take the “right kind of action” for “the benefit of the American people.” Webb concluded, if Bush chooses a new direction, “we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.”

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“FOX News’s Brian Wilson just informed us that the major color tonight among the lady’s outfits this SOTU is purple (‘I’m seeing a lot of purple’). He then stated that Nancy Pelosi will be wearing a ‘sea foam green’ outfit. Brit Hume then chimed in to say that Pelosi had intended to wear a different jacket (he asked her about this earlier today), but then spilled chocolate on it, hence the sea-foam green jacket. No news on the fellas’ outfits.”

Bush said: “We must continue to fight HIV/AIDS, especially on the continent of Africa — and because you funded our Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the number of people receiving life-saving drugs has grown from 50,000 to more than 800,000 in 3 short years. I ask you to continue funding our efforts to fight HIV/AIDS.”

FACT — BUSH POLICY HAS LED TO SHORTAGE OF CONDOMS: The U.N. and a number of advocacy groups for AIDS patients have charged that the Bush administration policy had led to a shortage of condoms in Uganda, increasing the risk of infection for many people, particularly married women and adolescents.” Jodi Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Health and Gender Equity in Washington, D.C., said that “there has been a dangerous and profound shift in U.S. donor policy from comprehensive prevention, education and provision of condoms to focus on abstinence only.” [New York Times, 8/30/05]

FACT — GAO REPORT CRITICIZED IMPLEMENTATION OF BUSH AIDS PLAN: An 87-page GAO report criticized the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) because a large part of the funding is going “to promote abstinence and fidelity is causing confusion in many countries and in a few is eroding other prevention efforts, including ones to reduce mother-to-child transmission of the virus.” The abstinence policy “is basically unworkable,” said Paul Zeitz, director of the Global AIDS Alliance. “This shows the problem very clearly and starkly.” [Washington Post, 4/4/06]

Bush said: “My fellow citizens, our military commanders and I have carefully weighed the options. We discussed every possible approach. In the end, I chose this course of action because it provides the best chance of success.”

FACT — ESCALATION HAS BEEN A FAILURE: During the last six months, the United States has increased — or “surged” — the number of American troops in Baghdad by 12,000, yet the violence and deaths of Americans and Iraqis has climbed alarmingly, averaging 960 a week since the latest troop increase. This past summer, Bush announced a major effort to secure Baghdad, stating at a news conference that thousands of U.S.-led coalition troops would be moved into the city. Violence intensified throughout the country, and U.S. deaths in Iraq spiked. [AP, 1/9/07; Washington Post, 10/27/06; CNN, 6/14/06]

Bush said: “Free people are not drawn to violent and malignant ideologies — and most will choose a better way when they are given a chance. So we advance our own security interests by helping moderates, reformers, and brave voices for democracy.”

FACT — RICE AVOIDED PUSHING DEMOCRACY IN MIDDLE EAST TRIP: On a recent trip to the Middle East, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed to mention Egypt’s poor human rights record. “It was clear that the United States — facing chaos in Iraq, rising Iranian influence and the destabilizing Israeli-Palestinian conflict — had decided that stability, not democracy, was its priority, Egyptian political commentators, political aides and human rights advocates said.” [NYTimes, 1/16/07]

Bush said: “For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments … raise the price of oil … and do great harm to our economy.”

FACT — BUSH’S VOLUNTARY APPROACH HAS FAILED TO CURB EMISSIONS: Carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. have increased by 354 million metric tons since 2001. The Energy Department’s latest analysis projects America’s carbon dioxide emissions will increase by one third from 2005 to 2030. [DOE; SustainableBusiness]

FACT — BUSH STILL DENIES FUNDAMENTAL CLIMATE SCIENCE: Last February, President Bush claimed there is still “a debate over whether [global warming] is man-made or naturally caused.” There is no real scientific debate over this question. Most recently, the National Academy of Sciences has unequivocally stated that natural causes cannot explain the unprecedented warmth over the last 400 years. Rather, “human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming,” the report states. [ThinkProgress; National Academies Press]