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GUEST: Laura Flanders, author of “Blue Grit: Making Impossible, Improbable and Inspirational Political Change in America”, host of Radio Nation

In his hour-long, final State of the Union address, President Bush yesterday spoke about a large variety of issues, from the economy, taxes, health care and education, to trade and the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. More specifically, he called on Congress to pass his tax rebate package, announced a modest $300 million in scholarships for low-income children, lauded successes in Afghanistan and Iraq, and completely ignored the Israeli siege of Gaza. Although the state of the economy is top-most in the minds of most Americans, Bush only briefly touched on it, and instead spent far more time discussing Iraq. The speech was interrupted nearly 70 times by applause. Democrats responded to Bush’s final address by calling it “little more than the status quo.” And yet, officially the party called for unity.

Laura Flanders will be speaking on Thursday January 31st at 12:30 pm, at the UCLA School of Law, Room 1314. There will be a book signing at 2 pm.

Read Laura’s article on The Nation at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080211/flanders

Laura Flanders’ website is www.lauraflanders.com.